Kamla: Stuart Young’s business of discrimination must end

The startling revelation that 39 non-nationals were given expedited exemptions to enter the country at the request of a powerful conglomerate reeks of discrimination. This is in direct contradiction to Young’s statement in March 18th 2020, when he said that exemptions to non-nationals would only be granted in “extreme circumstances”.

Perhaps Minister Young believes a bottling water machine is more extreme than the thousands of nationals who remain locked out abroad going on 313 days now.

Thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises were already on their knees long before the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the failed economic policies of the PNM. Now due to the PNM’s botched response to the pandemic, more businesses are shutting down every day.

Does Stuart Young not realize that many of the thousands of our nationals stranded abroad are either business owners or employees of local businesses?

Why is it that clear preferential treatment is being given to those businesses close to the Rowley Government while the rest of the business sector is left to die?

If this Government were serious about keeping our sinking economy afloat, they would realize that Stuart Young’s failed exemption process needs to be reformed urgently and that Young himself needs to be fired for his incompetence.

On another note, I want to thank MP Foster Cummings for standing up to the evil Stuart Young is perpetrating on our fellow citizens. MP Cummings and I may sit on opposite sides of the political divide, but we are firstly both proud citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, who believe that every creed and race find an equal place in our nation.

If Stuart Young can expedite entry exemptions for the rich and the powerful, I demand he does the same for the thousands of our fellow ordinary citizens currently stranded abroad and in desperate need of help.

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