EDITOR: Seeing that Mr Panday and his UNC party are so annoyed about the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, could they please give an explanation to the national community about the top ranking Jamaat member who ran for the UNC in the Local Government Elections in the Tacarigua area and who was made Programme Manager of the URP by the UNC for the Arima region, and who subsequently worked very prominently up to the last General Elections with the UNC’s Arouca South candidate, not to mention other Jamaat members who worked closely with several other UNC candidates. It seems Mr Panday and the UNC are now conveniently trying to distance themselves from the fact that they employed almost the entire Jamaat leadership in top positions in the URP programme along the East/West corridor between 1995-2001.

It even reached so far that a top Jamaat figure [implicated in arms smuggling to Trinidad] publicly threatened the UNC Minister of Finance outside of Whitehall, on national TV, after a financial deal or project between them turned sour. Mr Panday must also remember that he had no problems working very closely with Mr Raffique Shah who was charged with very serious crimes, just like Mr Abu Bakr.

In fact Mr Editor, Abu Bakr sat in a VIP Box next to Mr Panday for an entire Carnival show without any objection by Mr Panday and later when people objected, the UNC said there is nothing wrong with that and abandoned an investigation they were pressured into carrying out into the matter.

Mr Editor it seems like Mr Panday and the UNC need to get an issue where they have much more credibility on, than their present whipping-horse the Jamaat.

KURT GARCIA
St James