Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah says it is not necessary to postpone Carnival because of the Wuhan coronavirus which is continuing to spread globally.
Health Minister Dr Terrance Deyalsingh announced last week that Carnival will continue as planned unless there is an occurrence of “something really dramatic.” Government has restricted the entry of passengers from China for a period of 14 days and is screening passengers as they arrive at the country’s airport.
Commenting on these developments at a press conference at MSJ’s San Fernando headquarters yesterday, Abdulah said: “At this point in time I don’t see a necessity for a ban because as far as we are aware there is no case of the coronavirus in Trinidad and Tobago and therefore if there is no case of the coronavirus here there is no need to have a ban.”
He said the possibility of a ban will only arise if the coronavirus enters T&T.
“So that if somebody is found in Trinidad and Tobago to have the coronavirus then the government will have to rethink the issue because the spread of it can be very rapid, particularly with large events and so on, so that is really where the challenge arises,” he said.
However, the MSJ leader said he hopes the infectious disease does not enter this country because the government is “terribly inept” at implementing policies and decisions.
“Therefore their implementation at attempting to keep the virus out may very well be not successful given how they have failed in the past to get things right. We hope as citizens that that virus does not enter T&T and we also hope that it is contained globally,” Abdulah said.
He also expressed concern that close to 40 people have died from the H1N1 Influenza virus.
“We certainly hope more aggressive steps are taken to ensure that flu virus does not result in more loss of life,” he said.
Abdulah blamed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the state of the economy and the loss of thousands of jobs.
“Both those leaders have failed to diversify the economy. They have failed to transform the economy, they have failed to transform the relations of economic power so that in the last ten years the gap between the rich and the poor has gotten wider and wider. We have a few people who are humongously rich and we have very many people who don’t have any money today to be able to send their children to school tomorrow,” he said.
