…. says humility, wisdom are character traits we must always ask of our Creator
Following the Simona Broomes’s (Jr Natural Resources Minister) confrontation with security guards at Providence, Health Minister Volda Lawrence on Tuesday apologised to one of the guards.
The guards had been detained by Police after the confrontation with Minister Broomes and her driver in the parking lot of New Thriving on Sunday night.
In a brief statement on her Facebook page, Minister Lawrence said: “Tonight [Tuesday night] I met young Josh Rambarran, a security guard at New Thriving Restaurant Providence, who told me a story about what happened to him on Sunday last. According to him, he was wrongfully arrested and detained for 16 hours. From the bottom of my heart, I apologised to him and said I was sorry.”
The Public Health Minister also posited that “Humility and wisdom are character traits we must always ask of our Creator.”
Reports are the Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry’s driver stopped at the entrance of the Massy store to access the New Thriving Restaurant, which is housed in the upper flat of the building.
According to the guards, they did not recognize Broomes as a Government official but approached the vehicle she was travelling in when her driver attempted to park in the “no parking zone” on Massy’s Tarmac.
The Minister told media operatives that even after identifying herself as a Government official, the men refused to allow her driver to park and in turn raised their shotguns at them.
She had maintained that at the time, she was scared for her life and had not responded in an abusive manner.
This claim, however, was overturned when the CCTV footage surfaced, displaying Broomes as well as her driver becoming enraged upon being told that they could not park in the specific area.
Broomes’ was seen stepping out of the vehicle and throwing the “No parking” sign from the spot, before directing her driver to park there.
The two security guards were detained and released on their own recognizance after Broomes made a police report.
Prior to Minister Lawrence’s apology, the Opposition People’s Progressive Party, via a statement, made calls for the Junior Minister to be investigated and sanctioned for creating public mischief.
Among other things, the PPP called for Broomes to apologise to the two security officers, while noting that “The arrogance of Junior Minister Broomes in going as far as to pull down the ‘no parking signs’ to assign herself with some ‘delusional sense of privilege’ is unacceptable.”
