Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had the full backing of her Cabinet when she decided to axe former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and former national security minister Gary Griffith on Monday night.
Persad-Bissessar announced the removal of Ramlogan and Griffith on Monday, saying she was left with no choice after both their offices became embroiled in the controversy surrounding Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West.
Asked about his personal feeling on the loss of two Cabinet colleagues after opening the Egypt Village Primary School on Monday in Point Fortin, Gopeesingh said: “I don’t want to make any comments beyond that.”
Although he chose not to say much on the PM’s Cabinet shake-up, he said members were confident the PM made the right decision on all matters.
“We have full confidence in the honourable Prime Minister’s decision and we are in total support of the Prime Minister. She has made her decisions, which is her prerogative as the honourable Prime Minister, and we stand fully behind the decisions,” he added.
Three schools in PNM territory
Education Minister Gopeesingh also unveiled plans to open three new primary schools after Carnival in People’s National Movement (PNM) constituencies.
They are the long-awaited Rose Hill RC, Paramin RC and the Point Cumana RC, which he said fell in the constituencies of Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, Diego Martin North/East MP Colm Imbert and Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald.
He said close to $2 billion was spent on school repairs and construction over the past four-and-a-half years, the most by any government.
He said those schools were scheduled to be rebuilt under the PNM since 2008.
Students of the Rose Hill RC School have been sharing a compound with the All Lady of Laventille RC School. Parents there reported it had created an ongoing turf war and students were being bullied.
Gopeesingh said out of the $2 billion spent on infrastructure, $650 million went to school repairs and $250 million was used for 53 new Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centres.
Despite the lowered outlook for T&T’s revenue, Gopeesingh said construction of approximately 31 schools would continue.