Dr Ralph Gonsalves.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves remains undisturbed by a Housing Development Corporation probe into the acquisition by three members of his family of apartments at Victoria Keyes in Diego Martin.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has expressed concerns about the purchases.
The probe aims to identify how Gonsalves’ daughter was able to obtain a “favourable rent-to-own arrangement two days after the general election”; to determine whether fraudulent declarations were made and verify the source of funds for the three acquisitions.
Tensions between the two leaders followed Gonsalves’ statement that Persad-Bissessar was “misguided” in her position on the US military operations in the Caribbean Sea.
In the escalating tensions Gonsalves has since accused some UNC financiers of working with the opposition party in St Vincent to influence the results of the general election there, due on Thursday.
Commenting on the situation generally during a phone interview with the Sunday Express, Gonsalves said he was surprised his “dear sister Kamla” has decided to be part of the campaign of traducing him.
“I thought she wasn’t part of the campaign...But obviously she has decided to appoint herself as the director and traducer-in-chief of comrade Ralph, which is really surprising because she and I have had good personal relations.
“And I have always respected her and I still respect her. But I don’t know who is putting poison in she ears,” he said. “But I worked well with Kamla’s first government and I will endeavour when re-elected on Thursday to continue to work well (with this government).”
Gonsalves maintained his position that some UNC financiers, whom he described as “greedy and nasty”, were involved in the general election campaign in St Vincent.
“I don’t know who is giving Kamla message and who want to create problems. But some UNC financiers have organised for activists of the UNC to be on the ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines. I said that I am quite sure that Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar does not know about this,” he said.
He said people think politics is “flim-flam” and that in this day of social media, you can go off on anything. “But dirty water can’t tarnish gold, yuh know,” Gonsalves said, stressing he was confident of victory in Thursday’s election. ~Trinidad Express~
