NO TEARS AS ISHMAEL GOES OUT OF BUSINESS

POLITICAL activist Inshan Ishmael is closing down his 20-year auto business – but many people are not distressed. 

In fact, some supporters of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar are insisting that Ishmael is getting his comeuppance. 

They recall that Persad-Bissessar, as Prime Minister, had granted Ishmael’s Islamic organisation a parcel of just under 10 acres of land adjoining the Divali Nagar, along the Uriah Butler Highway. 

The land has been turned into an Islamic commercial bazaar. 

Ishmael announced that after two decades of selling roll-on-roll-off vehicles and auto parts, he is shutting down his business at Bamboo Village, called ROC. 

He blamed “discriminatory practices by the banks and ministers calling shots for friends and family.” 

He said that he “cannot even get funds to import three cars a month” but that “others can import Mercedes Benz, Range Rover, BMW, Lexus by the dozens.” 

He questioned: “Where is the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit)?” 

Some commentators on social media said they had no sympathy for Ishmael, branding him an ingrate and noting that his business is folding up under the PNM Administration. 

Ishmael has been a consistent and bitter vocal critic of Ms. Persad-Bissessar and the UNC. 

He has been accused of campaigning against UNC election candidates, especially in Chaguanas, and personally attacking certain politicians of that party. 

One person on social media claimed that in recent years Ishmael’s business had contracted in size because of a boycott by prospective auto buyers.