Businessman and restaurateur Peter George says Attorney General John Jeremie’s statements in Parliament on Wednesday about the “1%” group in society was an “attack” that was met with dismay.In a WhatsApp statement to the Express last evening, he said: “I am out of the country and have not had appropriate time to speak to many people. What I can say is that there is a profound sense of dismay at the recent attack that has come from the second highest office in the land. Such dialogue is not merely divisive, but dangerous. Some time will be needed to process this before any formal response.”
‘Dangerous’ dialogue: Peter George
Meanwhile, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) corporate secretary Gary Aboud said yesterday that when the Government talked about the “1%”, it was being racist.In a telephone interview with the Express, Aboud said, “They are picking on Syrian/Lebanese and it is racism. There is no reason to be comparing wealth and race.”He used Coosal’s Construction Company Ltd and Bhagwansingh’s as examples of other groups in Trinidad and Tobago who are successful business owners.Aboud’s United States visa was revoked last November. In a media release that month, he said this revocation came after he raised serious concerns about whether foreign powers and even the T&T Government were attempting to intimidate or punish civil society voices that spoke out. Aboud said at the time, for 28 years FFOS has championed equity, justice, sustainable development, and the protection of vulnerable grassroots and coastal communities.“Today, however, we face an alarming reality: NGOs are being silenced. NGOs are not enemies of the State; we are a critical pillar of any functioning democracy. Without an independent civil society holding power to account, there can be no transparency, no oversight, and no protection against abuses of authority,” he said in that media release.Recalling the revocation last November, Aboud said he “welcomed the loss” and had no regrets about it.“I would give my legs and my arms to save the lives of those who are being murdered with the blessing of the T&T Government on the sea in our region without trial, without any process of law,” he said.Aboud continued, “Now most recently the embarrassing fiasco of our Prime Minister embracing and endorsing the murder of our Middle Eastern Muslim brothers in Iraq, our Prime Minister, and her Government are working closely with the US Ambassador, and I have no doubt that they are responsible for the revocation of my visa, but I welcome that loss, if it would expose the murderous regime of the United States government, who are simply stealing Iraq’s future and robbing them of their oil.”He stressed that murder was still murder, and believes it’s embarrassing that T&T has been drawn in to “support these murders of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and of our innocent and vulnerable”.And former Arima mayor Ghassan Youseph yesterday posted on Facebook: “You think you and I could just walk in to the AG office to tell him something that has nothing to do with his work. Maybe it is a 1% meeting to see about themselves.”When contacted for comment, chairman of Global Brands Group of Companies Mario Sabga-Aboud opted not to, as he was out of the country. Also contacted for comment was ANSA McAL’s marketing and external communication team, but the conglomerate said it had no comment at this time.On Wednesday, Jeremie disclosed that the US government had revoked the visas of certain members of the “1%” in T&T.
