Princes Town MP Barry Padarath has reiterated his call for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to produce the $350,000 roti bill or apologise, saying he has been inconsistent in his story and in his figures.
On a Local Government elections platform in San Fernando last Wednesday, Rowley quoted the $350,000 figure but in the Parliament on Friday, he said the vegetarian roti meal was $394,000.
He quoted Rowley as saying; “The actual roti on the plate was a quarter million ($250,000) and to put it from the mouth to the plate (cutlery, etc) was another $138,000.”
Padarath also slammed PNM PRO, Stuart Young, accusing him of purposely misleading the population on the issue of the roti bill for a 2014 Divali function hosted by the People’s Partnership.
Padarath said the 900 persons Young referred to as having attended the function at the Prime Minister’s residence was not the total amount of attendees which numbered 4,000.
The Princes Town MP said because of the volume of attendees, several caterers were used for the function and guests were split into two groups for both a dinner and a cultural show.
“Therefore any invoice showing catering for 900 people would have been based on the amount given to each caterer to provide a full meal of saheena, pholourie, channa, pumpkin, kurhi, rice, soya, bhagie, mango, chataigne, roti, cutlery and service charge”, he said.
Padarath said since Rowley’s disclosure , photographs have surfaced on social media, showing thousands of attendees at the particular function.
Padarath said the entire issue surrounding the function had serious undertones similar to the comments made prior to the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election. He said the population was not going to be fooled for a third time by divisive tactics as the UNC had a track record of delivery and was focused on continuing to work for the people of TT.
He urged the Government to focus on the economy, the creation of jobs and reduction in crime and food prices.
He called on the population to reject Rowley’s roti talk.