(Trinidad Guardian) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said he does not “knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament”.
Rowley made the statement yesterday while talking to TV6 news and defending his relationship with business Nazim Baksh the owner of A&V Oil and Gas.
“I am not aware that Mr Baksh got his business by his friendship with me. When I got to know Mr Baksh he was already in this business and doing well…so it is not a question of he got his business from his friendship with me,” Rowley said.
“If there is wrongdoing identify the wrongdoing and hold people accountable, I don’t know that we should be overdoing it and I am not afraid of identifying the people I associate with because I do not knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the Government will need to exercise restraint as it prepares for the upcoming 2017/2018 Budget.
“There has to be discipline. As much as we would like to do a lot of things, we have to do the things that must be done,” he said.
On Friday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that the national budget will be held on October 2.
Speaking to reporters during a health fair at Diego Martin Boys’ RC School, in his constituency, Rowley said the country’s dire economic circumstances demanded that the Government be prudent and disciplined in its approach.
