Sean Douglas
THE PNM is considering two people from the field of education as possible nominees to contest the Cumuto/Manzanilla seat in the general election, sources told Newsday on January 31.
The first is Wayne Gransam, a retired principal who now serves as assistant secretary of the PNM’s Cumuto/Manzanilla constituency executive. The second is a very highly-qualified teacher of mathematics at tertiary education level, in his forties, who has shown interest in vying.
Former prospective candidate Nadia Ramtahal-Singh had to withdraw owing to commitments to her public service job.
On January 27, the PNM central screening committee, in a sitting with the constituency executive at Balisier House, interviewed two nominees – farmer Devica Sookoo and engineer Jason Saunders – but asked the executive to expand its search for nominees.
In addition, at that sitting, a suggestion was made to consider two previous nominees attorney Sade Mc Queen-Bernard and procurement officer Latoya Reyes, who would have to be screened again at Balisier House.
>
However sources said the two indicated an unwillingness to be screened again and so cannot be considered as potential prospective candidates.
Sources said the party is interested in approaching attorney Sanjeev Boodhu, whose family runs a business in Sangre Grande, to become Cumuto/Manzanilla prospective candidate, on the heels of him being one of seven people vying for Malabar/Mausica (formerly the D’Abadie/O’Meara seat once held by the late Lisa Morris-Julian) for which seat influencer Dominic Roman was chosen.
Newsday understands nominations are still open, even as Balisier House still has to name a date for screening for Cumuto/Manzanilla, plus the three Diego Martin seats. The UNC’s Dr Rai Ragbir won the seat in 2020, ahead of the the PNM’s Ronny Lochan, getting 7,557 votes.
However in the 1970s and 1980s the seat had seen won for the PNM several times by insurance executive, the late Hardeo “Hardest Hard” Hardath.
