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| Anil Roberts shows the damage to the vehcile he was driving on October 6, 2010 |
Speaking at a news conference at his office in Port of Spain, Roberts said, “It is clear that Dr Rowley...for whatever reason, is out to target me.”
Rowley slammed Roberts during a debate in Parliament and demanded to know why the minister was driving a government vehicle that was involved in an accident when MPs and ministers are given a transport allowance to acquire their own vehicles.
Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner told the the House of Representatives vehicles earlier in the day that the vehicles that previous Manning PNM government bought for the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009 were given to several ministries.
The Manning administration gave two of them to Grenada and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar gave one to her predecessor, Patrick Manning, Warner said.
Roberts admitted that he was driving the vehicle on October 6 when the accident occurred near the Divali Nagar site. He denied the vehicle was being used for personal reasons and explained that he was at the wheel because his driving was ill.
The minister stated that he gave a full report on the collision to the police and to the relevant government departments. “So it’s no secret, it’s no big thing. Those are the facts,” he said.
Roberts said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar advised him that he should not drive the vehicle again and he is abiding by that.
He also showed the media the damaged vehicle.
Speaking about Rowley, Roberts said the opposition leader was a close friend of his deceased mother and "he ate at my father’s home over the years. He knows me since I was seven years old.”
Roberts suggested that Rowley never inquired about his health after he was involved in the accident because he wanted to get political advantage from the matter. “He never had the decency to call and say ‘boy, you’re alright?’ So they are taking this politics thing to a little ridiculous level,” he said.
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