- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 10/Jul 18:08

Gonzales: UNC marking PNM-hires for political death

AROUCA/LOPINOT MP Marvin Gonzales warned that anyone hired to office under the former PNM government must now be wary of losing their job under the new UNC government, he alleged at a briefing at the office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain on July 9. He made his claim against the backdrop of the recent firing of WASA CEO Keithroy Halliday. "Once recruited under the PNM, you are marked for political death," Gonzales alleged. He claimed staff of the Inter American Development Bank have no interest in doing business in Trinidad and Tobago under a UNC regime. "You have to pay bribes. That is not what they are accustomed to." He lamented the fact of Halliday, a highly qualified office-holder who had only been appointed after undergoing psychometric testing during the former PNM administration, was later fired under the new UNC government and escorted off the premises by security officers. By contrast, he said the PNM in coming into office had never fired FCB chairman Anthony Smart who was appointed under the former People's Partnership government. "Today, all you have is a butchering of professionals seen as PNM. When qualified professionals leave positions, who will occupy them? No one!" Gonzales said when he was the public utilities minister, WASA was undergoing a "very transparent" transformation process. This included hiring Halliday, amid a lengthy and transparent recruitment process that had cost thousands of dollars to put in a new executive management team. "The prime minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) ripped up the transformation plan. A new person without expertise was put as CEO." In the question session, Gonzales speculated that Halliday's firing might be one reason the PM had skipped the recent Caricom leaders conference in Jamaica. "He (Halliday) is well known to the Barbados prime minister (Mia Mottley)." Gonzales said Halliday, born in St Kitts and Nevis, had headed the water authority in Barbados before working in TT. "Before he came to TT we spoke to the prime minister of Barbados. "It would have been a tremendous loss to the Barbados Water Authority to get him to come to TT." Gonzales lamented Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath allegedly saying the former government had recruited an incompetent WASA CEO. He said many water authorities in other countries had contacted the former government to ask what they had done to manage to recruit Halliday. Asked his response to the government firing Halliday, Gonzales said, "I said to Mr Halliday 'I beg your forgiveness'." He said he had told Halliday the current government's behaviour did not represent TT. Gonzales said the reason Halliday and other professionals had applied to work in TT was because Gonzales had been able to assure them that under the PNM, corruption at WASA was a thing of the past. "What is happening has done irreversible damage. It will take ten-15 years to rebuild confidence. "Don't lose hope. The PNM will return to government." The post Gonzales: UNC marking PNM-hires for political death appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.