Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley has threatened Independent Senator Michael Annisette with legal action over comments regarding the former Cabinet member’s relationship with NHIC executive chairman Emile Elias.

Rowley’s attorneys issued a pre-protocol action letter yesterday, alleging that the comments, which were made both within and outside the Parliament, amounted to defamation. They have given Annisette until November 13 to either agree to pay ’a substantial sum’ in damages to the Diego Martin West MP, retract what he said, or face further action in court.

The Express obtained a copy of the letter, which bore yesterday’s date and was written by attorney Margaret Rose, who is representing Rowley in this matter. It was addressed to Annisette in care of the Port of Spain head office of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union, of which he is the president.

Contacted yesterday evening for comment, Annisette said he was in a meeting and was not yet aware of having received the pre-action letter, but noted it would have either had to have been sent to his office or his home.

’If there is a document (from Rowley’s attorneys), there is procedure to follow and I will deal with it accordingly,’ Annisette said, adding that since he had not yet seen it, he could offer no further comment.

Rose, along with Gilbert Peterson, SC, is representing Rowley in the Commission of Enquiry into the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) and the local construction sector.

Rose made reference to comments Annisette was reported to have made about Rowley and Elias in a Newsday article published on October 9, while also referring to statements the Independent Senator made about them during the Senate’s debate on the act that validated the commission of enquiry on October 1.

Parliamentary privilege normally protects any senator or MP from legal action regarding statements or comments they make during sittings of either the Senate or the House of Representatives.

Annisette, who is a member of the UDeCOTT board, had defended the corporation’s right to sue the commission on the grounds of alleged bias in the Senate, but also made specific claims about Rowley and Elias regarding the alleged wrongful removal of material from the new Scarborough hospital site to a private housing development in Tobago owned by the Diego Martin West MP’s wife.

Rose made reference to a further claim Annisette reportedly made about the matter against Rowley and Elias in the Newsday article, as she noted Rowley won his lawsuit against the Integrity Commission regarding its investigation of alleged removal of material from the Scarborough hospital.