If criminals don’t kill you, mosquitoes will, according to Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh.
Yesterday, he called for information on the preparedness of the Government’s Insect Vector Control Unit to assist in the dengue fight.
Speaking at the Opposition’s media briefing on the country’s dengue fever situation, Indarsingh said when the UNC attempted to raise the issue in Parliament, Government felt their members were being unpatriotic in the quest to get information.
“But we’re still asking the Health Minister, to tell us the state of readiness of the ministry’s Insect Vector unit in confronting the dengue challenge. What is the unit’s human resource capacity in each of Trinidad’s counties?” he asked.
“What is the availability of vehicles, fogging machines and chemicals to fight dengue. I can only conclude that under the PNM, if criminals don’t kill you, mosquitoes will,” he added.
Indarsingh also slammed the Government’s bid to have two directors on the board of One Caribbean Media. He called on the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to say why exactly this was necessary. He claimed one nominee’s independence was compromised when he was appointed to State-owned TTT and recently resigned and another nominee was an ex-Cepep board member under the (Patrick) Manning administration.
Indarsingh said, “This is dangerous, reckless, naked dictatorship, a grab for power and disregard for independence of the media... in an election year, they’re desperate and want to control the boardroom and narrative from this media house to peddle their propaganda. OCM shareholders stand your ground—don’t give in to this intimidatory tactic!”
Did Jindal bid?
Meanwhile, Opposition MP David Lee questioned if Indian businessman Naveen Jindal would be bidding on the defunct refinery. An article by Guardian Media yesterday noted that there were nine bidders for the mothballed refinery. Bids are expected to close by the end of the month.
There was no confirmation that Jindal or any company associated with him had made a bid.
Citing 2019 statements by the Finance Minister, Lee said Jindal or other applicants would not be saddled with the “billions of dollars of debt” the refinery had.
He said Government had said whoever buys it must have a ready oil supply,
“Where is Jindal going to get that, he lives in India. Is it coming from Venezuela?” he asked.
Lee alluded to claims that two unidentified refinery bidders expressed “dissatisfaction” about the lack of detailed inspection of the refinery permitted since 2018.
“How could Government want a fair price when information is suppressed?” he asked.
Lee also revealed a July 9 response from Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd following three Freedom of Information questions the UNC submitted. He indicated the replies showed the opposite of what the Government had claimed about the refinery. He claimed the refinery was profitable, paid taxes and imported oil since 1994. He said its biggest losses were during PNM’s tenure from 2015 to 2018.