AT almost 30 points across the country, the opposition United National Congress (UNC) led protests against the fuel price increase on Tuesday from about 6.30 am.
Tuesday was the day the price increase took effect, students returned to school, and many people returned to work after the long Easter weekend.
The protests were held along the highways and at major intersections.
A team from Newsday’s south office visited Debe roundabout, Gandhi Village roundabout and Gasparillo intersection off the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway.
Small groups of people dressed in yellow held placards with messages such as "Rowley must go," "Imbert must go," "Stop the painful increase now," and "Higher fuel prices equal higher utility rates," while chanting, “Enough is enough.
Speaking at the Debe roundabout, political leader of the UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar said too many things were happening in the country that had caused suffering to the population, and blamed the People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
She specifically lashed out against the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Colm Imbert for increasing the price of fuel, food inflation rates, alleged spying, crime, and closing Petrotrin, among other concerns.
[caption id="attachment_950415" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Opposition leader Kamla Persad Bissessar stand with supporters at the Debe roundabout as they stage protest action over the increase in the cost of fuel at the pump. Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Persad-Bissessar accused Rowley of avoiding the UNC’s call for information about decisions she described as “wicked policies by a wicked and incompetent government.”
She declared, “Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will meet in Parliament, and we shall be raising as matters of urgent public importance the hike in fuel prices, and we will also be raising increasing crime.
But, she added, “What does the Prime Minister do on this day? He jumped on a plane, duck and run. He gone Barbados. Tomorrow when we meet in Parliament it is supposed to be Prime Minister’s Questions, but he duck and run.”
Protesters in the background shouted, “He doesn’t care about citizens of his own country,” “He runs,” “He always ducking,” “He always ghosting the country,” and, “We all continue to suffer.”
Persad-Bissessar also accused the Government of using spyware to hack into electronic devices for sensitive data and spying through various social media platforms.
She said the hacking software Pegasus was used to get information about the planned action on Tuesday and showed a memo with a police logo about the protests.
An additional police document, Persad-Bissessar said, was received on Tuesday morning detailing the protest locations and identified a telephone number allegedly used to contact individuals to assemble at various points.
[caption id="attachment_950416" align="alignnone" width="1024"] UNC supporters stage protest action at Gandhi village Debe over the increase in fuel prices.
