Controversial billboard comes down; was private "act of patriotism"

The controversial billboard and Keith Rowley's ad

A controversial billboard showing images of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and National Security Minister Jack Warner on the national flag has been taken down.

The billboard located on private property off the Solomon Hochoy Highway, Chaguanas. Many people complained that it breached the flag protocol and was an act of disrespect. 

Warner told reporters Wednesday there was no breach of law and noted that the leader of the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) had also put out an ad with the face of its leader, Dr Keith Rowley, superimposed on the national flag. Warner produced copies of the ad to prove his point.

However, he told the media that he had been informed that the billboard was “being taken down as we speak.” 

He explained that he first learned of the billboard via an e-mail sent to him by national security adviser to the Prime Minister, Gary Griffith on August 27.

Griffith had advised that the billboard was not the work of the government and was on the private property of Boodram and Sons Used Cars. 

Griffith sent an email to the PM stating: “...the Ministry of Works (cannot) get involved, as it is constructed on private property and is not infringing on any state property.” 

Warner also dismissed claims by the PNM that a flag at the Fire Services headquarters on Wrightson Road was a depiction of the rising sun emblem of the United National Congress (UNC). He insisted the flag was not in any way the UNC’s party symbol.