President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (Fitun) and social activist David Abdulah has said that the statement by Minister of Housing, Planning and the Environment Emily Dick-Forde that citizens should be ashamed of themselves for "hounding" down Calder Hart says "a lot about where her values lie."
During a telephone interview yesterday, Abdulah said it was not the country that should be ashamed. He said it was the minister who should feel the full burden of shame. He said one had to point out that her concern was for Hart and his family, not the citizens of T&T who had been denied proper healthcare, water, protection against crime, and the children who are denied a steady education because of crumbling schools. He said while she "feels hurt for Hart and his family, she feels no hurt for her citizens."
When questioned about Dick-Forde's comment that the nation's soul being a stake for hounding Hart, Abdulah quoted lyrics from Winston "Gypsy" Peters' calypso–Soul of Nation, saying, "who tiefing the soul of the nation?" He said the soul of the nation had long been stolen and destroyed by the scandal of corruption. "It is clear that Hart had stole the soul of the nation," Abdulah said. Also commenting of Dick-Forde's statement, social activist Stephen Cadiz said the minister was out of place with her comment. He said one thing the nation should never be ashamed of is demanding justice and dealing with the issues that affect them.