UNC candidate for St Augustine and former MP Khadijah Ameen expressed her confidence in not only retaining the seat but also in her party winning government on election day, April 28. She addressed her campaign launch and interfaith service at her former home at Mc Inroy Street, Curepe, on April 6.
Those present included close family members plus former Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram plus local councillors Racquel Ghany, Seema Ramsaran-Augustine, Richard Ramsaran and J-Lynn Roopnarine, with the meeting chaired by attorney Kalena Maharajh.
Ameen said, "I am confident we will bring home St Augustine.
"We are going into government, I am sure of it." She said she thanked God for ten years of PNM government, to let the country now appreciate just how good a prime minister UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had been in her term of 2010-2015. Ameen expected Persad-Bissessar to be returned as PM on April 28.
Despite saying the UNC would not yet know the exact state of the Treasury, she was confident Persad-Bissessar would be able to create new jobs if elected PM.
>
Vowing "to work like a beast," Ameen nonetheless said constituency activists represented her and so must be equitable in their handling of constituents, rather than just helping friends and family.
She quoted Persad-Bissessar's recent promise, "I will remove anyone who is not working."
For her part Ameen, said she had sat down with farmers to discuss their concerns about praedial larceny plus the state of agricultural access roads.
"We are on the road to victory," she stormed, "To put back Kamla Persad-Bissessar."
Many speakers paid tribute to Ameen's humility plus her resoluteness.
Ratiram said Ameen had never been in a position where she had backed down from a confrontation.
"She was never caught off guard, but always in a state of readiness. She has been a fighter for social justice from day one."
He recalled her bravely standing up to save squatters from demolition at Spring Village.
"She had fire in her belly and steel in her back.
>
"As a councillor she stood up against bulldozers, police and dictators."
Ratiram said Ameen personified the fight against evil and injustice.
"Today when you see the darkness in the nation, it is really a fight for goodness for the people."
He hailed Ameen for taking a page from Persad-Bissessar's book, to place God first and then go bravely.
"Your MP represents bringing together people from all walks of life and then working together for goodness.
"On April 28 we will be victorious."
St Augustine UNC constituency chairman Amit Mahabir said Ameen was "always on the ground, always on the phone, and always in Parliament."
Pastor Bobby Mohammed of St Augustine Community Church contrasted Ameen to many renown people who like to be addressed by their various titles of office.
"Everybody knows our MP as Khadijah. We don't know her as anything else. That says a lot about her humility."
>
Maharajh chimed in, "She has kept in touch with each and every one of us. She never forgot where she came from."
Pundit Mayank Ramgoolie of the Ramgoolie Sewala Temple, Curepe, hailed Ameen's kindness, humanity, diligence and integrity.
"She is a very just person. She tries to get justice for all."
Ghany hailed Ameen for once having been able to juggle being a councillor, employee and part-time university student.
"She is a firebrand and a fighter for the people of TT." Ghany said many people could attest to Ameen's resilience and determination.
The councillor said that like Persad-Bissessar, Ameen was a passionate advocate for women.
"She is passionate about education as a tool for empowerment." Ghany recalled Ameen mentoring youth at the Youth Training Centre (YTC) and representing TT at a UN women's conference. Saying Ameen would go from a function in Sangre Grande to one in South Trinidad within the same day, Ghany mulled, "Where does Khadijah get her energy from?"
