IS CAMILLE BELIEVABLE?


Okay. It's not only a new year but it is an election year. Before the end of this year there will be a general election in Trinidad & Tobago and a Presidential election in the United States.  For most people in the world the American election is obviously the more important and even down here there will be a lot of attention paid to everything that is going on in the world's most important super power. But, regardless of what happens up north the looming general elections in good old T&T will be uppermost in the minds of our citizenry.

And there is a lot to digest what with everything that has happened in the last four years; what with the closure of Petrotrin, the demonetization of the old one hundred dollar bills, the question of whether the police were right to descend upon an old lady who publicized a secretly recorded conversation with a sitting Member of Parliament that showed that the erstwhile MP was deliberatly refusing Government assistance to a citizen based on that citizen's alleged political support for the opposition UNC, the out of control crime situation, the collapsing health care system and the firing of a foreign doctor who publicised the terrible conditions in the San Fernando General Hospital, the flooding in South Trinidad and the apparent lack of any real response to the woes of thousands of citizens as a result, and the list goes on.

But what is more than interesting is the question of what exactly happened with the erstwhile former Minister of Planning, Camille Robinson-Regis when she deposited some $143,000 in cash and said that it came from another bank account. Unfortunately for the goodly Minister, the reports in the newspapers suggest that the monies did NOT come from the bank account that she said that it came from. Added to the mix is a statement from the Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago when he said some two years ago that HE saw a letter from Republic Bank which said that the $143,000 in cash came from that bank.  Unfortunately, to date that alleged letter has not been produced.

The Express newspaper has published a report that raises some pretty serious questions over this whole affair. Mrs. Robinson-Regis has responded by effectively saying that she has done nothing wrong and that all of her critics, and especially the Express, can go to that proverbial hot place ruled by the Devil and not pass 'Go' or collect $200 while on their way!

I'm sorry, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then the odds of it being a pussycat are slim indeed.  And Mrs. Robinson-Regis should be aware that very ugly (and what should be most unnecessary) suspicions are being raised by her reluctance and seeming refusal to explain clearly her source of funds. The fact that the Prime Minister as well as the Attorney General have stood by her non-explanations hasn't helped the public perception that something is not right.  In fact, the public pronouncements of Dr. Rowley have only served to deepen the suspicion that there is some sort of cover up going on.

Look, Mrs. Robinson-Regis may very well have done nothing wrong and there may be a very simple explanation for where these monies came from. And this $143,000 may very well be entirely legitimate. But to date there hasn't been any good explanation of where the money came from. And that's the problem! Why can't we get an explanation? So? My questions to you are: in all of this do you think that Camille is believable? Do you think that she has done nothing wrong? Do you think that this matter is a relatively simple one and should have been brought to a conclusion one way or the other some time ago? Or do you think that there is something there that needs a proper explanation? Conversely, do you think that there is nothing there?