The State of Emergency has only succeeded in destroying jobs and government needs to abandon its plan to extend it.
That’s according to Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who made the statement ahead of the urgent sitting of the Lower House of Parliament next Wednesday, which seeks to confirm the extension.
In a media release, Persad-Bissessar said the move to extend the SoE without a data driven explanation is disastrous.
She said: “The Government keeps insisting they are ‘following the science,’ yet (Dr Keith) Rowley’s misguided policies appear to be driven by his desire to be a dictator rather than scientific data.”
“It is clear to everyone that objectives of the state of emergency have not been realised, as cases and the death toll from covid19 continue to climb. The SoE has only succeeded in one thing: destroying thousands of jobs by closing down thousands of small and medium-sized businesses.”
The current three-month extension of the SoE is nearing its end and a debate in Parliament, as well as a vote, is necessary for another three-month extension.
This can be passed with a simple majority by government.
Persad-Bissessar, however, is urging government to instead focus their efforts on restarting the economy and getting citizens vaccinated.
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