Less than eight hours after a group of Santa Flora residents, calling themselves People for Progress, took possession of a PNM constituency office in Santa Flora yesterday, their MP Nicole Olivierre visited them and tried to pacifiy the situation.
Around 4 pm yesterday, Olivierre, also Energy Minister, visited the group, led by chairman Victor Roberts, who had set up a tent, plastic chairs and moved onto the property yesterday with their pots and ‘firecracker’ stoves yesterday morning. The group had made a public call to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to ‘disclipline’ Olivierre as they said she was not behaving properly.
In an interview with the T&T Guardian in the morning period, Roberts said the action had become necessary as the community has not been getting representation from Olivierre. “It has become necessary to resort to this type of action. We wrote to the Minister (of Energy) and MP since January 6, 2016, seeking an urgent meeting with her concerning the problems facing the community such as the unemployment, the road conditions, the drainage and other problems we have in the community,” Roberts said.
“We received a call Friday gone from the MP’s office requesting a meeting for Saturday which we considered to be very much disrespectful and as a result of that the committee has met in emergency session and we have taken a decision that we are going to wait at this constituency office until we get somebody to address the concerns that we are having.”
However, Roberts said Olivierre’s disrespect to the community warrants Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s intervention.
“We are not sure that Ms Olivierre is the person to speak with at this time, based on the disrespect she has shown to us. So we are calling on the Honourable Prime Minister to appoint someone. We know the PM has some problems with his security detail and he may not be able come South because of that.
“But other than that, he is quite competent and capable to appoint someone to hear what are our problems.”
He said the group will remain firm in its stance but said they were not there to embarrass Olivierre.
“Mind you, we want to keep it peaceful and all we want to work for is a common good in the community and the constituency, we are not here to make the minister look bad. But if she behaved in a manner that she needs to be disciplined, then so be it.
“But we intend to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the community and constituency of La Brea, which has been neglected over all the years, some sort of relief come to the people in this community. That is our position.”
Olivierre’s office manager, Gillian Jeremiah, and her advisor, Junior Thompson, visited the office and spoke to the group, but Roberts dismissed the conversation as a casual one, saying neither party has the authority to address any issue facing the community.
Roberts said if the group gets no response to their action, they intend to set up camp outside the MP’s sub- office in Rancho Quemado and then at the constituency office in La Brea next.
“You need to remember, in every struggle and every war, there are strategies and techniques and we have some. So probably, the strategy might be that from here we occupy the tent in Rancho Quemado and from there we put a next tent at the constituency office in La Brea proper.”
Olivierre responds
Contacted yesterday before her meeting with the protestors, La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre said she was on her way to visit with the protestors.
She said she did not understand why Roberts was saying she was unavailable as she lives less than a mile away from the office where Roberts set up camp.
“I live one mile from where he (Roberts) has put up his tent, so I don’t understand why he says I am so unreachable,” Olivierre said. “If he thought it was necessary to go to these lengths to get attention, he is going to get the attention.”
She said Roberts refused to attend a meeting that was set up by her office last Saturday.
“We scheduled him and he chose not to make the meeting, it wasn’t as if we told him to come out and then we cancelled.”
She said that Roberts should understand she has a very trying schedule and could not meet with his group sooner.
“He must understand that I have been out of the country for quite some time on state business. During the week I do have work to do at the Ministry of Energy. It’s not that I am refusing to meet with constituents.”
On the issues plaguing the community, from bad drainage to lack of proper play parks for children, Olivierre said, “I have been working with the Minister of Works. Subsequent to that, I had a team from PURE come down and look at all the roads in the constituency. They have a clear idea of what repairs need to be done in the constituency. We have an idea of what the cost, how long it is going to take.”