Moonilal: Rowley’s $M Joyrides Have Brought no Results to Taxpayers

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is farse and outta place to compare his international joyrides with Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s foreign investment and other business trips.

Rowley’s immoral and wasteful foreign trips, valued at $10.6 million for three years – an average of $300,000 a month – have brought no results to the suffering people of Trinidad and Tobago.

He has billed the country for his personal excursions, including a recent week-long vacation in Guyana and various golfing expeditions.

Taxpayers also funded his vainglory trip to the United States to receive a backslapping honorary degree from one of his political cronies.

In sharp contrast, Ms. Persad-Bissessar attracted investments of an annual average of US $1.5 billion, and undertook duties that led to unprecedented economic growth.

Her travels brought tangible results and resulted in widespread development, modernisation of the economy and the creation of 65,000 jobs.

She managed the historic construction of hospitals, schools, fire and police stations, highways, bridges and more.

Her international exchanges led to momentous boosting of the health, education and other sectors and to a radical improvement in the quality of national life.

In her early months as Prime Minister, she chaired the 54-member Commonwealth and brought value to that prestigious international body.

Rowley extravagant $10.6 million travel bill pertains only to three years.

His full outrageous travel cost will soon be obtained and disclosed to taxpayers.

His wild spending on personal lavish retreats is taking place while the most number of people in a generation are living under the poverty line and the cost of living is affecting every household.

His extravagant travels also mean extensive absence from the country in the midst of an epidemic of crime and other social and economic crises.

Under Rowley’s leadership, Trinidad and Tobago has an annual net loss of foreign investments, the only Caricom country in such disastrous economic circumstances.

The failed Prime Minister cannot point to a single benefit to the society from his spendthrift frequent flier lifestyle.

In addition, his non-performing ministers are also regularly traipsing around the world, at taxpayers’ cost.

For example, his Minister of Digital Transportation, who has failed spectacularly in his job, has visited India and other far-off foreign destinations.

At his media conference, the country once again saw the desperate Prime Minister arrogantly turn against the working media and misrepresent the facts.

I wish to remind the nation that I am not in contempt of the court, as Rowley’s continues to maliciously allege.

It is also instructive that the contractors whom his Government sued have subsequently received billion-dollar contracts from his administration.

Rowley’s griping today is the dying political gasp of a catastrophic Prime Minister, who travels the world in happy-go-lucky style while Trinidad and Tobago is riddled with problems.