Persad-Bissessar told her constituents she will “never stop speaking” for them and promised reliable water, healthcare, roads and education.
PENAL, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Saturday night that injuries her husband, Dr. Gregory Bissessar, suffered in a car crash during the 2025 election campaign still affect his walking, explaining why he was not at her side at the 29th annual Divali celebration at her Siparia constituency office.
The Prime Minister said the crash happened a few weeks before the April 28 election, as the couple were heading to a meeting in Sangre Grande and another vehicle ran into the side of their car. She said her husband has difficulty walking and does not like to appear in public in that condition, but that “his great spirit and immense brain power remain strong.” She called him her rock and thanked him for his courage, patience and love. She said she shared the matter because many in the audience also care for someone they love, and she turned to the Ramayana, recalling how Sita and Lakshman accompanied Rama into exile while their family bonds sustained them.
Persad-Bissessar used the celebration to pledge safer communities, effective services and opportunities that families can see and grasp. She said reliable water, accessible healthcare, properly maintained roads, education and chances to earn are the foundations of secure family life, and that the recent budget and the work of ministries must serve communities that have waited more than a decade. She said no community should have to plead to be seen by its own government, and that action against crime, corruption and neglect must protect the dignity and security of citizens. Recalling a conversation with the pundit who led the puja, she said the tongue is the part of the body used to fight for righteousness, and promised she will never stop speaking for the people.
She spoke of her roots across the road from the Penal Market, where she said she stood beside her grandmother selling vegetables such as bodi and baigan as a child. She recalled attending the Mohess Road Hindu School, which she said communities built in the days when such schools were called “cow sheds.” She marked 31 years as the area’s Member of Parliament and thanked constituents for standing by her through victories and defeats, including last year, when she said they “called your leader home.”
The celebration, hosted with the Siparia Women’s Association, drew government ministers, MPs, senators, local government representatives and members of the diplomatic corps, including Venezuela’s ambassador and India’s chargé d’affaires. Honorees were recognized for contributions in cricket, football, sewing and craft, public service and transportation, and agriculture. Four students who did very well in the recent SEA exams, Aurea Mahabir, Devina Dodal, Kadir Chung and Kavir Newton, were also recognized, among them the Prime Minister’s grandson Kavir.
This report draws on a transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech and reports from the Trinidad Guardian, the Trinidad Express and TTT News.