By Andre Bagoo Sunday, September 13 2009

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TOILET PAPER: Public Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh holds up toilet paper for Mayaro MP Winston 'Gypsy' Peters during the Budget debate o...

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THE BUDGET debate took on a whole new dimension on Friday night when Public Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh waved toilet paper at Mayaro MP Winston “Gypsy” Peters, after Peters lashed the Government’s 2010 Budget.

Swaratsingh, the MP for St Joseph, did so while nursing a lip wound which forced him to, several times, take out a bloodied handkerchief in the Parliament chamber in an effort to stem the bleeding.

The former priest and member of the Defence Force told Newsday after the sitting that his bleeding lip was self-inflicted.

“I bite my lip. I was just biting my nails and it happened,” he said.

At 6.57 pm, Swaratsingh rose to respond to the contribution of Peters. Holding up a folded wad of toilet paper, he said, “Madam Deputy Speaker, before I start on my own contribution, if my learned friend from Mayaro was in another profession, and this Parliament was Skinner Park, all now so I taking out my paper and waving it.”

Swaratsingh’s comments brought back memories of Peter’s 2002 appearance at Skinner Park, San Fernando, when he was pelted with toilet paper and ice shortly after joining the United National Congress.

Earlier in the debate, Peters had urged the Government to be more responsive to the needs of Mayaro, called for higher wages for CEPEP workers, criticised the hiring of Chinese labour in the public construction sector and urged the Government to review the funding of Carnival bodies like Pan Trinbago.

Peters said while he was Mayaro MP, he was also an “MP in Trinidad and Tobago, and so I try to represent as many people I can and people come to me from all over.

“I have grown to have great admiration for the people who work for CEPEP...We have to review the contract system and the remuneration of the workers. In other words, pay them better for the work that they can do in this country,” he said.

Referring to the hiring of a Chinese firm to revamp the facilities at Maracas beach on the north coast, Peters said, “Why do we have to use Chinese? What is this obsession with ‘Chinee’ people? If we want to use ‘Chinee’ let us use Chinese people here. If you have to build a toilet you bring Chinese!”

He urged the Government to take better care of Trinidad and Tobago’s culture, particularly its music. “It is time to review the disbursement practices to organisations like TUCO, Pan Trinbago and NCBA. We need to address them,” he said.