Daniel Cummings gets his special chair, finally

West Kingstown representative, Daniel Cummings has finally received a special chair to sit on, while doing the people’s business in the House of Assembly.{{more}}

During the sitting of the House last Thursday, Cummings revealed that the people of West Kingstown had provided him with the chair.

“Mr Speaker, I also want to thank the people of West Kingstown for coming to my aid in providing me with a chair suitable to my needs and execution of my duties in this house and in accordance with the specific requirements of my medical practitioners in Trinidad and Tobago,” the parliamentarian said.

“I make this comment, Mr Speaker, not withstanding your refusal over a period of two years to afford me this requirement. I just want to say thanks to those persons in West Kingstown who found it necessary elect me to this office and who found it necessary again to come to my aid in ensuring that I am not wheelchair bound”.

Cummings, several minutes after making that announcement, requested that Speaker of the House Hendrick Alexander excuse him so that he could collect his chair which had arrived downstairs.

The Speaker refused Cummings’ request and suggested that the matter be dealt with during the break.

However, the parliamentarian insisted on collecting his chair, following which the Speaker ordered him to leave the House.

When he refused to leave, the House of Assembly was temporarily adjourned.

The new chair never made it into the Assembly chamber, but was seen downstairs, just outside the High Court during the morning session.

When the House resumed after the luncheon break, the chair was nowhere to be seen.

For several months, Cummings had made repeated requests for the Speaker to provide him with a chair to accommodate injuries he says were sustained when Opposition parliamentarians were booted out of the House in 2011 by police, under the directives of the Speaker.

The Speaker turned down Cummings’ request, but, in a written response, said Cummings could make personal arrangements for seating that “may lessen any discomfort he may experience”, provided that it does not disrupt the Assembly Chamber. (BK)