T&T PM fires 11 ministers in four years

Mar 27, 2014 News

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– minister in plane incident is the latest casualty

Trinidad Express – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar Tuesday night advised President Anthony Carmona to revoke the appointment of Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh.
In taking action on the minister, Persad-Bissessar said there must be no compromise on integrity and no allowance for arrogance in her Government.

Her action comes 11 days after the Express exclusively reported in a story by investigative journalist Denyse Renne that police were investigating a report of disorderly behaviour by Ramadharsingh on board a domestic flight from Tobago to Trinidad on March 16.
Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) flight attendant Ronelle Laidlow, 25, filed a complaint that the minister’s hand touched her breast when he reached for her ID badge, which was pinned to her blouse. He also threatened to have her fired.
Two official reports were made by the flight attendant—to the security department of the Airports Authority of T&T (AATT) and the Piarco police sub-station.
Ramadharsingh subsequently apologised for his behaviour saying he was suffering from “severe fatigue” but denied touching Laidlow or threatened to have her fired.
Persad-Bissessar was out of the country, attending a funeral in Florida, when the incident was reported.
On Sunday she told the media she would make a statement after receiving a report from Ramadharsingh and the relevant authorities.
Ramadharsingh submitted his report via e-mail yesterday and later met with the Prime Minister where she informed him of her decision to axe him from her Cabinet.
On Tuesday night, the Office of the Prime Minister issued a release indicating that Persad-Bissessar had advised President Carmona to revoke Ramadharsingh’s appointment.
The Prime Minister stated that while she was overseas she received reports on the incident and upon her return she requested additional ones on the matter.
Persad-Bissessar stated that after reading the reports and meeting with Ramadharsingh she took a decision.
“There must be no compromise on integrity, no allowance for arrogance, no room for violation of mutual respect; there will be no sacrifice of our values on the altar of political expediency,” stated Persad-Bissessar.
“Regardless of whether the decisions I take hurt me politically or not, I have the strength and courage and independence of mind to measure every tough decision on the basis of what is right and just,” she added.
The Prime Minister added that she has always said, that regardless of the consequences, “I remain resolved to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. My decisions in the past demonstrate this consistency regardless of whether you are in my Cabinet or not. No one is exempt from the measure of value based leadership.

“In the circumstances, I have advised the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency, Justice Anthony Carmona, to revoke the appointment of the Honourable Minister of the People, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh” she stated,
Persad-Bissessar stated that all her considerations were character driven.
“I hold no brief for any man or woman save the greater public interest. I am always aware of the higher expectation upon which this Government was elected and the immense responsibility each of us has to uphold public trust in all we do every single day of our lives. It is not a responsibility we can choose to have one day and lose the next,” she stated.
“I  am reminded of Gandhi’s identification of one of seven social sins as being “politics without principle” I have insisted from the moment we took office that everyone of us must display a sound character of public integrity, fairness, humility, compassion and human dignity,” stated Persad-Bissessar.
She stated further that no man, nor woman, has been allowed nor will be permitted to deviate from the very principles upon which her Government was elected by the people into office.
“I know there will be arguments put forward by some as to what was condoned in the past administration to allow for continuity but I disagree,” stated Persad-Bissessar.
Ramadharsingh would have been the 11th minister under Kamla’s administration.  A 12th minister, Jack Warner, left of his own volition amidst allegations of financial impropriety, following the Concacaf Ethics Committee report.
The People’s Partnership Government has not yet completed four years in office.
Out of the 11 people fired, four were axed in response to specific allegations.
In May 2011, Mary King became the first minister to be dismissed in this government, following allegations of conflict of interest in the award of a contract.
Next in line was Minister in the Ministry of National Security Collin Partap in August 2012, following allegations that he refused to take a breathalyser test after leaving a nightclub.
One month later then Justice Minister Herbert Volney was given the boot, for allegedly misleading the Cabinet over the Section 34 fiasco.
Now Ramadharsingh has been dismissed as Minister of the People and Social Development.
Sources said Tuesday there were calls for Ramadharsingh to resign his Caroni Central seat in the Parliament as well, a seat which the UNC has never lost and is therefore considered very winnable for that party.
Apart from having a specific infraction leveled at them, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has also fired ministers for apparent non-performance. In these instances she gave the vague reason of Cabinet reorganisation.
In June 2011, Subhas Panday, Minister in the National Security Ministry, was relieved of his portfolio in the first Cabinet reshuffle, along with Therese Baptiste-Cornelis and Nan Ramgoolam. They were all senators and were replaced by Devant Maharaj, Verna St Rose-Greaves and Nicole Dyer Griffith (who was a parliamentary secretary).
By the next reshuffle in June 2012, St Rose-Greaves was out, along with John Sandy and Dyer Griffith. In came Jamal Mohammed and Marlene Coudray.
Mohammed’s appointment was however short-lived. He was fired in September 2013 and replaced by Gerry Hadeed.
In September 2012, when Volney was fired, Christlyn Moore was appointed. Moore’s appointment  was terminated in September 2013 when Gary Griffith was appointed National Security Minister. Griffith replaced Jack Warner who had resigned in April of that year and was temporarily replaced by Emmanuel George.

Eyewitness on plane: I was scared for flight attendant
One of the passengers aboard Caribbean Airlines flight BW 1519 in which Minister of the People Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh was a passenger said yesterday she felt afraid for the flight attendant.
“The only reason some passengers didn’t physically tote him from the plane  is because he is a minister and you know how politics is in this country,” the eyewitness said.
Speaking with the Express at her Couva home yesterday afternoon on the condition of anonymity, the 42-year old woman, who is employed  with a  national security agency, said she was returning from Tobago and witnessed with “disgust” the “unprofessional and nasty” way Ramadharsingh conducted himself on board the flight.
As proof that she was present in the plane, the woman showed the Express her boarding pass, as well as her identification cards.
”I was seated, as you can see, (pointing at the pass)  in the vicinity of  seat 15,” the eyewitness said. Ramadharsingh, she said was “a couple of seats away” from her.
“The flight attendants were so helpful and professional. When the melee started, I was shocked. A couple of people on board begged the minister to behave. Even a female near him tried to pacify him,”  the eyewitness said.
“But he continued speaking loudly and getting on as though he was home and yelling at a child. He …. seemed to be really out of it.
“I was disgusted. The woman spoke to him in a professional manner and I was stunned that he wasn’t complying with such basic instructions as sit down or secure your items,” the eyewitness said.”Imagine a flight attendant telling you these things and you are saying no. That’s madness,”  she said.
Adding that she has flown to several countries on work-related activities, the eyewitness said: “If this behaviour had happened in another country, guess what they call that?…a security breach”.
“The lady tried really hard to explain to the minister to move his bag to the opposite side of where he was seated and he refused.
“He was adamant that one, he will not move his bag and two, he wouldn’t switch seats and move away from the emergency exit,” she said.
After some time, the minister seemed to have settled down and the plane took off, the eyewitness said.
“As I was disembarking, there was a keepback at the exit and I saw some people pulling the minister away from the flight attendant whom the minister was arguing with.
“They were telling him ‘come on, come on let’s go’,” the eyewitness said.
Adding that she heard the minister say “your days are numbered”, the eyewitness said: “I became afraid for her due to his close proximity”.
“He eventually left and I saw the attendant pick up the phone inside the plane,” the eyewitness said.

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