Patrick Manning has used an old political trick to create his own little scandal where none exists in order to divert attention from the irresponsible wiretapping of citizens’ private phones and emails during his term as Prime Minister.
Instead of dealing with the serious issues when he spoke last Friday on the new People’s Partnership’s plans for removing the loopholes to ensure that the eavesdropping doesn’t happen again, Manning opted to focus on an imaginary $150 million "palace" that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is building for her family.
In fact it is her husband, Gregory, who has been doing all the work for the construction of the house at Phillipine in South Trinidad on lands bought more than a decade ago.
So far Kamla has been very accommodating. She has politely provided the media with all the proof to show that everything is above board and that the entire project has only cost $3 million in the eight to 10 years that it has been under construction, with another half a million needed to complete it.
But Manning persists with his innuendos that all is not well and has even made potentially libelous statements about the source of the funds that have been used to build the house. In all of this he has not provided one iota of proof to support his wild allegations.
Manning is engaged in his bogus morality, suggesting that he is a humble man who has served his country well and has returned to his humble beginnings. So he has no palace.
Well that’s fine. But why envy Kamla? People have different priorities. And if Kamla and Greg want a palace for their family they are entitled to have one. It's none of Manning's business because Kamla and Greg did not use taxpayers money to build it.
They have worked hard, saved their money and now they deserve to be left alone to enjoy it. They had no Godfather in government to hand them money.
Instead of pointing fingers at Kamla Manning should tell the nation about a house on Herrera Street in St Joseph Village San Fernando. He should tell people why he was seen visiting the dilapidated structure that is now being restored.
Manning should explain why Chinese workers were on the job repairing the house which the neighbours say belongs to Manning’s son.
Manning should say whether all the plans were approved for the restoration of the building, and he should lay all the evidence in parliament to show that everything was above board. After all, if he is demanding that Kamla must do it, what makes Manning exempt from telling people the whole story?
The member of Parliament for San Fernando East should tell citizens why he took taxpayers money and “helped out” his friend Lenny Saith by writing off millions in debt owed by Saith.
He should also explain why the state-owned First Citizens’ Bank bailed out Saith to the tune of about $3 million when Saith’s private business went bust. And Saith, of course, got other benefits from state funds courtesy Manning and the PNM.
We Trinis have short memories but some of us remember the newspaper reports in December 1993, stating that the PNM administration wrote off a debt of $30 million for Saith, who was the Planning and Mobilization Minister in Manning’s cabinet.
No wonder Manning is whining about Kamla’s “palace”. He doesn’t know about honest dealings and doesn’t understand how some people could save money to build their homes and buy the things they want.
For him and people like Saith, the treasury was their personal ABM. So now you can understand why Manning cannot believe that Kamla and Greg saved up their money to build their dream home.
And worse Manning cannot understand how it could only cost $3 million because for him, everything must have cost overruns in the millions of dollars.
Manning should also explain why he still owes the state more than a half a million dollars. For the records, Manning was left holding a debt to the state for $1.1 million when he lost a legal challenge to the crossing of the floor act.
The records – presented by the PNM government in Parliament – show that the former prime minister has paid only half of the money.
And he cannot feign poverty. If you count his salary and perks alone together with that of his wife, Hazel – both of whom lived at the state’s expense from 2001 to May this – you would see the Mannings have the money to pay their debt.
But instead of paying his debt Manning prefers to malign the country’s leader using misinformation to deliberately create mischief.
It’s been a long time and perhaps people have forgotten. But I am sure Manning remembers. And as a citizen I am demanding to know why taxpayers had to fund Saith and many of Manning’s other friends and close associates.
It would seem that there is one law for the PNM and its friends and another law for everybody else. Times have changed, Mr Manning. Stop the games and face reality.
Jai Parasram - 24 Nov. 2010
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