Vice-chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation, Chanardaye Ramadharsingh, yesterday refused to comment on the revocation of her son Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh’s ministerial appointment. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the decision to fire Ramadharsingh, via a press statement, on Tuesday, following allegations of his misconduct aboard a domestic flight from Tobago on March 16.
Yesterday, his mother, who is also councillor for Otaheite/Rousillac, was noticeably absent from a function at the corporation attended by Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma and officials in the tourism industry. Corporation chairman Leo Doodnath said she had asked to be excused when the media asked about her whereabouts. The T&T Guardian caught up with Ramadharsingh’s mother at her home at Ramadharsingh Avenue, Rousillac, shortly afterwards.
But when asked to comment on her son’s dismissal, she said: “Excuse me, I am not up for any interview. I have nothing to say.” In an interview with the T&T Guardian at the function earlier, however, Sharma said the Prime Minister’s action, as painful as it may have been, was in keeping with best practice under the Westminster system. He was optimistic Ramadharsingh would bounce back.
Noting that Ramadharsingh had degrees in veterinary medicine and law, he said: “He is loving and caring and has appeal. He ran a very good ministry. So I am sure the doors are not closed.” Sharma recalled he might have introduced Ramadharsingh to politics. He said after the death of Ramadharsingh’s father, he had suggested that Ramadharsingh should follow in his father’s footsteps. His father had served as a local government representative in the Siparia corporation, he said.
“I think he (Ramadharsingh) was then the youngest councillor ever elected,” he added.