NEWSDAY APRIL 08, 2K14 Opposition MPs query Minister’s qualifications By JULIEN NEAVES and CLINT CHAN TACK Monday, April 7 2014 click on pic to zoom in QUESTIONS: Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine seen here speaking during the House of Representatives Question Time last Friday, had his qualifications c... QUESTIONS: Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine seen here speaking during the House of Representatives Question Time last Friday, had his qualifications c... OPPOSITION MPs Colm Imbert and Terrence Deyalsingh have questioned the qualifications of Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine noting he is not listed on the register of registered engineers in this country .Imbert first raised the issue while contributing to debate in the Lower House on Friday on the Finance Bill 2014 at Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Port-of-Spain. He noted that Ramnarine has boasted that he is a qualified engineer. “I have looked on the register of registered engineers in Trinidad and Tobago and the name Kevin Ramnarine does not appear,” Imbert said. House Speaker Wade Mark noted that Ramnarine did say he was a petroleum engineer, “as opposed to being an engineer” and warned Imbert not to make any personal charges against a member (of the House). “You want to raise anything about qualifications? Bring a substantive motion. You (are) reflecting on a member’s character and that is not permitted in an ordinary debate,” Mark chided. Imbert noted that he (Imbert) is a registered and qualified engineer and has been a member of the Civil Institute of Chartered Engineers of the UK. Speaker Mark stepped in again, reminding Imbert not to make any personal charges and cautioned him not to breach Standing Orders. “Even if you are not speaking, by making remarks you are in violation of the Standing Orders,” he stressed. Imbert noted that he qualified to be a chartered engineer in 1983 after performing a course of training with a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Engineers in the UK and after graduating with his Bachelor’s Degree in civil engineering in 1979. He told Parliament he was also a member of various engineer associations and has sought to maintain his registration as a registered engineer in Trinidad and Tobago, which also applies to the medical, accounting and legal profession. “And I am fed up of people in this country with their false papers and their false claims of qualifications, claiming to be members of a profession. Fed up of it,” Imbert slammed. He said Caroni East MP Dr Tim Goopesingh would not be happy if, “some quack was claiming to be a medical doctor”, or Tunapuna MP Winston Dookeran would similarly not be happy if, “some quack” was claiming to be an economist. During his contribution to debate on the Finance Bill 2014, St Joseph MP Terrence Deyalsingh said: “To be called a professional in your sphere of knowledge, you have to have a first degree in that field.” He noted that Imbert has a masters degree in civil law but cannot be registered as a lawyer because he does not have a first degree in law. Saying that Ramnarine is not listed on the charter of registered engineers in the country, Deyalsingh opined: “He can’t call himself an engineer because he does not have a first degree in his discipline. He has a masters. His first degree is in chemistry.” “He is not an engineer no more than Mr Imbert, who has a masters in civil law, can call himself a lawyer,” Deyalsingh said. Earlier in the sitting, Works Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said Ramnarine’s masters degree in petroleum engineering and his bachelor’s degree in business administration made him qualified to be energy minister.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:03:19 +0000
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