Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh told reporters in Port of Spain Saturday he stands by comments he made in Parliament Friday about what he called "ethnic cleansing" at the Port of Spain General Hospital.Gopeesingh's charge drew an angry response from the government with both Prime Minister Patrick Manning and House leader Colm Imbert criticizing him for making "irresponsible" charges without providing "a shred of evidence".
Imbert challenged Gopeesingh to produce the evidence and insisted that it was a fabrication. He said with the exception of Tobago, doctors of Indian descent are in a majority at health facilities in the country.
On Saturday, Gopeesingh produced evidence, naming doctors whom he claimed have been victims of discrimination. And he condemned what he said is an "overt attempt by Prime Minister Manning to subvert valid Parliamentary debate and cover up a crucial issue that is affecting all levels of our society to its detriment."
Gopeesingh said his comments in Parliament reflected a valid complaint from "various sectors of the medical fraternity, who, through blatant intimidation and ongoing discrimination by the Government, have chosen, or been forced to, remain quiet on the issue."
He charged that since the Manning administration came to office in 2002 there has been institutionalized discrimination in the Ministry of Health, which he said is having the domino effect of deteriorating the standard of health care.
"The policy I am referring to is the Ministry’s comprehensive, engineered programme to force senior, qualified local doctors out of the Hospitals," he said.
He added that qualified junior doctors are discouraged from working in the public health system by the government's policy of creating circumstances, including poor salary compensation and improper working conditions within the hospitals.
Gopeesingh said half of UWI medical graduates have been forced to leave the country to find work abroad. The policy, he said, has led to a drastic shortage of senior doctors and medical professionals in crucial positions at all levels in the public hospitals.
He said the Ministry has also started hiring foreign doctors to fill the glaring vacancies, despite the fact that these foreign doctors do not meet required local standards to get their licenses.
He said since the "Prime Minister and his cronies in the Parliament" have demanded evidence he is producing "just a few of the names of the senior doctors who have been forced to take VSEP, have not had their contracts renewed, and who have been frustrated out of the system from 2008 to present at the Port of Spain General Hospital."
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology:Dr Ajit Kuruvilla, Dr Gordon Naraynsingh, Dr Hemant Persad, Dr John Woo, Dr Mary Ahow
- Neurosurgery: Dr Steve Mahadeo, Dr Robert Ramcharan
- Opthalmology: Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, Dr Kim Hosein, Dr Robin Hosein
- Orthopaedics: Dr Godfrey Araujo
- Urology: Dr Lall Sawh, Dr Hassan Khan, Dr Fuad Khan
He condemned Manning's suggestion that the sensitive matter of ethnicity should not be raised in Parliament, saying Manning's reasoning reiterates his government’s blatant policy of "subverting freedom of speech and undermining Parliamentary democracy."
He said Manning must explain to the national community why he continues to violate the equal rights of citizens.
"In less than a week and a half, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Prime Minister’s arbitrary use of his veto power against three Indo-Trinidadian senior public servants was discriminatory and wrong, yet the Prime Minister did not even apologise to the national public for his personal discrimination and violation of the Constitutional guarantee of equality," Gopeesingh observed.
He charged that the Manning government has shown bias in other areas of national life paying scant attention and providing only token financial support for events such as Indian Arrival Day, Divali and other Indo-Trinidadian events, festivals and groups, "while simultaneously spending millions of taxpayers money to fund religious events that are not related to the Indian community."
He also charged that up to 2006, only 16 of 176 scholarships were given to Indo-Trinidadians to attend St Georges University Medical School.
"I therefore call on the Prime Minister to publicly respond to not only my provable claims that there is racial discrimination in the hiring practices of doctor, but also, that he himself has embarked on this general policy of institutionalized racial discrimination.
"To not respond nor promote a national debate on this issue of his own perceived racial bias and the illegality of his actions and those of his Government would be detrimental to our Constitutional guarantee of equality," Gopeesingh said.
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