Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley gave the feature address at the opening of the new Central Block of the Port of Spain General Hospital on March 10. Image taken from video streamed on State media.
As the countdown to his last week as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago begins, Dr Keith Rowley is urging citizens to focus on the positives and all the accomplishments the government managed under his tenure.
Rowley made the call when he gave the feature address at the opening of the new Central Block of the Port of Spain General Hospital on Monday, March 10.
As he reflected on his tenure as prime minister, particularly as the country faced the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Rowley took the opportunity to highlight the skills of local healthcare professionals and how impressed many of his colleagues in other countries were of T&T’s management of the cases.
“But good news doesn’t sell. If one person goes into a public hospital, and one medication is not present, (it’s) ‘O God, the health system collapse’ and they have a handful of people behind them to beat that drum. That is not to say that everything is perfect. It is to say that we must acknowledge where people, especially professionals, people at every level of the system are doing what they are required to do to ensure that the rest of us have the best day that we can have,” he said.
“In our health system, we have a lot that we can be proud of,” he added.
T&T being accused of ‘human trafficking’
As he mentioned this country’s management of the pandemic, Rowley also took the opportunity to address recent statements that categorized the country as one that facilitates human trafficking.
“We rely a lot for our healthcare delivery on certain specialists, who over the decades we have obtained from India, the Phillippines, sometimes from Africa and mainly from Cuba. Out of the blue, now we are being called human traffickers…because we hire technical people, who we pay top dollar equal to local rates…but we are now being accused of taking part in the programme where people are being exploited; that’s somebody’s interpretation,” the prime minister explained.
“And of course there are local people here encouraging them to take away our US Visas,” he added.
The prime minister gave the assurance however that under his tenure, no such thing would flourish.
“I just came back from California and if I never go back there in my life, I would ensure that the sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago is known to its people and respected by all.”
Expansion of Visa restriction policy for individuals ‘exploiting Cuban labour’
In a press release dated February 25, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the expansion of an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labor linked to the Cuban labor export program.
He explained that the policy applies to current or former Cuban government officials and other individuals, including foreign government officials, who are believed to be responsible for or involved in the Cuban labor export program, particularly Cuba’s overseas medical missions.
The policy also applies to the immediate family of such persons.
Be the first to comment on "PM defends healthcare system, addresses reports of ‘exploitation’"