(Trinidad Guardian) ON Monday July 1, Housing Roodal Moonilal announced to reporters his “ intention” to approach “in a day or two” the “editor and owners of the Guardian”.
This was with respect to what he described as a campaign being waged by one of its reporters “to hound me down” which had led among other things to his security “now been threatened”.
Moonilal was at the time speaking to reporters following a land distribution ceremony at Centre Pointe Mall in Chaguanas and was responding to a series of articles querying his use of a Range Rover leased for the Housing Development Corporation at a monthly rental of $24,000.
The Housing Minister however yesterday strenuously denied that he met with members of the ANSA McAL board on July 5. This denial would mean that he never followed up on the intention.
An Express article published on Thursday stated a source claimed that two Ministers had met with the Guardian board to exert pressure on the newspaper and threatened to pull advertisements.
The Prime minister has said she asked her Cabinet Ministers and they all denied meeting the board.
Moonilal said yesterday: “I find the story (Express story) most amusing and almost surreal. The Guardian through their official Mr (Gabriel) Faria, he has said that no minister attended any meeting or sought to influence the Guardian. The ministers have said no, but yet there are other voices somewhere, believe, yes. I find that almost surreal. Like all the ministers at present, I had no dealings with the Guardian or the owners or the editor or anything.”
The Minister said although he may not agree with everything published on him or the People’s Partnership Government, he supported press freedom.
Moonilal said yesterday: “They have written stories, some I like, some I may object to, but that is how it is. That is the nature of the game. Not every story on the Government or myself I appreciate, but they have the right. I have always respected the right of journalists to perform their duties and while I may object to a story I go no further. I register my objection, but that is the end of it. I openly speak to journalists on the streets like you. I speak to no one else above you. So all my contact is with journalists in this type of forum. I have never had any contact with editors and managers and all these types of people. In fact, I didn’t know who was the manager.”
Last week Monday, July 1, at the land distribution ceremony in Chaguanas, responding to the stories on his use of the Rover vehicle, he complained that the Guardian’s Range Rover articles had put his security at risk and that persons were bombarding him wherever he went.
The Minister said then: “When we obtained permission for everything we have, there were very, very serious conditions. There were 25 conditions associated with those vehicles which we obtained and we try our best to abide with. So that I am very disturbed. The reporter who is doing that as you know, her name was called in the Parliament by Dr Keith Rowley,…he sought to defend her. This is the reporter (Denyse Renne) Dr Rowley suggested that Government Ministers were planning to kill I think. So she was the target of an attempted murder, according to Dr Rowley, by Cabinet Ministers and this very reporter now is on a campaign to hound me down, where my security is now threatened, and I would ask the editor and the owners of the Guardian. I intend to approach them in a day or two and I intend to take the copies of letters that the security agencies have written on this matter that we are now in a position where we have to change vehicles and so on.”
The vehicle that is leased by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is no longer being used by Moonilal.
On the issue of the vehicle, he said yesterday: “The vehicle is not being used. It is parked up I believe, somewhere, but I am not using the vehicle because of the security situation now. There were a lot of people assembling by the vehicle in Port of Spain and it created a bit of an inconvenience and also a problem for us when we were moving. I have no further comment to make on that. We have to move on so that is behind us.”
The vehicle is being leased until February 2014 and Moonilal said, “It may be used by someone else.”
He said in the past the HDC has provided transportation for ministers. He said when he became the minister, “The HDC provided me with the same support that they provided for former ministers. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Moonilal is now using another vehicle which he claims is privately owned.
He said, “On the campaign we do not use Government vehicles. Those vehicles we use of the State are for conducting the business of the government. We are not conductGng the business of the Government now, we are conducting a campaign so we use private vehicles for that.”
Moonilal, deputy leader of the United National Congress (UNC), is assisting with the campaign in the Chaguanas West by-election.
