Malfunctioning Rowley Government a Threat to Stability and Security

The island-wide blackout which occurred on Wednesday 16 February 2022 was a disaster that threatened the safety and security of citizens.

This incident in which hundreds of thousands of people were cut off from electricity, water and phone services for 12 hours must be thoroughly investigated, and the members of this PNM Government must not attempt to evade responsibility.

There must be an immediate independent public inquiry so the country knows what happened, and what will be done to prevent a recurrence.

The extensive and prolonged outage led to a state of unease amongst the population, over fears of increased crime as darkness descended. We commend the members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for their increased vigilance during the incident.

The Government however remained completely silent during the entire ordeal, providing no leadership. A late statement from Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales was inadequate, and a clear attempt to shift the blame from himself. Keith Rowley, the person in charge of the National Security Council, had nothing to say, giving no word of assurance to citizens as to what measures were being put in place to resolve the issue and to ensure safety and security.

Whether it has been flooding or the Covid-19 pandemic, Keith Rowley’s response to national disasters is to either go missing in action or to blame citizens. No doubt he is right now finding a way to once again run from responsibility and blame citizens for the events of yesterday.

This malfunctioning PNM Government continues to demonstrate that it is unfit for office, and is a threat to the stability and security of Trinidad and Tobago.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition

17th February 2022

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