BORROWING the title of Devon Seales’s calypso to appeal to the population to ensure their safety in this pandemic has landed the Prime Minister in hot water with the Opposition.

Leader of the United National Congress (UNC) Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she was “disappointed” by Dr Rowley’s reference to the song’s title to make his point.

She described Rowley’s use of one word from the title, Don’t Jack--s the Scene, as “obscene.”

She said from her party’s Monday night Virtual Report platform that Rowley possessed neither the calypso licence nor poetic licence to make such utterances and as Prime Minister should be more circumspect.

“Every time he speaks he blames everybody else, but he got covid too.

“PM, how can you use that obscene language in the public domain? Is that the kind of language you would teach your children? Don’t you know that children listen when you speak?

“When you have to use that language, you quote from a calypso so that you have calypso licence, you have poetic licence. No, no, no. You are not a calypsonian. As much as you may want to kicks off and kicks off and become one, you are not.

“Do your job. You are the prime minister of the country and we are very disappointed in you.”

In the face of rising covid19 cases and deaths, Rowley, saying he had been a follower of calypso since his primary school days, drew from two of the country’s well-known calypsonians, Brother Mudada and Seales, to appeal to citizens to obey the health regulations and the SoE restrictions.

The use of the word "jack--s"" also drew strong condemnation from leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots, Watson Duke.

Duke accused Rowley of “cursing the population.” He said while the word is used in local parlance, it was unparliamentary language and not fit to be used by a prime minister, especially when dealing with such a serious issue.

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