By RICHARDSON DHALAI Monday, May 3 2010

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ALLIANCE: Roodal Moonilal of the UNC, left, and former judge, Herbert Volney, right, in informal talks at yesterday's presentation of the UNC/COP Alli...

WITH the general election just over three weeks away, Oropouche East candidate Dr Roodal Moonilal, has alleged that the Patrick Manning administration has squandered just over $300 million in a bail-out of Air Jamaica.

Addressing thousands of supporters at the People’s Partnership coalition presentation of candidates at Mid-Centre Mall in Chaguanas yesterday, Moonilal described that transaction as “a spectacular and scandalous waste of public funds.”

“Imagine, at a time when Parliament is dissolved, in the wake of a general election, on the eve of a change in government, only 24 hours ago, the Manning government squandered another TT$315 million in a buy-out of Air Jamaica,” Moonilal said.

“Air Jamaica has a debt of TT$12 billion. Manning wants to own that airline by July 1, 2010,” he added. “He dissolved Parliament and bought an entire airline with nine airplanes. Now he has nine private jets! Take that! That is the contempt he has for the people...no debate in Parliament. No transparency.

“They alone know what is good for the nation. When we protested against one smelter, he said they building six! That is contempt! You the people raised your voice in protest when Manning tried to buy a private jet.

“Imbert told Parliament in February, 2010, that the government will not pump money into Air Jamaica. This after spending over $1 billion to restructure Caribbean Airline Limited,” Moonilal said.

Moonilal stated that with 173 citizens “brutally murdered” over the last 122 days, this amounted to a murder every 17 hours.

“This is our darkest hour. But weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,” he told the cheering crowd.

“The PNM is truly the Pirates of the Caribbean! They plunder the taxpayers’ hard earned dollars from the North West to the South West, from Alutrint to Petrotrin, from PM House to the Scarborough Hospital, from the Summit to the Lara Stadium, from CEPEP to YTEPP, from UTT to Udecott. They are drowning in incompetence and corruption. Now government ministries doing PNM ads on TV. They are obscene in their obscenity,” he added. “And in the midst of immense human tragedy unfolding every day before his very eyes in thousands of homes throughout the country and affecting the lives of so many citizens, what is Manning doing?

Throwing lavish and expensive vote-getting parties in his multi-million-dollar mansion. “Dancing the night away to the sound of Divine Echoes...is this not like Nero? Fiddling away while Rome burns. Is this not like Marie Antoinette while the people of Paris were clamouring for bread famously said ‘let them eat cake’,” Moonilal said.