Rowley proud he contributed to SSA Director's resignation; Moonilal saddened

Keith Rowley is proud that he made a fuss about the appointment of 31-year old Reshmi Ramnarine as head of the Security services Agency (SSA), saying he did his job.

The opposition leader also says his objection to Ramnarine's appointment was not based on race or gender, noting that his party is "an all embracing" institution.

However government minister Roodal Moonilal is "saddened" at the circumstances that forced Ramnarine's resignation within days of being appointed to the post for a six-moth period to help in the amalgamation of the SSA and the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA).

The housing minister made the comments to the Trinidad Express, which first raised the issue in a front page story with the banner headline SIA shocker, suggesting that Ramnarine was not qualified for the job. 

The government corrected the paper the next day stating that Ramnarine was qualified, that she was recommended for the post and that contrary to what the Express reported, she was not appointed to the SIA.

On Saturday the young woman quit, saying she felt her personal security and the agency were compromised by the amount of exposure given to the matter.

Moonilal described the whole affair as a "sad case". 

He added, "If we ask anybody who was the former director of the Intelligence Unit, nobody would know. In fact, he could be standing on the road with us now and we don't know. It is a pity that when this appointment was made it attracted so much exposure that the young lady resigned."

Moonilal said the functions of director of the SSA were not meant to be in the public glare. "It is a pity that this happened. In the past when the PNM regime appointed people to the Intelligence Unit nobody knew and I don't think anybody cared.

"Today everybody knows and everybody cares because under the government now we are judged by a separate yardstick. We will make the appropriate change and recommendations," he said.