AG CONTRADICTS THE IMMIGRATION MINISTER

Brent Symonette, the Minister for Immigration, stood outside last Tuesday’s cabinet meeting on 16 April and said that the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill now circulating in draft by Law Reform Commissioner Dame Anita Allen was in fact premature. He said that it was mistakenly released to the public on the Attorney General’s website. It gave the impression of a government in chaos, the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. He said that Immigration had not finished its comments on the bill and that only after that would the bill be ready for consultation. You ask yourself why Minister of the government attack another department in that manner. Two days did not go by when we got another shock. Dame Anita Allen published her own statement saying that she had indeed been given the permission of the Cabinet to start the consultations. The Attorney General Carl Bethel issued his own statement saying that the Cabinet had in fact authorized the release of the draft for public consultations. Mr. Symonette must have been sleeping that day in Cabinet. He must also have ignored the words of the Prime Minister who told the press himself that the Government was listening to the public feedback on the bill. What does one do with Brent Symonette though? He is worth 156 million dollars and everyone has their eyes on that and their hands reaching out for his money. So, in the FNM days and times it’s not the people’s time like they wish us to believe but it is Brent’s time so nothing will happen.