(Trinidad Express) Businessman Derek Chin has said the Government did not ask him to pick up Krissa Bissoon from The Bahamas.
He said he was the one who initiated the offer, from the goodness of his heart.
Chin, the owner of MovieTowne, rebutted Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s comments that he (Chin) was told he could return to Trinidad only if he picked up Bissoon, who is a cancer patient.
Chin broke his silence on the issue via a social media post yesterday, which stated: “I initiated the offer to bring the lady stuck in Bahamas. Do you really believe the Govt on its own would be able to put together such without me making the offer?
“After I received the verbal exemption from a reliable source, I thought it would have been an appreciative gesture having read about her ordeal and me identifying with the pain.
“I made the offer on Thursday (before arrival here on Monday). There were no conditions. The Govt has turned it around to give the impression that I only did the deed on the condition.
“I did not fight them about it for obvious reasons. All who know me including you would know what the circumstances really were. Regards, Derek.”
Speaking at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, on May 16, Rowley noted Chin was being attacked and accused of ¬being favoured by the Government. He then explained how the process unfolded.
“That application from Mr Chin through his lawyer was there for a long time, and he was denied permission to come (from Miami) because the policy is not who can pay a plane, fly in; it is that nobody is coming in unless there is extraordinarily good reason for that,” said Rowley.
He said Chin’s application was before National Security Minister Stuart Young and it was being “made and remade”.
He said in the meantime, another application came from Bissoon in The Bahamas, and the minister immediately granted her, but then she reported she was not able to get a flight to return home and so the exemption granted could not be utilised.
“The Government took the decision, that we told Mr Chin, if you would agree to pass in the Bahamas on the way home and bring that lady home, you will get an ¬exemption.
“That was agreed to and that is what happened. We thank Mr Chin for doing that, and we wish the lady the best. That is what happened so there is no need to attack Mr Chin,” said Rowley.
Chin had chartered a private aircraft and he and Bissoon returned on May 11.
They were both quarantined at the Cascadia hotel for 14 days, and are now back in their respective homes.