Gopeesingh talks of racism at POS hospital; Government calls it irresponsible

Opposition MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh told the House of Representatives Friday the authorities have engaged in "ethnic cleansing" at the Port of Spain General hospital, a charge that was immediately refuted by both Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert who called the allegation irresponsible.

Even Gopeesingh's Parliamentary colleague Jack Warner disagreed.

The charge came during debate on a bill to establish an Ambulance Authority in Trinidad and Tobago, among other things “There has been an issue of ethnic cleansing at Port-of-Spain General Hospital as far as the doctors are concerned," Gopeesingh told the House.

“I understand that most of the East Indian doctors have had to leave Port-of-Spain hospital. I understand the Port-of-Spain hospital is a virtual African hospital now.”

But while he made the categorical statement about racism he conceded that he could not say if the reports are true. Then he went on to add that according to his information more than 150 senior doctors of East Indian descent have been forced out of the service.

He charged that there is a collaboration between the Medical Chief of Staff and the administrator at the Port-of-Spain hospital, dealing with this situation.

Imbert, in his contribution to the debate, accused Gopeesingh of uttering the “racist statements that could provoke racial hatred” without producing "a shred of evidence" to support his claim.

Imbert, who is a former health minister, noted that the vast majority of medical practitioners in the Public Service are East Indians so it was not possible for there to be a majority of African doctors at any public health institutions in the country.

He added that 80 per cent of the graduates of the faculty of medicine at the University of the West Indies were of East Indian descent. “I can say without any fear of contradiction that the majority of doctors in every hospital in the public health service, with the possible exception of Tobago, are of East Indian descent,” Imbert said.

He called Gopeesingh's comment “wholly irrelevant, baseless, unfounded, frivolous and vexatious” and demanded proof from Gopeesingh.

Warner also disagreed with Gopeesingh. He told the House, "I am in a political party where I meet this every day. Far too often, far too often, where I go, some of us resort to tribalism in the worst possible way and I don't want to be part of that, Mr Speaker, and, therefore, for the records, I want to say that I resent very much this thing about ethnic cleansing."

Warner's comment could help bury him deeper in the UNC's political quicksand. He is already accused of being a PNM stooge for voting with the government to pass a securities bill and is facing a disciplinary committee that could expel him for that.

Warner was clear that his comment was not to score points from the government side, which seemed to welcome his remarks. "You all clapping the table," he said in response to the desk thumping by government MP's, "if you feel you getting me expelled, I have news for you, you know."