Ramesh declare "war" in HCU matter

Former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and current MP for Tabaquite Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj on Sunday said he is prepared to wage a war against the Government over the financial state of the Hindu Credit Union (HCU) and CL Financial.

"This is not a political issue for us, this is an issue of injustice against the people," he told a meeting of shareholders and depositors of the HCU in Chaguanas Sunday.

Maharaj accused the government of using the "mask of race" and was adamant that he would not let it happen.

He also lambasted the Government decision to send home 100 workers from the Clico Investment Bank (CIB), which the state now controls under a bailout arrangement with CIB's parent company, CL Financial. He said the decisions regarding CL would eventually affect 4,000 people directly and 20,000 if you include their dependents.

The MP also accused Government of using the bailout to make a grab for the media in Trinidad and Tobago. CL Financial owns 23 per cent of the shares of the One Caribbean Media (OCM), the parent company of TV6 and The Trinidad Express.

OCM has already said it would resist any attempted interference in its editorial independence and made it clear that by taking over CL's shares the Government doesn't automatically get a seat on the OCM board. It said it's business as usual for the media group that also owns companies in print and broadcasting in other islands in the eastern Caribbean.