Ramnath:
Not one penny in UTC
Trinidad & Tobago
Newsday
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
07 22 07
Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath told Parliament
yesterday he would not put one penny in the Unit
Trust Corporation, having regard to its dismal
performance.
Speaking in the debate on the Insurance Act, Ramnath
said contributors to the UTC had been robbed because
there had been no appreciation in the value of
their units over the past three years.
“Is it because the UTC went out on a limb
to finance a pipe dream (the Caribbean gas pipeline)?
Did the UTC give a substantial sum to this project,
especially since the Prime Minister knew it was
not a feasible project?” Ramnath asked.
He also called on Government to monitor the actions
of trustees of pension funds so that contributors
rights could be protected.
Calling for a better pension deal for MPs, Ramnath
also called on Government to revamp the Salaries
Review Commission. He said it seemed unable to
understand that entire careers are sacrificed to
serve in Government, and in Parliament.
He
said members of the SRC were “underpaid
and under-fed” and seemed to suffer from
a “scarcity mentality, feeling that there
is not enough to go around.” Ramnath said
the PM who got his salary as pension didn’t
seem to care about the position of his MPs after
retirement.
PM
Manning interjected to argue that MPs were part-time. “Well make MPs full-time,” Ramnath
said, pointing out that the recent Privy Council
decision in the 18-18 matter recognised this fact.
But
Manning argued, “If a decision is taken
to make a member of Parliament full-time what happens
is that a number of people who are in lucrative
professions who don’t want to leave their
professions, would not be available to the State
and the people of Trinidad and Tobago. The part-time
arrangement actually guarantees that you have access
to a better quality of people for the Parliament.”
Ramnath
said, “If you are an Independent
Senator you are far better off than the Minister
who introduced the motion. And I deeply regret
that I am not a lawyer and a senator because I
would be getting millions of dollars in briefs.”
Trinidad
& Tobago Newsday
Saturday, July 21 2007
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©2007 Daily News Limited . All Rights Reserved.
