Interim leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Jack Warner has no moral authority to criticise the government on the highway to Point Fortin project, according to David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ). “It is morally unacceptable, apart from politically wrong, for Jack Warner to make any comment on the wrongness with regard to that highway,” Abdulah said.
“He was the one a year ago in June who went to the Highway Re-route camp and supervised the Defence Force officers to break down the camp. They were campaigning about lack of transparency in this $7 billion project,” he said. Abdulah spoke to the media yesterday before a walkabout in the St Augustine area in support of MSJ candidate Sandra Cumberbatch. He referred to statements Warner made in 2012 about Dr Wayne Kublalsingh when he was on his hunger strike.
“Around that time Mr Warner said that Dr Kublalsingh should hurry up and die, so Warner has no moral authority to open his mouth on the issue,” Abdulah said. He also questioned the role of the Brazilian company Construtora OAS, which is in charge of the project. “OAS should be investigated. They have been denied a contract in Central America because of allegations of bid-rigging and corruption. We insist that there be proper procurement legislation. That is what the Government had promised,” he said.
He said just the idea that local government elections may be postponed undermines real democracy. “This frustrates the will of citizens to elect the representatives of their choice,” he said. “For UNC councillors to be proposing that to the Prime Minister is an indication, apart from their desperation, it raises issues like what have they done in the last three years? Why do they need three or six more months to complete projects.”
Abdulah believes the MSJ is getting its message across to voters. “We do not have the tens of millions of dollars other political parties may have that can have huge rallies, all kinds of entertainment,” he said. “We think the electorate is less interested in all the smoke and mirrors which end in seconds. What they are interested in is real change. That is what we are doing in these walkabouts.”