Charles: Dr Rowley why no action on Minister Moses?

Naparima MP is calling on Dr Rowley to act expeditiously with Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Dennis Moses. Either Dr Rowley keeps him as Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs and give reasons for so doing; or he does the right thing and fire him immediately for lacking the necessary skills, competencies and strategic thinking to run this important Ministry.

The UNC is also waiting on the long overdue apology on our country’s behalf to the Government and People of Dominica.

If Dr Rowley thinks that by burying his head in the sand and ignoring the urgency to make hard decisions on this matter, this issue will go away, he is dead wrong. The UNC intends to raise the matter in and out of Parliament, in every Monday Night Forum and at every opportunity until appropriate action is taken on the matter.

Dr Rowley cannot put his personal, childhood friendships with Minister Moses or anyone else above his sworn responsibility “to do right by every manner of man”, safeguard our national interests, advance T&T’s cause at all times, and more so protect our international image.

Our country is a laughing stock globally under Minister Moses’ watch and many international diplomats are asking what misadventure has befallen T&T in recent times.

Globally, we are seen as a haven for terrorists. Negative travel advisories abound. We are frequently listed among the top ten countries globally on crime. The OECD and the EU both see us as non-compliant on money laundering issues. We have placed all our energy eggs in Maduro’s basket and we are very, very slow in taking advantage of the vast energy opportunities on our doorsteps in Guyana and Suriname. Our PM has been absent at 3 Annual General Assemblies of the UN each normally attended by over 150 Heads of State and Government. We were the last CARICOM country to ratify the Climate Change Agreement.

The IDB recently told us that “taxpayers in this country have received the smallest bang for their bucks.”

It has been twelve days since our Ambassador to the US Anthony Phillip-Spencer was the only OAS representative, who objected to Dominica’s request for a waiver of fees for 2018 and 2019. Thirty five Member States agreed to Dominica’s request only T&T objected.

This in spite of a commitment given by Dr Rowley in the immediate wake of Hurricane Maria that: ‘a house is never too small for family’, and vowed that every effort would be made to share with Dominicans whatever our country can offer.

Today 12 days later, we are subject to the same laziness, slothfulness, ambivalence, ineptitude, lethargy, and equivocation that have come to characterise this incompetent Rowley government.

MP Charles, a former UN Ambassador, is questioning the details of the “purported” report expected by Dr Rowley. We need to know who is doing the report, what is the deadline, what additional information is needed in addition to what is already in the public domain? When will the report be made public? And finally when will action be taken on the report?

The UNC hopes that this call by Dr Rowley for a report is not just another delaying tactic and a well-practiced exercise in obfuscation.

MP Charles is pleading with this Rowley-led government to take action now and not await a report with vague timelines, all the while hoping that this issue with Moses goes away and will be forgotten, like all other indiscretions in the public domain with this inept group of PNM Ministers.

Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima