Constituents from the marginal seat of San Fernando West are claiming to have received telephone calls telling them to come and collect their UNC membership cards.
The claim was made in the Upper House yesterday by PNM Senator Faris Al-Rawi.
He was at the time making his contribution to the debate on a private motion moved by Independent Senator Dr Victor Wheeler seeking a Review of the Regional Health Authority System.
Al-Rawi said the people in his constituency who got the calls told him they never applied for UNC party cards. He said they were public servants and their personal information was utilized.
The soon coming National Health Card, announced by Senator Vasant Bharath earlier, provided Al-Rawi with the perfect opportunity to bring up the allegations about his constituents and UNC party cards.
He said the card which would be issued to every citizen would track their locations and contain their medical history.
He asked what protective mechanisms were in place to protect people’s personal information.
Why have the Data Protection and Electronic Transmission Acts still not been proclaimed, he asked.
Government Senator Devant Maharaj rose seeking clarification.
Maharaj said Al Rawi spoke about his constituency of San Fernando West. Maharaj said it was the Senate and senators did not own constituencies.
Al-Rawi replied that he was aspiring to represent the constituency and he lived there and considered it his own.
He further charged that San Fernando West had been neglected by the Government and was not being looked after.
The San Fernando Hospital was in a dire state, he said.
On the bill itself, he said Rome was burning while Nero played his fiddle.
Al-Rawi charged that Bharath painted a “gloss” over the public health sector that sought to hide its many defects.
Bharath’s presentation gave the impression that all was well in Rome, he said.
“There are many who believe Rome is burning while Nero is playing his fiddle.”
Al-Rawi said the Government had spent almost $21 billion on public health over the last five years and citizens had not received the money’s worth in services.
He compared this country with Dubai which had more people and spent less on health.
He said the Auditor General’s report for 2014 stated documents were never provided to show how large sums of money were spent.
He said people with serious illnesses who went to the hospitals were being told to come back one year later.
He added that the San Fernando Teaching Hospital was understaffed and 24-hour clinics had no doctors.
Bharath, correcting him, said there were no 24-hour clinics. Clinis are open until 8pm and on weekends.
He admitted that the public health sector was also bad under the previous governments but they spent less money on it.
Al-Rawi questioned the government’s claim that it had fulfilled 90 per cent of its manifesto promises.
He gave an example of how the Government might be assessing its achievements by, in effect, ticking boxes. “Data Protection Act, passed. Electronic Transmission Act, passed,” he said.
Government Senator Kwasi Mutema questioned Al Rawi’s use of figures in his presentation, making the conversion of Dubai’s health care budget into TT dollars in his submission.