00:00As debate closed on the fireworks legislation in the Upper House,
00:04Opposition Senator Foster Cummings commended both sides for working together in the national interest.
00:11I once again welcome the willingness of the government on this occasion
00:17to take on board the views that were put forward by the opposition.
00:24We do not offer any additional amendments today, but suffice it to say it will augur well for us as a country
00:32if the government and the opposition can find common ground on a more frequent basis.
00:41Cummings said to often sound unworthy recommendations are dismissed simply because they come from the opposing bench.
00:48It is in all of our interests and certainly in the interests of Trinidad and Tobago
00:54that we work when it is necessary as a group to push the development of this country.
01:00We must come to the point where a change in government does not mean the abandonment of good work and good policy.
01:10And I don't rest that at the feet of the current government.
01:14I say it as a broad statement for all parliamentarians and all party politicians in or out of office.
01:24He noted that hundreds of millions of dollars are sometimes spent on projects that are abandoned
01:30when administrations change, sparking a shout from the government bench like the Coover Hospital.
01:36I myself look on at projects that are left like that and some of them.
01:46I am from Coover.
01:48You're not going to get any objection from me from a Coover Hospital.
01:52OK, I come from Coover and I know the value of having a hospital in Coover.
01:58And not because I sit on the PNM bench.
01:59I'm not afraid to see that.
02:01So I mean all projects that move towards the development of the people of Trinidad and Tobago
02:08should not be affected merely because of a change in government.
02:13Cummings said citizens benefit when leaders put aside partisan divisions.
02:18Everything is not about yellow and red, right?
02:22We seem to attach too much to that.
02:25We seem to attach too much to executive office.
02:29And how do we behave in executive office, Mr. President?
02:33Because there is no security of tenure.
02:36I remember not too long ago saying to that side, that's why we are here and you are there.
02:44And I've heard many of the members of the government now, you know, part in the same statement.
02:52That's why you are here and you are there.
02:53Because sometimes when you're in office, you feel that there is some, you know, you're not moving from here.
03:02He ended by urging all sides to continue finding common ground more often,
03:07saying the people of Trinidad and Tobago deserve nothing less.
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