Stephon Nicholas
Tobago Correspondent
PNM Tobago Council leader Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of weak leadership.
She was responding to questions from the media about her name and that of the Council appearing on a T&TEC “protected list” disclosed by Persad-Bissessar in Parliament on Monday. The Prime Minister said those listed were exempt from automatic disconnection even if their bills were unpaid.
At the Council’s office in Scarborough, Cudjoe-Lewis dismissed the list as a distraction from more pressing national issues.
She said the Prime Minister needed to explain the conduct of Leader of Government Business Barry Padarath in Parliament last week. The PNM has called for Padarath to be removed from that position after he took a photograph of a parliamentary staff member whom he had accused of bias in relation to the muting of microphones.
However, Cudjoe-Lewis rejected claims of bias, saying parliamentary staff are among the most apolitical and professional people she has ever encountered.
“For you to use your little seat and wiggle your way down to that young man — what you taking a picture of the young man for? How is that your business?
“I think that is what the Prime Minister needs to tell Trinidad about.”
She said another important national issue is the government’s surcharge of five cents per kilowatt-hour for commercial and industrial customers. She urged the public not to allow themselves to be sidetracked.
“That jamishness, I will not partake in that. I will tell you something, I have never asked anyone to put me on any list. I have paid every one of my bills since I became a woman.”
She said her bills are usually in credit and came to the defence of her PNM colleagues, including former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley, who posted his bill online to show he was not in arrears.
She also claimed members of the Tobago House of Assembly had written to T&TEC requesting that the services of certain individuals not be disconnected.
Cudjoe-Lewis further raised concerns about alleged political victimisation and intimidation by the Government.
“You see the intimidation and the tactics that young man had to undergo — that is what people are afraid of.
“I want to call Kamla Persad-Bissessar weak. That is weak leadership. When something like this happens in your government, you treat with the matter.”
She also took aim at UNC senators Anil Roberts and Phillip Alexander, saying they are a reflection of the Prime Minister’s leadership.
“All of those brilliant minds in the UNC, and you’re telling me the two brightest you could find are Phillip Alexander and Anil Roberts?
“The persons that the PM puts in the Senate are based on her discretion, so that says a lot about this Prime Minister. That is weakness and that is wotlessness.”
Cudjoe-Lewis claimed Tobagonians are also complaining about alleged political persecution within the Tobago House of Assembly.
“There are many contract workers whose contracts were not renewed because they look like a PNM or someone told those in power that they are PNM.”
The PNM Tobago leader claimed contract renewals within the THA are now heavily influenced by secretaries.
“That is not the business of a secretary, that is the business of an administrator. I hope administrators are not abdicating their responsibilities.”
The former sports minister noted that the THA remains the island’s largest employer amid a fledgling private sector.
“If you lose your job in the THA, there is no place to run if you want to remain on the island. People are silent because this is their daily bread.
“There are persons who are in party groups saying they prefer to meet on Zoom because, ‘My car cannot be seen by no PNM office.’
“The victimisation is real.”
Guardian Media attempted to contact the Prime Minister for a response but received no reply.
