Energy Minister and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart Young, has condemned the personalized attacks by the UNC and Mrs Persad-Bissessar and Allan Warner and the Warner family.
He said, via a relealse, it has become a hallmark of the UNC opposition to consistently launch the most vile of personal attacks on individuals, including, unfortunately, private citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
One of the most recent reprehensible attacks, he said, was carried out by the leader of the UNC opposition, Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Monday night against the Warner family.
In the statement yesterday, Young said Persad-Bissessar intentionally attacked Mr Allan Warner and proceeded to lie to the population about the recent dredging of the Sea Lots maritime channel with a completely false narrative that the Government dredged this channel to somehow facilitate Mr Warner and/ or his businesses in Sea Lots.
“Without reservation or hesitation I condemn these personalized attacks by the UNC and Mrs Persad-Bissessar. Such attacks are defamatory and vile.”
“The facts are that it was the UNC Government in 2014, via Cabinet Minute 1597 dated June 5, 2014 that agreed that the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs (as it then was), enter into a contract with the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO) for the procurement of a contractor to undertake the Dredging of the Sea Lots Main Channel and Turning Basin (the channel).”
He said, “This work was necessary since 2014 as failure to dredge the channel had resulted in a reduction of the maximum allowable draft of loaded vessels and increased operational costs due to higher freight cost associated with smaller loads.”
“Seventy five percent (75%) of National Petroleum Marketing Company’s (NPMC) fuel demand is facilitated out of its Sea Lots terminal. A discontinuation in supply to Sea Lots for any reason will result in a shortfall of fuel in North and Central Trinidad and in Tobago.
Therefore, it was necessary since 2014 to dredge the channel for NPMC.
According to Young, the contractor hired by the UNC government in 2014 to perform the job was not properly qualified or equipped to perform the job and had to be terminated.
He noted that the proper and effective dredging of the channel has been completed and was not done to facilitate anyone or any entity other than NPMC. Furthermore, the work was done above board and without corruption unlike what took place in the UNC period of 2010 to 2015.
“I ask the civic minded and right thinking citizens of our country to continue to take note at the UNC’s propensity to attack people and to willingly and intentionally lie in their attempts to mislead the population.”