Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan yesterday expressed support for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s decision to co-sponsor the United Nations resolution on terrorism. He did so after Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley told supporters at the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) St Ann’s East Constituency’s annual conference that the prime minister should not have co-sponsored the resolution.
Rambachan, speaking at the official opening of the $28 million Calcutta Bridge B1/3 at Balmain, Couva, said Persad-Bissessar showed a lot of courage on Wednesday in New York, in co-sponsoring such an important resolution. He said T&T is not immune to terrorism and referred to the 1990 attempted coup and the Port-of-Spain dustbin bomber.
The resolution, which was supported by over 90 countries at the UN Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in NY, was spearheaded by US President Barack Obama. Rambachan said by co-sponsoring the resolution, which allows for monitoring of terrorists’ movements, T&T has made the bold statement of saying no to terrorism. He said he was heartened to see various organisations, including the Islamic community, come out in support of Persad-Bissessar.
This decision by the prime minister, he said, shows that the Government is not only dealing with local issues, but global challenges of terrorism as well. “We are living in challenging times,” Rambachan told Calcutta residents who had gathered to witness the formal opening of the bridge they have been waiting on for the past 12 months.
Rambachan said he took issue with Rowley’s statements. He said the PNM leader did not understand international politics and by his statements has shown that he is not fit to be prime minister of T&T. “I think what you are seeing is an opposition leader who does not have any vision, who does not understand global politics, who does not understand what is happening in the international environment and at every turn he is showing that he lacks competence to be a leader in this country.”