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NATIONAL Security Minister Stuart Young on Friday said there is no truth to allegations by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh that 39 non-nationals were granted expedited exemptions to enter TT.
In a statement, Young said, "It is now becoming worrying that the Leader of the Opposition Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar may be becoming delusional."
He added that Persad-Bissessar's allegations are another attempt to mislead the population about the exemption policy Government is using to manage requests by TT nationals to enter the country during the covid19 pandemic.
Recalling that Persad-Bissessar's claims about Chinese diplomats being given preferential treatment to enter were proven wrong by the Prime Minister in Parliament on Wednesday, Young observed, "Today she is again scraping the bottom of the barrel in desperation to be relevant by referring to the implementation of the Government’s policy of facilitating manufacturing in TT."
Contrary to claims Persad-Bissessar made in a statement, Young said, "The Government has not shut down business and manufacturing is an important part of our economy."
He said the exemption to Blue Waters, which Persad-Bissessar referred to, was based on a request by "a local manufacturer to bring in specialised workers to upgrade their plant."
Young added, "This is not unusual or unique." He explained, "The persons entering will be presenting their negative PCR test, they will be paying for their quarantine at a state supervised quarantine facility and I add that many manufacturers outside of the oil and gas sector have had similar requests which have been granted."
Recalling the defeat of Persad-Bissessar's motion of no confidence in him, which was debated in Parliament on Wednesday, Young said, "I was hoping that after her dire and abysmal failure, in front of the country in the Parliament yesterday (Wednesday), Mrs Persad-Bissessar would take some time for her personal health and do some introspection."
He said he was "saddened to realise she has not done so. It truly saddens me to see a former prime minister so desperate for attention."
In her statement, Persad-Bissessar described the exemptions to the 39 non-nationals as startling. She claimed they were contrary to a reported statement by Young about exemptions being granted to non-nationals in extreme circumstances.
"Perhaps Minister Young believes a bottling water machine is more extreme than the thousands of nationals who remain locked out abroad going on 313 days now."
She claimed preferential treatment was being given to businesses allegedly close to the Government "while the rest of the business sector is left to die."
In a separate statement, Indarsingh supported Persad-Bissessar.
"Stuart Young needs to stop being unpatriotic, elitist and selective in his granting of exemptions, and bring every one of our stranded citizens back home now."
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