Jack slams Gopee Scoon, defends PM Kamla's foreign trips

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar with her British counterpart during the PM's recent visit to London

Jack Warner on Wednesday chastised former foreign minister Paula Gopee Scoon for suggesting that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was wasting public funds by making overseas visits.

Gopee-Scoon told Parliament Persad-Bissessar attended only one day of a recent CARICOM meeting in Grenada but spent several days on other overseas assignments. She stated that the PM's recent visit to Washington was a waste of time and money.

"Generally, I would say this was a wasted trip and I would like to see the full attendance of the Prime Minister and her delegation at the full meeting of the Caricom, rather than wasting the monies of the Treasury on these senseless trips abroad," the Point Fortin MP said.

Gopee-Scoon also accused the Government of lacking a proper foreign policy.

"I want to say publicly that I really despise the sort of statements which come from the Government after these trips, a lot of senseless padding, really appalling and I think the people of Trinidad and Tobago must not accept that," Gopee-Scoon said.

Warner took serious issue with Gopee-Scoon's statements and delivered a scathing reply in which he questioned what was the legacy of the former foreign affairs minister.

"What legacy did she leave as Minister of Foreign Affairs, besides hug up Obama? The legacy she has left, Mr Speaker, is to take the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, of course, in any country is one of the most important ministries, she has taken it from Knowsley to nowhere!" Warner said.

"Did your government ever account for the one billion dollars spent on two Summits to get one signature?" he asked. "Did your government ever account for the wanton waste that took place in this country for the last three years?"

"Every trip the Prime Minister of this country has made, she comes here and accounts to this House," Warner noted. "No other Prime Minister has ever done that."

Business leaders have lauded the PM's foreign travels, which have helped developed opportunities for trade. The visits abroad have also raised Trinidad and and Tobago's profile internationally.