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Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said National Security Minister Stuart Young is discriminating against nationals in the matter of home quarantine. She made the statement during the motion of no confidence she brought against the minister on Wednesday.
Persad-Bissessar said the criteria for the exemption policy kept shifting and the government was making it up as it went along. She said government had said many times that nationals would not be allowed to carry out home quarantine and read a letter from the national security ministry where permission was granted for a party of 17 people to leave TT on January 25, re-enter on January 27 and return to home quarantine.
“The letter said they will be allowed to proceed to their places of residence to undergo a period of quarantine. Why are we allowing non-nationals to home quarantine? This is inequality and discrimination. What do you have against nationals of TT?”
In response, Young said the 17 people mentioned by the Opposition Leader were diplomats who could not be quarantined under the Vienna Convention, but arrangements had been made that they would present their test results and quarantine home, thus respecting international laws and TT’s obligations.
Persad-Bissessar said Young was unpatriotic for keeping citizens out of the country under what she called an unlawful piece of subsidiary legislation.
“There is no legal basis for granting exemptions to return home. They are purporting to do so under part 10 of the covid19 regulations which say nationals can’t return home without permission. No other country has done this.”
Persad-Bissessar was prevented from going further with this part of the motion as a matter of the constitutionality of the covid19 regulations is before the courts.
Some other issues the Opposition Leader spoke about as examples of the incompetence of the national security minister were the new application process rolled out last week, the border management system at the airport, the fire service, and the lack of upgrade of the forensic services department.
Persad-Bissessar said she had brought a draft letter of resignation for Young to sign if he didn’t have the time to draw one up for himself.
In his response, Young said none of the decisions made with respect to exemptions were made by himself alone, as he was part of a three-man Cabinet-approved team comprised of himself, the Prime Minister and the Health Minister.
He said it was sad to hear the continued desperation on the part of the Opposition Leader and wondered why he had been brought to Parliament to waste useful parliamentary times. He said he wondered why so much time was being spent to focus on him as a target.
“And then I got it. I am in no one’s pocket, I owe no one anything, there is no financier or criminal who can say Stuart Young will do what they want.”
Young said countries worldwide were just now following the measures which had been implemented by the TT government since March 2020. He said the UK home secretary had said this month that the borders should have been closed since March, Canada’s Prime Minister said Canadians traveling outside could be stranded, that Barbados said it might have dropped the ball on the return to tourism during covid19.
Young noted that an elderly woman who returned to TT, who had said she wanted to bring legal action against him because he took a long time to grant her an exemption, had not in fact submitted a request for exemption, based on a search of the ministry’s records.
Young went on to list some of his accomplishments as national security minister, comparing and contrasting them with decisions made by the Opposition while it was in power.
The debate was characterised by numerous objections on both sides for contravention of the parliamentary standing orders, most of which were overruled by the Speaker.
Opposition MP for Naparima Rodney Charles said Young felt he had a God-given right to determine who is able to come to TT.
“No one is talking about bringing people in without the necessary medical procedures, but citizenship means something. Don’t come here to make excuses for your inhumanity and cruelty and put it on other countries.”
He said some areas where the national security minister had failed in his duties were allowing the Venezuelan vice president to enter TT, a downgrade of TT’s diplomatic relationship with Guyana, the failure of the Coast Guard, the dissatisfaction of prison officers, the poor conditions of the immigration detention centre, the complaints of lifeguards and the fire service.
“Nothing works under this Minister of National Security. The truth will come out eventually. Our airports are locked to our nationals who need special permission from the minister to enter the country. It’s the only one in the world. They say we can’t afford to be emotional but who else are we to care for?”
Charles said Young was also breaking the law with respect to migrant children, to whom TT had obligations under international law.
“What happens to children born in TT who are entitled to citizenship? What plans are there to integrate them into society? We are being set up for long term problems in treating with Venezuelan migrants. Is the minister burying his sand with respect to human trafficking? The minister has failed in his remit, as he has not found the fishermen operating taxi service between TT and Venezuela. Why under his leadership have we been unable to close our ports to illegal entry?”
Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds said the average citizen understands that the low covid19 statistics in TT are as a result of the measures taken by Young with regard to the borders. He said Young’s character was better than some of the national security ministers appointed by the UNC when it was in power.
Protesters dressed in yellow with signs saying Young Must Go and 311 Days Locked Out by Young turned out in front of the Parliament in the morning. They eventually had to be dispersed by police.
The debate was characterised by numerous objections on both sides for contravention of the parliamentary standing orders, most of which were overruled by the Speaker.
This story was originally published with the title "Opposition: Nationals being discriminated against" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.
The debate on the motion of lack of confidence in Minister of National Security Stuart Young brought by the Opposition Leader began on Wednesday in Parliament with spirited submissions on both sides.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Young was unpatriotic for keeping citizens out of the country under what she called an unlawful piece of subsidiary legislation.
“There is no legal basis for granting exemptions to return home. They are purporting to do so under part 10 of the covid19 regulations, which say nationals can’t return home without permission. No other country has done this,” she charged.
Persad-Bissessar was prevented from going further with this part of the motion, as a matter on the constitutionality of the covid19 regulations is before the courts.
She said the criteria for the exemption policy kept shifting and the government was making it up as it went along. She said government had said many times that nationals would not be allowed to carry out home quarantine, and read a letter from the National Security Ministry granted permission for a party of 17 people to leave TT on January 25, re-enter on January 27 and return to home quarantine.
“The letter said they will be allowed to proceed to their places of residence to undergo a period of quarantine.
"Why are we allowing non-nationals to home quarantine? This is inequality and discrimination. What do you have against nationals of TT?”
Some other issues the Opposition Leader spoke about as examples of the incompetence of the national security minister were the new application process rolled out last week, the border management system at the airport, the fire service, and the lack of upgrade of the forensic services department.
Persad-Bissessar said she had brought a draft letter of resignation for Young to sign if he didn’t have the time to draw one up for himself.
In his response, Young said none of the decisions made with respect to exemptions were made by himself alone, as he was part of a three-man Cabinet-approved team comprising himself, the Prime Minister and the Health Minister.
He said it was sad to hear the continued desperation on the part of the Opposition Leader and wondered why he had been brought to Parliament to waste useful parliamentary time and why so much time was being spent focusing on him as a target.
“And then I got it. I am in no one’s pocket, I owe no one anything. There is no financier or criminal who can say Stuart Young will do what they want.”
He said the 17 people mentioned by the Opposition Leader were diplomats, who could not be quarantined under the Vienna Convention, but arrangements had been made that they would present their test results and quarantine at home, thus respecting international laws and TT’s obligations.
Young said countries worldwide were just now following the measures which had been implemented by the TT government since March 2020. For instance, the UK home secretary had said this month that that country's borders should have been closed since March, Canada’s Prime Minister said Canadians travelling outside could be stranded, that Barbados said it might have dropped the ball by returning to tourism during covid19.
Young went on to list some of his accomplishments as minister, comparing and contrasting them with decisions made by the Opposition while it was in power.
The debate was characterised by numerous objections on both sides for contravention of the parliamentary standing orders, most of which were overruled by the Speaker.
The post [UPDATE] UNC: Bring end to Young’s incompetence appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.