Amendments to the Children's Life Fund Act have been passed by the House of Representatives.
The first bill of the new Parliament, introduced by the UNC-led Government.., faced strong opposition from the PNM.. over the Health Minister's new power to review rejected applications.
The Government.. says this move is necessary.. after failures under the former PNM administration.
00:00Honorable members, the question is that a bill entitled an act to amend the Children's Life Fund Act, Chapter 2901, be now read a third time and passed.
00:09Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against say no. The ayes have it.
00:18The Speaker of the House, Jagdeo Singh, on Friday night as he made his first announcement of the passage of legislation in the House of Representatives in the new term of the Parliament.
00:28The 2025 amendments to the Children's Life Fund Act were piloted by Health Minister Dr. Lachram Boudou.
00:36It gives the minister the power to review the rejected applications, not necessarily to change the outcome of the decision, Mr. Speaker, but to ensure that there is some oversight when citizens feel aggrieved.
00:50Opposition MP Stuart Young, a former prime minister, questioned why the first bill in the Parliament's new term gives what he calls a superpower to the health minister.
00:59He is a medically qualified doctor. What if that changes tomorrow? What if that changes and the member for Barataria Sawa finds himself there?
01:11And he is now found in a position with an emergency situation. Is he to ignore the advice of this body set up by the legislation for obvious good reasons?
01:25This body that is set up called the life unit with the experts.
01:29Opposition MP Dr. Naird Gatsby-Dolley, a former education minister, spoke about the amount of state funds involved.
01:36If the question is that a denial should have a chance to be relooked, then there are other ways, established ways that already exist in the public service,
01:46that can assist to make it into a more formal process, a more transparent process, because it is not chicken seed that we are dealing with.
01:56It's tens of millions of dollars. And as the member for Port of Spain, North, St. Dan's, West raised, there have been issues of fraud associated with this already.
02:06Prime Minister Kamala Pesad-Besessa defended the amendments, highlighting the urgency behind the changes.
02:12The member for Port of Spain, North, quoted some article, but he didn't quote an article from the expressly, did March 2nd, 2016.
02:22Baby Miracles' six-week fight for life ended at 3.30 a.m. yesterday.
02:29I'm quoting here with your leave, sir.
02:31Five hours later, the Children's Life Fund told her parents that funding for their daughter's surgery had been approved.
02:40Five hours after the child had already died.
02:44The Prime Minister also recalled the legal challenge by her party while it was in opposition with regard to another rejected application in 2017.
02:53The PNM was prepared to refuse a child's life-saving treatment, but instead preferred, wanted to, to line the pockets of their friends, their finances,
03:03the eater food lawyers, the eater food lawyers in this country.
03:06That is not malice, Mr. Speaker.
03:08That is true.
03:09That is true, but it's also evil.
03:12They chose their friends.
03:14They chose their friend to brief.
03:18Mr. Amor, who later became the Attorney General, they chose them.
03:23Today, we choose our children.
03:25We choose our children.
03:26The 2025 amendments also expanded the Children's Life Fund to cover 28 additional life-limiting diseases,
03:35a significant increase from its original focus on children with only life-threatening illnesses.
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