Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:11 hours 19 min ago
Moonilal on the $2m flag:
Symbol of waste and corruption
Published: 7 Nov 2009
Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal makes a point in the Lower House, yesterday.
PHOTO: KEITH MATTHEWS
Government’s $2 million flag at the Hasely Crawford Stadium should be flown at half-mast as it is a symbol of waste and corruption, UNC MP Roodal Moonilal said yesterday.
Moonilal made the point in the Lower House yesterday during debate on the Metrology Bill which specifies new unit for measurements of items in the public domain. Striking out against Government on the issue of competency, Moonilal stated there was no funding for an education campaign for the public to learn about the new measurements. Yet, he said Government could spend $2million on the flag. Moonilal said spending $2million on the flag was simply obscene when there was no money to provide water to consumers and other amenities. He said the flagpole may turn out—for the Government—to be like the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Noting that the Manning administration had been in office two years this week, Moonilal said the flag is “ample testimony of the 24 months.” Taking further issue with Government, Moonilal said there was incompetence in implementing things. He said there was a pattern of this. Commenting on the deaths of three people at Macoya’s Bailey bridge, Moonilal said the Works Minister Colm Imbert had the “audacity and insensitivity” to say the people, who were dead, should pay for damage to the bridge. Noting the issues of the $2million flag, the $10million outdoor stage being built at the Prime Minister’s official residence in St Ann’s, crime and the raid of a Saudi Arabian official’s hotel room, Moonilal said Government was straining the elasticity of the people. He noted that PNM councillor St Servius Pamphile had recently been shot in Laventille while conducting his work as a meter reader with T&TEC.
“We hope that the party of which Mr Pamphile is a member will do more to protect him... Government cannot even protect workers and keep ordinary people safe daily,” Moonilal added. Moonilal called on Government to apologise to the Muslim community and the Saudi Arabian Government for the police raid at the Saudi Arabian official’s hotel room. He said the UNC Government had arranged, in its tenure, to have Saudia Arabian officials come to T&T to issue visas when nationals needed visas to attend Haj. Previously, he said, citizens had to go to Venezuela to get visas. Moonilal also called for an investigation of cost-overruns of Petrotrin projects. However he said the State company had refused to pay cricket captain Daren Ganga, a Petrotrin employee, six weeks’ salary. “But they (Ministers) will go to President’s House tomorrow night (today) and eat and drink whiskey and shake hands with team members—it is shameful and disgraceful,” Moonilal added.
...patriotism is the last
...patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel..... Samuel Johnson
Will somebody look at that
Will somebody look at that so called flag hanging over the Hasely Crawford Stadium and tell me that I am wrong. Tell me that it is really our national flag. What I see flying up there could be an illegal imitation. I believe that there are laws that lay out the dimensions and colours of the flag.
Look closely, preferably from the elevated car park in Movietown and tell me what you see.
If you see one white band wider than the other, then you and I are seeing the same thing. A very expensive piece of material, masquerading as a Trinidad and Tobago Flag.
This is a very poignant
This is a very poignant speech by UNC MP Roodal Moonilal , he struck the nail on the head , on a regular basis . Jack Warner had to intervene in order to get Petrotrin to give Ganga leave , yet , the govt is going to congratulate him for the T&T cricket team performances in India and guyana . What is the rationale for buying such an expensive flag and it appears that the design is flawed . The diplomatic embarrassment cause by over-zealous police or whomever instructed them to detain and search the Saudi diplomat . The blatant wastage of the T&T tax-payers money by the PNM govt , is cause for concern , especially , when there are other needs , such as housing , road repairs , adequate drainage , the fighting of crime , etc .
WELL SAID , Mr. Moonilal .
ATW-Barbados .
WELL SAID MR WIGGINS
WELL SAID MR WIGGINS -
Well said Mr Wiggins, well said.There is hope for you yet.
If what Dr Kallicaharan says
If what Dr Kallicaharan says is true that the monster mast can be bought for about TT$135,000.00 I hope that CoP Philbert would send his fraud team to investigate FireOne Fireworks.
Rik Hansel
CoP Philbert and the Abraham
CoP Philbert and the Abraham family of Fireone are good friends man. Read between the lines. No one investigating them. I hear that even the Syrian community, who are strong PNM backers, are upset with André and Lorraine for ripping off the taxpayers. But this is sweet TnT, where in precisely 10 days, all will be forgotten and we'll move on as if nothing happened.
10 days. By Monday morning
10 days. By Monday morning this story will be forgotten.
INTEGRITY COMISSION
INTEGRITY COMISSION -
Remember them, whey they be. The fellas that lock up Panday and try to lock up Rowley.
Moonilal is expressing the
Moonilal is expressing the very sentiments of the majority of the people.
This articulate young MP seems to have a lot going for him: a good appearance, a good education, common sense, good language and communication skills, vibrancy and youthful energy, an absence of political baggage, political savvy, sufficient experience and the promise of youth, to mention a few of his apparent attributes.
He may well be eligible to be the next leader of the UNC which is badly in need of re-invention, if Panday does not destroy him before. He and Ramadhar could bridge the gap between the warring political opposition to bring about a change in the old politics.
Something to think about, if people could only put aside narrow selfish interests.
I think the flag is a dead
I think the flag is a dead issue now as Isaac wants it to be. I however was really impressed by the Red Neon lights skirting the Stadium the first time I saw it. God forbid the cost of this. (Don't worry about the cost - this is probably "in the interest of National Pride" as well). KNOHO
...to be like the “straw
...to be like the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” These are important words to remember. Back in 1990, Abu Bakr, was on television on 27 July justifying "overthrowing" the Government with his little coup d'etat, attempted or otherwise. He cited PM ANR Robinson's wish to use $250,000 of settlement money gained from the Tesoro corruption case to build a monument to Gene Miles as the "straw that broke the camel's back!" (Ms. Miles was the 1960s whistle-blower of Government corruption.) Abu Bakr said enough, and decided there and then to save the "suffering people hard-pressed under the NAR regime."
The similar sentiment posited by Dr. Moonilal resonates. I wondered myself, how come that revelation by Gary Hunt on the cost of the flagpole and engineering in service of "national pride" was not the catalyst for somebody to lose it and start going crazy, or worse, "pelting stones." Politicians are their own worst enemy. This bunch of politicians strain credibility with their public comments in the guise of official statements. The reaction of the populace to any assertion by a politician can not be a foregone conclusion, but past reference shows that "camels backs" could be broken by the silliest of excuses.