Why the Brian Lara Stadium and not Reform Hindu School

Naparima MP Rodney Charles questions the priorities of the Keith Rowley- led Government as we move closer to the opening of the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (Tarouba Stadium). He noted that while much pomp and celebrations were planned for the opening of the stadium the students of the Reform Hindu School remain neglected by the Government, housed in the worst conditions, while their over 90% complete new school is left languishing due to “a lack of funding”.

“It cannot be a lack of funding since money is being spent on frivolities, it is a question of priorities and what the Government wants to spend money on, and they have shown that they will not spend on education or anything that will improve the lives of citizens” Charles noted in a statement today.

Keith Rowley and his cabinet should be ashamed to come to the opening ceremony of the stadium with the unopened Reform Hindu School mere meters away. They must be prepared to tell the population how much was spent to complete and to open the stadium and why this project was prioritized above all others.

The country in facing crises in nearly every major sector, health care is in shambles, crime is out of control, the Government has no clue how to manage the economy without passing on excessive and cruel burdens to citizens and the Minister of Education continues to show new levels on incompetence on a daily basis. Yet, in May, they will gather together and pat their Cabinet colleagues on their backs while the country suffers.

This Tarouba stadium will stand as a symbol of the gross incompetence and mismanagement Keith Rowley’s PNM. As citizens brace for more taxation, higher food prices and the ever present possibility of job losses in a collapsing economy, the nation’s elite will drink and have a good time as they toast to the opening of a stadium instead of a school.

Rodney Charles
Member of Parliament for Naparima