Persad-Bissessar: Discrepancies in covid19 relief
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar called for transparency and accountability in the provision of relief during the covid19 pandemic, on Wednesday as she led her bench's response in the mid-year budget review as the House of Representatives debated the Finance (Supplementation and Variation of Appropriation) (Financial Year 2021) Bill, 2021.
As she began, she coughed slightly and told MPs she had taken a PCR test to imply she did not have covid19 but simply needed a sip of water.
Persad-Bissessar alleged a discrepancy between the $57 million allocated to buy 100,000 market boxes by a Cabinet Minute of May 12 and a $45.6 million figure cited by Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat. She said the Cabinet Minute had said each market box would cost $573, but Rambharat in Standing Finance Committee had put the cost at $456.