President Dr Irfaan Ali has dismissed reports that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government is supporting the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) party of Trinidad and Tobago following recent criticisms of the Keith Rowley led country.
Last week, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo publicly said that Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is “falling apart” because it is reliant on only one sector: oil and gas.
And the Vice President doubled down on his comments during a press conference on Friday last, noting: “… this has nothing to do with just (Prime Minister Keith) Rowley. This is the fact of the economy of T&T going for a long period only relying on one sector.”
But when asked to respond to concerns that these comments by Jagdeo amount to interference in the affairs of the Twin Island Republic, Dr. Ali said: “I have listened to the Vice President; he said nothing about Opposition or Government… I am dealing with straight language…. I am not interpreting language, there was no pitch for Opposition or government.”
At the sidelines of an event on Sunday in Region Five, the Head of State further noted that Guyana remains committed to working with all regional partners.
“And listen, as I said, we in Guyana are focused on developing our country and working with every single one of our regional partners; we value every one of our regional partners and we’re going to work with every one of them.”
President Ali had previously told the News Room that Trinidad and Tobago is “an active part” of the government and private sector-led efforts at developing the nascent oil and gas sector.
“Look at the business community that is participating in Guyana- a lot of Trinidad private sector people are investing here, (there is) strong collaboration between countries,” Dr. Ali had said.