Laventille MP praises PNM as she bows out

Juhel Browne jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com
Wednesday, August 29th 2007

In her final contribution to a Budget debate in Parliament, Laventille West MP Eulalie James has said the people of her constituency have only truly lived well when the People's National Movement was in power.

"We were at the point when the last Government was in power, where the people of Laventille, they weren't getting any kind of work at all, anywhere. They were left out of the loop and when the PNM came back in power things started to move again for the people of Laventille. And I hope that they will not forget that," James said.

James also praised Prime Minister Patrick Manning for the creation of the Community Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) and said that no matter what party wins an election, it will always continue with the good programmes initiated before it takes office.

"And I am sure you are seeing that the PNM Government is doing a very wonderful job. You cannot gainsay the fact that we are doing well," James said.

James, who will not be contesting the Laventille West seat in the upcoming General Election, bid farewell to her fellow Parliamentarians during her contribution to the debate on the 2008 Budget during the House of Representatives sitting at the Red House, Port of Spain, on Monday night.

"It is my last Budget presentation in this House and it has really been a pleasure serving with members in this House," James said, to the sound of desk thumping from the MPs present.

In an exclusive Express report on June 18, James had indicated that she was bowing out of the election race because of the difficulty she has moving around the hilly Laventille constituency since the amputation of her left leg in 2005.

James lost her left leg due to diabetes and it took her six months to recover from the surgery she underwent in Cuba to be well enough to return to sittings of the Lower House on September 5, 2005, with the use of crutches.

Despite, the amputation, James continued to serve in the Parliament and serve her constituents.

On Monday night, James said the one thing that bothered her as she came to the end of her 13-year career as an MP, were the statements made by Opposition Tabaquite MP Adesh Nanan concerning what the United National Congress did when it was in power from 1995 to 2001.
"But I want to tell the Member from Tabaquite that government is continuous and if something is good, we don't expect the other government to just throw it away. They will build on it and continue," James said.

She then added: "So, it is nothing to boast of because when you are there you do your share. When somebody else is there, they do theirs."

James said that examples of the good work the PNM administration is doing can be seen all over this country in the form of the Waterfront Development Project and CEPEP.

"I must say thanks to the Prime Minister for his foresight to bring a programme like CEPEP on stream because that programme is assisting to keep this country so clean that when visitors visit our land they will have good things to say about Trinidad and Tobago," she said.

Yes yuh dotish cont. The people of fockin Laventille really living well. I so glad to hear that. And it is the first statement made by a PNM MP that could really be considered serious.

I hope Laventille continue to live well. I hope the good people of Laventille continue to fockin shoot and kill one another every day. This will certainly reduce the amount of niggas and PNM votes for the next year. And this trend only started when the PNM took office in 2001. So all praise and thanks to the Balisier.

And oh we have to give thanks and praise to Lord Manning for introducing the CEPEP programme. What a wonderful feeling it is for niggas up in Laventille to fantasize that the upcomin lil nigglets will be given a whacker when they turn 18.

Off course that is immediately after the Early Childhood Teefing Centers. By primary school age they should be able to teef ah fockin microwave from ah coolie kitchen and stuff it in dey jockey shorts whilst running faster than fockin Ato Boldon with two fockin zaboca in dey hand.

Yes O Yes Laventille is really moving again and in the fockin loop.

How bright Eu la "loli."