PNM OUTRAGE OVER HINDS’ FB POST

EMBATTLED National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is getting no love from senior PNM colleagues over his contentious Facebook post after the Rose Hill shooting horror. 

Whatsapp chats making the rounds among some top party figures are sharply critical of Hinds’ comments. 

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is also said to be irritated by the post, which comes at a time when the local government election has been pushed back because of the ruling regime’s unpopularity among the masses. 

Hinds is facing strong criticisms from several PNM operatives, including General Council members, some of whom are calling for his removal from the Security Ministry as Trinidad and Tobago heads to a historic number of killings this year. 

One whatsapp discussion accused Hinds of being “insensitive.” 

Critics spoke of the emotional and psychological impact on students of being within earshot of gunplay. 

A prominent PNM activist who is closely related to a senior government minister termed Hinds “the very dunce Minister of National Security”, and called for his removal. 

In his inflammatory post, Hinds downplayed the response of a teacher and students at Rose Hill R.C. School, Laventille, as gunshots rained nearby. 

The video recording of the criminal was “quite misleading” he said. 

The minister stated there were previous similar incidents, and the school authorities “practice a routine of getting down whenever gunshots are heard.” 

Education Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly took a more compassionate approach and acknowledged that the school community was traumatised. 

Express newspaper asked rhetorically: “How dense could Minister Hinds be to have clearly missed the point of the public’s pain arising as a direct result of this incident?” 

Guardian newspaper said Hinds “is good… at putting his foot in his mouth,” adding that he has “one of the lowest credibility and public confidence ratings in T&T.”