NAPARIMA College was transformed into a sea of yellow on Monday night, as the United National Congress (UNC) launched its slate of candidates for the local government elections on August 14.
Among them, Vanessa Kussie, the wife of Rishi Nagessar one of the underwater welders who died in the Paria tragedy on February 25, last year, and local entertainer John Michael Alibocas known as Makamillion.
Kussie's husband, along with divers Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Jr, Yusuf Henry and Christopher Boodram were sucked into an undersea pipeline by a vortex created by a surge of water pressure known as a Delta P while conducting repairs at a Paria marine facility in Pointe-a-Pierre. Boodram escaped but the other four men died.
Kussie will be contesting one of the new seats in the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, while Makamillion will be seeking to secure the seat for the UNC in Marabella West, on the San Fernando City Corporation.
[caption id="attachment_1022942" align="alignnone" width="1024"] UNC supporters at the party's presentation of its local government candidates at Naparima College on Monday night. - Roger Jacob[/caption]
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar confirmed that the UNC has formed a coalition with the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) and the Movement for National Development (MND). The group will be fielding candidates in all 14 corporations on August 14.
Before a vibrant audience which filled every space in the school’s auditorium, Persad-Bissessar asserted that, more than ever, the country need the new coalition to mend the broken pieces that the PNM has inflicted on the nation for the past eight years.
She reminded them of the 1986 accommodation which resulted in a resounding victory for the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) and again in 2010 with the People's Partnership (PP).
“Are you ready and are you willing to make the country whole again?" she asked, receiving a resounding yes.
She acknowledged there were many sceptics who were questioning the value of local elections which they felt was a waste of time.
She said some were saying to come and vote for them and, in return, the electorate would get property tax and inheritance tax.
“Tax in your face, tax in your waist and tax all over the place, whether it is property tax, tire tax, online tax, you name it.”
[caption id="attachment_1022943" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Vanessa Kussie, 48, widow of Rishi Nagessar, one of the divers killed in last year's Paria tragedy, walks across the stage as the UNC local government candidate for Couva West Roystonia Naparima College in San Fernando, on Monday night. - Roger Jacob[/caption]
She warned the audience and the nation not to be fooled by "PNM lies" that the election was about local government reform, she said it was about tax and more tax.
“I want to tell you my vision when you come out to vote on August 14, what you are voting for our children and our future.
“Don’t think this is simple thing about UNC and PNM. What I said before, we must gl
