Postby Swisha » November 24th, 2010, 2:34 pm
STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BY THE HONOURABLE KAMLA PERSAD-BISSESSAR
PRIME MINISTER OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO,
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SIPARIA
ON ALLEGATIONS MADE BY MP PATRICK MANNING
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2010
In his contribution to a debate on the Interception of Communications Bill last Friday the Member of Parliament for San Fernando East engaged in an excursion of malicious innuendo conjecture and character assassination against me, against my husband, my family and the government as a whole.
The Member for San Fernando East claimed, inter alia, with NO proof, NO evidence, NO justification and NO foreseeable sane rationale, that in my private capacity I constructed a house at Duncan Village which cost $150m dollars which was bigger than the official PMs residence.
He further went on to impute improper motives to myself and my husband, the co-owner of this property.
Mr. Speaker, MPs on both sides of the House that evening were undoubtedly shocked that such scurrilous allegations could be made with absolutely no evidence, and more so by a man who it was assumed would know through experience and presumably integrity, the necessity and mandate of the Parliament for members to uphold the highest standards of integrity in their conduct and do the business of this house in accordance to the highest tenets of truth, ethics and morality.
PRE ACTION PROTOCOL
I wish to point out that, as was read into the Hansard of the Parliament on Friday night by the Honourable Leader of Government Business, Dr. Roodal Moonilal, when the Member for San Fernando East made similar unfounded, baseless and untrue allegations about the People’s Partnership’s outside these august Chambers, I instructed my attorneys to issue a pre-action protocol letter against him for slander and libel.
It was therefore most offensive and a further disservice to this Honourable House that the Member not only sought to abuse Parliamentary Privilege by repeating these falsehoods but embellish it with more false statements.
REPEAT OFFENDER
This is not the first time that the Member for San Fernando East has made wild, malicious and vacuous allegations on my character in this Honourable House. It is a fact that every one of those allegations is false. Yet instead of apologising this Member continues to make even wilder more desperate and delusional statements.
ATTEMPTED DISTRACTION FROM PNM WIRE TAPPING
I am well aware as well that these malicious statements by the Member is a deliberate and calculated attempt by the entire Opposition to divert national attention from the frightening display of abuse of democracy perpetrated by his regime and under his instruction against the people of this country by the Government of the Member for San Fernando East when he was entrusted to hold the highest office of Governance of this country.
I find it sad that the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, and the Opposition Chief Whip and indeed all those Opposition MPs have participated in and supported what may best be considered the violation of the highest traditions of Westminster.
RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS
I have said on record, Mr. Speaker, that I have nothing to hide in this matter and so today, I am here to put on the Hansard and public record the very details the Member for San Fernando East seeks about my private residence fully cognizant of the fact that a lie has speed, but Truth has endurance .
2001—THE DECISION TO BUILD THE HOUSE
Mr. Speaker the facts will show that the private residence at #1 Estate Drive, Phillipines, owned by myself and my husband was in fact constructed during the eight years I spent as an Opposition MP in this House, and not in the few months since my Partnership won elections.
In 1990 and 1995 my husband Dr Gregory Bissessar, a doctor by profession who had spent the money earned in his long years of intense tiring medical practice, bolstered by the earnings I made as an attorney in private practice, to purchase real estate properties in South Trinidad, where prices were, at the time, very much cheaper than in North and Central Trinidad, and indeed, Mr. Speaker, even South Trinidad, because as you would know, Penal is a relatively rural area.
At that time we decided that we had reached a stage in our lives where we simply needed a bigger home, as our son was growing up and would soon be expanding our family, which he did by marrying and having two children. Mr Speaker this Is the entitlement of all people in this country, to own their own house and when we do it we don't use and abuse State funds.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to point out that before that, my family lived in my father’s home for decades, which he had passed to me before his death. As such, my husband and I were fortunate enough to never have had to pay any type of rent or mortgage throughout our professional lives, so we saved our money as is traditional to one day construct our family home.
Mr. Speaker, when we were constructing that house, it was in the tradition of what professional contractors call country style—we bought material and paid for labour when it was available and when we could afford it.
Midway into construction, when this country suffered a construction boom and we found it hard to pay the labour fees then in demand, we stopped construction and restarted only when we could afford.
Mr. Speaker, after 8 years the physical structure of this house was finished in April this year, 2010.
We were putting the finishing touches when the Member for San Fernando East did the wisest thing he ever did as Prime Minister of this country—called a snap general elections.
In so doing, he ensured that the people and citizens in this country came out in their hundreds of thousands and voted him out of office, due to what they perceived to be his mismanagement, wasteful, inefficient, inept, arrogant, corrupt regime.
We put the required last minute finishing touches on hold to campaign for the General Elections. We resumed these works after the General Elections.
THE FACTS
Mr. Speaker, these are the facts:
The house belongs to Dr. Gregory Bissessar and myself.
My husband has been a medical doctor for over thirty years and also a businessman for some time. I have been earning income for over 36 years, first as was a school teacher, then University Lecturer then Lawyer and also from December 1995, as MP for Siparia. We have both worked very hard and saved our money.
We have been permanently residing at the home of my father without cost for decades.
LAND DEEDS
The land on which our dwelling house stands is situated at 1 Estate Drive, Phillipine.
It comprises three acres more or less.
Two acres were purchased in 1990 and one acre in 1995 before I became the Member of Parliament for Siparia.
Deed 19810 of 1990 made on 4th December 1990 between Walter Carlyle Archibald and Barbara Angela Vendors to Gregory T Bissessar, Purchaser of a parcel of land comprising one acre for eighty five thousand dollars
Deed 19811 of 1990 made on 4th December 1990 between Walter Carlyle Archibald, Vendor to Gregory T Bissessar, Purchaser of a parcel of land comprising one acre and thirty perches for eighty five thousand dollars
Deed 10428 of 1995 made on the 12th June 1995 between Keith Lutchmansingh and Other members of his family, Vendors to Kamla Persad-Bissessar, purchaser comprising One Acre and one perch for one hundred and ten thousand dollars.
APPROVAL
Town and Country Planning No 1/0371/2001 on 5 March 2001
Penal Debe Regional Corporation No 140/01 ON 21 June 2001
WASA
Account No 0378970E
Service Bill No 14186988 dated 12th May 08 for billing period 1 June to 31 August 2008 for $50 for land connection
Service Bill No 15735878 dated 11 May 2009 for billing period 1 June 2009 to 31 August 2009 for $150. For House Connection
TTEC
In or about March 2003 temporary inspection certificate for three months was issued by T&TEC to Gregory Bissessar at 1 Estate Drive, Phillipine and, thereafter continued to be issued on three month intervals until 16th December 2009 when final approval was granted by letter of same date with account NO 798571-697073
Many of these documents are provided by public bodies and could have been accessed with minimal research if the Member for San Fernando was interested in the TRUTH.
But instead of conducting basic research, the Member for San Fernando East preferred to disregard the truth and the facts and wallow instead in his wild conjecture, spurious and malicious allegations and innuendo.
INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC LIFE DECLARATIONS
At all material times, I disclosed these properties in my Integrity Forms as well as the cost over the years of the value of our house which was being constructed.
CONSTRUCTION RECORDS
THE MAJORITY OF WORK WAS DONE WHILST I WAS IN OPPOSITION
Started on or about 24 March 2002 with Land preparation, steel frame, floors and continued thereafter over the years.
In January 2006 construction of roof and walls
August 2007 electrical and plumbing
February 2008 painting and internal finishing windows and doors
January 2009 kitchen cupboards and counters
By April 2010 the house was substantially completed.
Snap election then called. Work ongoing on yard etc
COST
So from 2001 to present cost of about $3m spent. Indeed in my last integrity form for 2009, I disclosed that as at December 2009, the value was $2.9m.
To suggest that this house cost $150m is delusional. This would mean it cost a whopping $15,000 per sq foot which is impossible.
An independent construction assessment commissioned by my husband, Dr. Gregory Bissessar, from the reputable, longstanding quantity surveyor, Mr. Willie Roopchan, states that the cost for completing the house, by June 2011 is estimated to be between $3.4 million and $4.05 million.
This is a mere 2% of the estimated $150 million cited by the Member for San Fernando East
SIZE
It would not take a rocket scientist to see that the house is NOT bigger than the official PMs residence.
Indeed we can now understand why the Member for San Fernando East wasted the patrimony of our country.
Abraham Lincoln, once said that “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
Mr. Speaker, these are the facts.
When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not want know it, but for the sake of defending those that do want to know the truth.
I wish to point out Mr. Speaker, that I have never had a problem providing any kind of information to the public about my life. I have often said my life is an open book. Humility you see is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying.
And I fully recognize that as a leader, you have to not only do the right thing, but be perceived to be doing the right thing.
A consequence of strong leadership is being put under intense public scrutiny, being held to high standards, and enhancing a reputation that is constantly under threat.
You cannot choose your battlefield, God does that for you; but you can plant a standard where a standard never flew.
Therefore I had no problem whatsoever putting these facts about my life in the public domain.
You see, Mr. Speaker, the falsehoods perpetrated against me by the Member for San Fernando East was exactly that. Cheap politicking to salvage a ruined, destroyed political career and public image.
Desperate, unethical men lie when they are afraid….afraid of what, honest men and women will never know.
Maybe they are afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about them. But every time they tell a lie, the thing that they fear grows stronger.
If it is that they tell lies to distract from good governance, proper democracy and a country restored to its path of progress and prosperity under the People’s partnership Government, then let me warn them, this Government of integrity and truth will only grow stronger.
To the Honourable Members on this side, I wish to thank you for always upholding the best practice and conduct of parliament and for your ongoing support of me and our party under such scurrilous attacks.
To our constituents and all the citizens of this country, I say to you thank you for believing in the integrity of this House and here is the truth of these allegations..be guided by it.
And for the person who raised the scandalous lies in the first place, I wish to remind him that Shakespeare once said:
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man”
Remember, you do not wake up one morning a bad person. It happens by a thousand tiny surrenders of self-respect to self-interest.
This then is the truth. May it now set you free from the misery of self deceit and self destructive path you’ve now found yourself condemned to walk.
And as I end I wish to call on you to likewise, when you put up pictures of my private residence for the newspapers to print on their front pages and the whole world to see-incidentally you willingly and wantonly endangered my children's safety and lives by that act, something I will never do to you. I will not respond by endangering your children's safety- instead I wish God's richest blessings and prosperity and safety for your own children. But just like you held up the pictures of my home, I call on you now to hold up the pictures of the house in Herreira Street, St Joseph Village and tell us who resides there.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you.
