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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
House Speaker Barendra Sinanan is trying to prevent the Opposition from having a voice at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meeting in Malaysia, says Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Persad-Bissessar said she was advised by Parliament staff that there was no accommodation for her at the hotels in Malaysia for the annual CPA conference scheduled for August 1. She was also told that, if she were going to the conference, she would have to pay for her accommodation as well as an additional $6,000 for her travel ticket to Malaysia. This is the first time that the Opposition is faced with such a hurdle as, in previous years, all costs for a delegation to the CPA, which comprises the Speaker, a Government member and an Opposition member are paid for by the Government. After being told that there were no hotel rooms, Persad-Bissessar made personal enquiries to three of the four hotels listed in the package of information for the CPA conference. Reservations agents at all three hotels indicated that there were rooms available. She said the excuse that a name was submitted late was not good enough. |
