Morning Edition: 17th November 2023

CCNTV6

Watch Morning Edition: 17th November 2023 - CCNTV6 on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00:00 (singing in foreign language)

00:00:03 - Come on studio, come on, come on.

00:00:16 Give us some volume.

00:00:17 Let the viewers turn up the volume

00:00:21 at their homes this morning, yeah?

00:00:23 Good morning Trinidad and Tobago, I'm Marlon Hopkins

00:00:27 and welcome to the morning edition.

00:00:28 Beautiful Parang music, man, as we get ready

00:00:31 for the Christmas season.

00:00:32 I'm ready to go, you know.

00:00:34 I've already bought some paint and some things,

00:00:37 you know, to brighten up the home.

00:00:39 So I've started painting, you know, right?

00:00:41 So I hope that you all are also on a similar track, yeah?

00:00:45 I love Christmas.

00:00:47 And then, you know, we're going into the carnival.

00:00:49 So I can say that it's gonna be a very interesting

00:00:54 few months on morning edition.

00:00:56 So just remember to keep it here.

00:00:59 Put it on TV six and stick it right there, yeah?

00:01:02 The dial or the clicker, yeah?

00:01:06 The remote control, okay?

00:01:08 So it's Friday, November 17th, 2023.

00:01:11 And thank you very much for joining us.

00:01:13 I hope that you had a good night, a safe night

00:01:16 and that you're here with us this morning

00:01:18 because we do have two packed hours of talk for you.

00:01:23 A lot of information.

00:01:24 We're gonna be touching on the politics

00:01:26 to be kicking off the program with some,

00:01:28 well, I shouldn't say politics,

00:01:30 but one of the main issues

00:01:33 that we continue to focus on in Trinidad and Tobago.

00:01:38 And that's the issue of crime.

00:01:39 But you know, all issues in Trinidad and Tobago

00:01:42 have a bit of politics and so on.

00:01:44 So yeah, that's gonna be very interesting for you today.

00:01:47 Let's check out "The Daily Express" on the front page.

00:01:49 After 30 years in prison, murderer goes home to mom,

00:01:53 takes dip in the salt, sweet freedom from death row,

00:01:57 victim's family in shock.

00:01:59 And a beautiful picture on the front page, yeah?

00:02:02 Yeah, some of our leaders in the region

00:02:05 and through the field.

00:02:07 Leaders, President of Suriname, Chandrika Prasad Santokhi

00:02:10 from left, Prime Minister of Antigua,

00:02:12 and Barbuda Gaston Brown,

00:02:13 Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia,

00:02:16 Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud,

00:02:18 Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley,

00:02:20 and Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Motley.

00:02:23 But yesterday's inaugural CARICOM Saudi Arabia Summit

00:02:26 in Riyadh.

00:02:28 All right, let's check out some sport now.

00:02:30 Clearing a hurdle, St. Anthony's captain,

00:02:33 Alan Wilson, right, evades a tackle

00:02:36 from East Mucarapo secondary skipper, Jaden McShine,

00:02:39 during their Coca-Cola Intercall North Zone semifinal match

00:02:43 at the Hesley Crawford Stadium in Mucarapo yesterday.

00:02:46 And champs out QRC shark, Fatima,

00:02:49 in North Zone Intercall semis,

00:02:51 defending national champions, Fatima College,

00:02:53 were knocked out of the Coca-Cola Intercall competition

00:02:56 following a 2-1 defeat against Queen Royals College

00:02:59 in their North Zone semifinal fixture

00:03:01 at the Hesley Crawford Stadium in Mucarapo yesterday.

00:03:05 All right, some of the stories making the Daily Express today.

00:03:08 Let's look at the,

00:03:12 no, not, no, no, no, no, no.

00:03:14 Yeah, yes, let's do it that way.

00:03:17 So it's time to remind you of our Trinbago Unites feature

00:03:19 to participate, WhatsApp your videos or images

00:03:21 to 737-3778.

00:03:25 Yeah, we do have this beautiful picture.

00:03:27 Is this an orchid?

00:03:29 I think it is.

00:03:31 Studio, that's an orchid.

00:03:34 Yeah, when I asked if it is an orchid,

00:03:37 there was silence from studio.

00:03:38 So yes, a studio, it's an orchid.

00:03:41 So you see, that's the roots there.

00:03:44 Yeah, Dougie said yes, yeah.

00:03:46 So that's the roots there.

00:03:48 But you know, in these times, orchids are very, very expensive.

00:03:54 And I've seen situations where you would have bought your orchid,

00:03:59 you put it in your garden and by the next morning it is gone.

00:04:02 So be careful with your orchids out there.

00:04:06 They're high in demand.

00:04:07 And you see this Christmas season,

00:04:09 yeah, if you're living in the East,

00:04:11 your orchid could end up somewhere down

00:04:12 in another part of the country.

00:04:14 I don't wanna say the names of the other areas.

00:04:18 You know what the areas are, all right?

00:04:20 So we do have, as I told you,

00:04:22 a very interesting program for you today.

00:04:24 You have your coffee, you have your tea.

00:04:26 Is it, I think we got some showers this morning, right?

00:04:30 So it may be a bit chilly for some of you out there,

00:04:33 but it's hot, all right.

00:04:36 For one person it's chilly, one person it's hot.

00:04:41 Studio, you're all confusing me this morning.

00:04:43 And a very special good morning to our member of staff

00:04:46 who came in here with dark shades this morning at five o'clock.

00:04:50 Yeah, that's when you know you're a star.

00:04:52 We're coming back, everybody.

00:04:53 (upbeat music)

00:04:56 - Have a Merry Christmas from SFCCU

00:05:09 with an incredible seven load.

00:05:11 Available from November 1st to December 31st.

00:05:14 Apply now for up to seven times your shares at SFCCU.

00:05:18 Call us today at 657-5669

00:05:21 or visit us online at sfccu.com

00:05:24 for more information on the incredible seven load

00:05:26 only from SFCCU.

00:05:29 Normal lending criteria applies.

00:05:31 (upbeat music)

00:05:33 (upbeat music)

00:05:36 ♪ Don't call it a comeback ♪

00:05:54 ♪ 12th man, 12th man, 12th man ♪

00:05:57 ♪ Oh, gives you all, saves you all the time ♪

00:06:01 ♪ Gives you the best football in the world ♪

00:06:04 ♪ Passionate, impulsive, dedicated, decisive ♪

00:06:09 ♪ Loyal, sincere are the 12th man attributes ♪

00:06:14 ♪ Join Andre Errol Batiste on TV6 ♪

00:06:17 ♪ For the 12th man season four ♪

00:06:21 - Brought to you by Tiger Tanks and Coca-Cola.

00:06:27 (upbeat music)

00:06:30 (upbeat music)

00:06:32 - We're here at the Vikas Country Club in Bharatpur

00:06:34 for TV6 and Taj 92.3 FM's newest,

00:06:38 most vibrant, most energetic singing competition

00:06:40 to hit Trinidad and Tobago, Dhamal.

00:06:43 (singing in foreign language)

00:06:57 (upbeat music)

00:07:00 (singing in foreign language)

00:07:15 - And welcome back everyone.

00:07:27 So 508 murders for the year thus far,

00:07:30 but now we're Trinidad and Tobago.

00:07:32 Police service is promising further action.

00:07:36 Yeah.

00:07:37 And the police commissioner sees parents failing

00:07:40 in their role as the reason for rising crime

00:07:42 and violence in the country.

00:07:44 So joining us this morning to discuss this

00:07:45 is former commissioner of police, Gary Griffith.

00:07:48 Mr. Griffith, good morning.

00:07:50 - Hi, good morning Marlon.

00:07:52 Morning to many viewers.

00:07:54 - Yes, always good to speak with you, Mr. Griffith.

00:07:56 Well, the police commissioner says, quote,

00:07:58 "What we are confronted with is an unrealistic expectation

00:08:03 that the police can somehow miraculously transform

00:08:06 the propensity, the disposition,

00:08:08 the behaviors of people with criminal intent.

00:08:11 How practical a proposition is that policing

00:08:14 is not a substitute to parenting."

00:08:17 Mr. Griffith, what's your take?

00:08:20 - Well, okay, first thing again, good morning to all.

00:08:22 I know you started this morning stating that

00:08:24 dealing with national security and crime,

00:08:26 politics must be involved in it.

00:08:28 I think that is indeed the problem.

00:08:30 Politics is what caused the problem with the merit list.

00:08:32 Politics is what has caused the issue

00:08:33 with all of the different hundred plus policies

00:08:36 that would have been reducing crime to be shut down.

00:08:39 So what I'm speaking today

00:08:40 is definitely not involving politics.

00:08:42 We want to find solutions and find ways to make it happen.

00:08:45 I would think that any law-abiding citizen

00:08:47 and patriot of this country

00:08:48 would want the electricity to succeed,

00:08:50 would want the minister of national security,

00:08:52 the chairman of the national security council

00:08:54 to succeed.

00:08:55 And that's what I will do.

00:08:56 I will give comments, whether it is constructive criticism

00:09:00 to deal with the issue.

00:09:02 Ulla Christopher's comments, I think it is very unfortunate,

00:09:04 but it has been a norm, Marlon,

00:09:07 in the last decade or so by commissioners

00:09:10 before and after me.

00:09:11 It has been that situation where the,

00:09:14 it reminds me so much of Milli Vanilli,

00:09:16 you know, whatever you do, don't put the blame on you.

00:09:18 And you would have heard it from Stephen Williams,

00:09:21 from McDonald Jacob, from Ulla Christopher.

00:09:23 Anytime there's a situation where the commissioner of police

00:09:26 does not know what to do, you blame society,

00:09:29 you blame parents, you blame lack of legislation,

00:09:32 you blame politicians, you blame the community.

00:09:35 You say, do you need more prayers?

00:09:36 It has always been that cop-out.

00:09:38 Politicians do the same when they try to blame

00:09:40 the opposition for lack of legislation.

00:09:43 That is not the way to go.

00:09:44 There is something known as secondary crime prevention,

00:09:46 which is true, that good parenting, good counseling,

00:09:49 good guidance can assist persons away from a life of crime.

00:09:52 But the aspect is that Ulla Christopher

00:09:54 needs to understand is you as the commissioner of police,

00:09:57 that order in a country,

00:09:59 the catalyst is the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

00:10:01 And by her comments, if she's saying that,

00:10:03 is it that just two years ago we had good parents?

00:10:06 Because we recall two years ago,

00:10:07 public trust and confidence in the police was 59%.

00:10:10 One year later it went to 8%.

00:10:13 Crime was the number four concern

00:10:14 behind health, education and the economy.

00:10:17 It was the highest reduction in violent crime in 17 years.

00:10:20 So by her comments, it makes no sense

00:10:22 because what is it, is that two years ago

00:10:24 we had good parents and now we have bad parents?

00:10:27 That is not the case.

00:10:28 There's no difference.

00:10:29 It's the same parents.

00:10:30 What she needs to do is to just focus on your job.

00:10:33 Don't shirk responsibility.

00:10:35 Don't try to blame parents, society,

00:10:37 the community, politicians.

00:10:39 Do your job.

00:10:40 And if you do that and try not to be politically influenced,

00:10:44 because as I said, over 100 proper policies,

00:10:47 programs, operations, units have all been shut down.

00:10:51 And that is the main concern, Marlon.

00:10:53 It is not being done.

00:10:55 You would have mentioned 508 odd murders

00:10:57 so far for the year.

00:10:59 457 of those, I think, 457 have been by firearms.

00:11:04 Guess what?

00:11:04 456 of those 457 have been by illegal firearms.

00:11:09 Yet Fitzgerald Hines spends all his time

00:11:12 speaking about legal firearms.

00:11:14 456 out of 457 murders by firearms, by illegal firearms.

00:11:19 Yet Ula Christopher is pressured by politicians

00:11:24 to put all the emphasis on legal firearms.

00:11:26 So I think if she spends more time

00:11:28 in trying to deal with policies, operations,

00:11:31 not try to shut down, dismantle all the things

00:11:33 that would have been instrumental prior to,

00:11:36 she would not have to be playing mini-vanilli

00:11:37 and trying to say, "Do whatever you do,

00:11:39 "don't put the blame on you."

00:11:40 - Let me be devil's advocate here, Mr. Griffith,

00:11:43 because I think that when we look at your time in office,

00:11:48 when it comes to fighting crime,

00:11:50 there was an aggressive approach.

00:11:54 Even the way that you spoke at news conferences

00:11:59 or did interviews, I suspect that aggression

00:12:03 was aimed at to engender some level of confidence,

00:12:08 if I can say so.

00:12:12 But we do have a new police commissioner,

00:12:17 and there could be the argument that she has,

00:12:22 well, we know she's a lady,

00:12:24 and she has adopted a softer approach to things.

00:12:27 And maybe that softer approach can touch the hearts

00:12:32 of criminals and we can see some level of decline

00:12:37 in the crime rate.

00:12:40 - Well, I bet it differ to that extent

00:12:42 because I knew several senior police officers who were women,

00:12:47 Archie and a few others,

00:12:48 and it's not because they are female.

00:12:51 I mean, even my wife, Nicole Dyer-Griffith,

00:12:53 I would love to see her being a commissioner of police.

00:12:55 So it really has nothing to do

00:12:57 based on whether you're male or female.

00:12:58 It has to do with the character of the individual.

00:13:01 You have to understand your responsibility.

00:13:03 Earl O. Christopher may be a very good commissioner,

00:13:05 probably 20 years ago,

00:13:07 when it is that we had less than 100 murders,

00:13:10 and you need somebody who's administrative,

00:13:12 who's just there to deal with the basic day-to-day running

00:13:15 of the Toronto Naval Police Service.

00:13:17 This is a time where you need a police commissioner

00:13:20 who is strategic, who is tactical, who's operational,

00:13:23 who understands that concept of the things

00:13:26 that I would have put in place.

00:13:27 And sometimes these things, if you do not understand it,

00:13:29 if you fear technology,

00:13:31 if you fear the type of things such as the police app,

00:13:34 which was the biggest app in the country had,

00:13:36 and it allowed persons to have,

00:13:37 you could actually take your phone and press on SOS

00:13:40 to have an immediate response,

00:13:41 having a five-minute response

00:13:43 because you have emergency response patrols

00:13:45 throughout the country.

00:13:47 Within less than five minutes, they turn up.

00:13:49 The few moments later, it wasn't accidental.

00:13:53 It was the utilizing of technology

00:13:55 where someone can see someone jump in a wall,

00:13:57 you call 999, you call 482 Gary,

00:14:00 and the closest vehicle in proximity,

00:14:02 because we had GPS tracking of 100 vehicles

00:14:04 locking on the country.

00:14:06 That put the deterrent, that put the fear,

00:14:08 that reduced the product of opportunity,

00:14:10 and that is what is required.

00:14:11 So we need to have, and the good thing is,

00:14:14 I wanna tell the country,

00:14:15 we are criticizing Toronto Beagle Police Service,

00:14:17 but just remember, two years ago,

00:14:19 public trust and confidence in the police service was 59%.

00:14:23 It was one of the highest in public trust and confidence

00:14:26 in all arms of the public service, moving from 59 to 8%.

00:14:29 It is not the police officers.

00:14:31 These are the same officers.

00:14:32 It's just a change in direction, in leadership, in policies,

00:14:36 and it can come back.

00:14:38 What is required is for us to understand

00:14:40 and embrace technology,

00:14:42 the things that would have been put in place

00:14:44 that cause the criminals to back off.

00:14:46 Ulla Christopher's comment, again, I say about parenting,

00:14:48 it is important,

00:14:50 but even the police service have a big part to play in this,

00:14:52 because that is why, when I had the Commissioner's Cup,

00:14:55 was to utilize sport as an avenue

00:14:57 to turn young persons away from a life of crime,

00:14:59 getting communities to work together, play together,

00:15:02 have your battles on the sporting field

00:15:03 rather than on the street and with weapons.

00:15:06 That has been shut down.

00:15:07 We had street talk with 1,000 police officers

00:15:10 being trained to be a big brother to 1,000 at-risk youths.

00:15:14 I had 30 undercover officers.

00:15:16 You would have seen the movie "21 Jump Street."

00:15:18 30 police officers going undercover

00:15:20 at the 30 high-risk schools,

00:15:22 whether they are working in sanitation, cleaners, whatever,

00:15:27 and the students would not have known,

00:15:29 and then you would be getting information

00:15:30 as to who is bringing in drugs, who has illegal weapons.

00:15:33 Then we had an artificial tooth.

00:15:36 We are the only country in the Southern Caribbean

00:15:38 with an artificial tooth in St. James' Barracks.

00:15:41 Marlon, that is there for two years since I left,

00:15:43 and it has not been touched.

00:15:45 That is taxpayers' money,

00:15:47 and because Gary Griffith built it for $2 million,

00:15:49 which was six times less than the AstroTooth in Tacorigo

00:15:52 that is unserviceable,

00:15:54 that tooth is supposed to be used

00:15:55 for all of the young men and women around the community

00:15:58 to play sport at no cost.

00:16:00 The police is still charging $500 an hour,

00:16:03 so an AstroTooth that could be used

00:16:04 to help develop in sport,

00:16:06 to help young persons to turn away from a life of crime,

00:16:09 to help parents, it is not being used

00:16:11 because of the petty politics,

00:16:14 and that is what I would advise you, Christopher.

00:16:16 If you have a concern about parents,

00:16:17 you as the Commissioner of Police,

00:16:19 you have a vast number of resources

00:16:21 that could be used to assist parents

00:16:23 to turn young people away from a life of crime.

00:16:25 - Yeah.

00:16:26 Let's return to statistics,

00:16:28 because I know that you love statistics.

00:16:32 You're a man of statistics, yeah?

00:16:34 We have seen that over the years, right?

00:16:37 You like to rattle off statistics.

00:16:39 So I want to deal with the statistics

00:16:41 of these 508 murders that have occurred already

00:16:45 for this year when compared to the 600 and something

00:16:49 that happened last year.

00:16:52 If there is a drop,

00:16:53 which means if we do not have 600 murders for this year,

00:16:58 is that an achievement for the police service?

00:17:02 Is that something that they should be proud about?

00:17:06 - Well, if you, you know,

00:17:06 I remember Basio Pandya as Prime Minister,

00:17:10 he moved from 98 murders to 103,

00:17:12 and moving up to 103, he put his hand in the air

00:17:15 and said he doesn't know what more he could do.

00:17:16 That is his sense of pride that he had,

00:17:18 because one murder would be too many.

00:17:20 And people criticized him for that 23 years later.

00:17:23 So this is nothing to say, okay,

00:17:25 we moved from 605 to probably 585.

00:17:29 Well, let us go around and celebrate.

00:17:32 Right now, during the months,

00:17:34 average of 50 murders per month by 12, it's 600 murders.

00:17:38 So if it is that we expect that December may have 50 murders

00:17:41 and we're in half of November, that's another 25,

00:17:44 75 plus the 508, it means that we could very well

00:17:47 be going into between 580 to 595 this year,

00:17:51 unless there's a massive spike in December.

00:17:54 Having said that, that is not the be all and end all.

00:17:57 You said I speak about statistics.

00:17:59 That's because I worked closely,

00:18:00 I looked at the New York model in the 1990s,

00:18:03 where New York City was known as,

00:18:05 police officers were known as pigs,

00:18:07 crime was at its highest.

00:18:08 And I worked closely with then Mayor Rudy Giuliani,

00:18:11 Bill Bratton, Bernard Kerrick, police commissioners,

00:18:13 where they looked at the broken window theory and so forth.

00:18:16 And there was a massive reduction in crime in the mid 90s.

00:18:19 And then when I realized the citizens in New York

00:18:21 did not feel safe.

00:18:22 So the crime statistics is something

00:18:24 totally separate and apart.

00:18:25 So even though there's a reduction or an increase in crime,

00:18:28 the perception and fear of crime is just as important.

00:18:31 And that is what we need to look at.

00:18:33 So whether it is it goes down to two murders less

00:18:36 or two murders more,

00:18:37 I heard Christopher Martin Joseph herself recently

00:18:40 by speaking about a decrease in the increase in crime.

00:18:43 That is not what the country wants to hear.

00:18:45 What the country wants to do is listen,

00:18:46 whether it is it goes up by three murders or down by four,

00:18:50 I want to know that you're doing something

00:18:51 and I want to feel safe.

00:18:53 The perception and fear of crime in this country

00:18:55 has never been so high.

00:18:57 And that is what is important.

00:18:58 We have to take away that perception and fear of crime

00:19:00 that a citizen will know.

00:19:02 Any parent when their child goes home,

00:19:04 where there's one, two o'clock in the morning,

00:19:05 they cannot sleep because they are fearful

00:19:07 of what is happening out there.

00:19:08 Persons are being killed.

00:19:09 If you have been killed in front of police station,

00:19:12 God knows that how's the possibility of it not happening

00:19:14 to me in front of my yard.

00:19:16 And that is where I'm trying to get to,

00:19:18 like Christopher to understand,

00:19:19 do not take bait by politicians that,

00:19:21 because you know, governments,

00:19:22 what we love to do and opposition,

00:19:24 when they change, you have to shut down

00:19:26 and dismantle everything because they did it.

00:19:29 The emergency response patrol, as I said,

00:19:31 a hundred vehicles strategically placed around the country,

00:19:34 GPS tracking, being monitored by an operational

00:19:36 command center that's been shut down,

00:19:38 a commissioner's command center shut down,

00:19:40 the hundred emergency response vehicles shut down,

00:19:42 the shutting down of the SOS on the phone,

00:19:45 the gender-based violence unit being totally watered down,

00:19:47 the social media unit being shut down,

00:19:50 the things that I was bringing in of,

00:19:51 body cameras, tasers, pepper spray,

00:19:54 training for police officers,

00:19:55 elite units, highly polygraphed such as SOTE,

00:19:58 all of these things, if you shut down and dismantle

00:20:00 because government is giving you pressure,

00:20:02 then you are not going to perform

00:20:04 and you're gonna be used as a scrapegoat

00:20:06 because they're gonna say, "Well, there you go, you failed.

00:20:08 So let's find somebody else."

00:20:09 She needs to accept and understand,

00:20:11 let me do what is required.

00:20:13 The good thing for Trinidad and Tobago,

00:20:14 let me tell you, there are some senior superintendents

00:20:17 and ACPs in the police service,

00:20:19 they are second to none.

00:20:21 I could tell you that they could go anywhere in the world

00:20:23 and their capability of understanding

00:20:25 and embracing technology, it is very good.

00:20:28 They will understand it.

00:20:29 And so it was not Gary Griffith's success,

00:20:32 it was me understanding persons in middle management

00:20:35 in the police service that are stepping up

00:20:36 because the dinosaurs who just still wanted

00:20:39 to keep away from technology

00:20:42 and stopping corruption and so forth,

00:20:45 they're on their way out.

00:20:46 And in a couple of years,

00:20:47 you're going to see a massive transformation

00:20:49 in the Trinidad and Tobago police service,

00:20:51 even without Gary Griffith.

00:20:52 - Oh, I thought you were intimating that

00:20:55 you're trying to make a comeback.

00:20:57 - No, no, I will be in a position politically

00:21:01 to assist in policymaking.

00:21:03 But the thing is, it would have been,

00:21:05 as I was, when I was minister,

00:21:06 it was difficult for senior officers

00:21:09 to understand the things that I was bringing in,

00:21:11 such as drones, instead of a Goodyear blimp,

00:21:13 bringing in the National Operations Center

00:21:16 to monitor and control operations

00:21:19 in any, whether it is in natural or man-made disasters.

00:21:24 So they didn't want to embrace that.

00:21:26 Thankfully, in 15, 16 odd months,

00:21:28 when I'm in a position in government,

00:21:30 I will now be in a position to implement policies

00:21:33 that will now be embraced by those persons

00:21:36 in senior middle management that will understand it.

00:21:38 And that is what is important.

00:21:40 - Yeah, let's deal with the murders again,

00:21:45 because that's the front burner issue.

00:21:48 Even in your time as police commissioner,

00:21:52 that was a problem, murders, gang activity.

00:21:57 What were the challenges?

00:21:59 And are those challenges,

00:22:01 I suspect they are still present today,

00:22:04 because we're still dealing with a very high murder toll.

00:22:08 The police will tell you that most of the murders

00:22:11 are gang related.

00:22:14 We're seeing, even again, at your time,

00:22:18 and I remember we did an interview,

00:22:19 you remember we would have done an interview

00:22:22 down at the barracks,

00:22:23 and we were speaking about these high-powered weapons,

00:22:27 even at your time.

00:22:28 So I'm just trying to find out and try to,

00:22:31 if we can explain to members of the public this morning,

00:22:33 what are the challenges?

00:22:35 Why haven't we been able to effectively

00:22:38 and adequately deal with the gang situation

00:22:41 in Trinidad and Tobago?

00:22:42 - Well, there's something that has been going on

00:22:43 for the last 15 years.

00:22:45 As soon as our prime minister decided to embrace gangs

00:22:48 and refer to them as community leaders,

00:22:50 it was downhill from there.

00:22:51 It has not stopped.

00:22:53 When I was minister of national security, I said it.

00:22:55 I fought battles, even in my own government,

00:22:57 and it started working,

00:22:59 which is why during that period,

00:23:00 it was the highest reduction in serious crime in 30 years.

00:23:03 As commissioner of police,

00:23:05 I went against the same government

00:23:07 and said the same thing.

00:23:08 When it is you give gangs state contracts,

00:23:11 you give them $5 million to build a $500,000 box train,

00:23:15 the funds they use are not being used

00:23:17 towards developing the community.

00:23:18 They use it to buy more sophisticated weapons,

00:23:21 hire more gang members, purchase more drugs,

00:23:23 sell the drugs, you have more profit now

00:23:26 to pay off persons in the protective services,

00:23:30 and then they put hits on other gang members

00:23:32 to get their state contracts.

00:23:33 So unfortunately, there's a saying that

00:23:36 if you play with filthy animals, you will get fleas.

00:23:38 And that is what we have done with governments

00:23:40 where they believe that by giving state contracts to gangs,

00:23:44 it has played a critical,

00:23:45 and then the same police service,

00:23:47 you want the police now to defend the country,

00:23:50 but you're giving the gangs more investment,

00:23:53 more capital than you're giving the police service.

00:23:55 The police service, all you do is provide salaries.

00:23:58 You don't give them the type of equipment

00:24:00 all the police officers need.

00:24:02 All of them need to change their bulletproof vests.

00:24:04 They're expiring.

00:24:06 The tasers that we have right now,

00:24:08 I was the first one to implement tasers

00:24:10 because of commissioners, they were reluctant,

00:24:12 but the tasers five years ago, they're outdated.

00:24:15 There are new types of tasers

00:24:16 that are not being acquired.

00:24:18 So you're not doing that,

00:24:19 but you're giving hundreds of millions of dollars

00:24:22 to gangs for state contracts.

00:24:24 That has to stop.

00:24:25 It won't stop in 15 months.

00:24:27 That has been a big problem.

00:24:28 The second major problem has to do

00:24:30 with the import of illegal weapons into the country.

00:24:33 The US embassy confirmed with me

00:24:35 that over 95% of the illegal weapons

00:24:37 come through the legitimate ports of entry.

00:24:40 It is nothing is being done.

00:24:41 You have not heard one comment by the government

00:24:43 as to what they intend to do to stop the illegal entry

00:24:46 of illegal weapons coming through

00:24:48 the legitimate ports of entry.

00:24:50 Every single comment that they make

00:24:51 is about legal firearms.

00:24:53 And as I said, 456 of 457 murders by firearms this year

00:24:58 have been by illegal firearms.

00:25:01 Yet all the government speaks about is legal firearms.

00:25:04 Yet legal firearms, because I decided to be very open

00:25:08 and if it is you need a firearm,

00:25:10 there's a clear and present danger, you get it.

00:25:12 Dozens and dozens of lives were saved because of what I did.

00:25:15 And people seem to be concerned about it.

00:25:17 So it gives you the impression of the state,

00:25:19 who are you trying to protect?

00:25:20 The criminals or the law abiding citizens?

00:25:22 So those are the two main things, Marlon.

00:25:23 The problem of the state giving contracts

00:25:27 by hundreds of millions to gangs

00:25:30 and also the inability or the reluctance by the state

00:25:34 to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country.

00:25:37 - Let me put this on the table this morning,

00:25:40 because it is felt, I mean,

00:25:42 your leadership of the police service,

00:25:46 there are some mixed reviews, some love Gary Griffith,

00:25:51 some just do not like you.

00:25:54 I'm sure that you know that.

00:25:55 - Of course.

00:25:56 - But do you have any regrets?

00:25:59 - I mean, because, and I make no apology for this

00:26:03 and I'm doing it in front of your face

00:26:05 and I did use the term aggressive.

00:26:08 And you were sometimes seen as very, very aggressive,

00:26:12 not only to the criminals, you were aggressive to the media.

00:26:15 It is a fact and it was said by the prime minister

00:26:21 and we saw it about this spat,

00:26:24 if we can describe it like that,

00:26:26 between you and the prime minister

00:26:28 and you all exchanged words and did so publicly.

00:26:31 Do you have any regrets?

00:26:33 Because I think that there is a feeling that,

00:26:36 look, if Gary Griffith was not that aggressive,

00:26:41 then he would be police commissioner today.

00:26:44 Do you have any regrets at all?

00:26:46 - You know, I hear your point, Marlon,

00:26:49 and the fact of the matter is,

00:26:50 had it not been for that aggression,

00:26:51 there would not have been the highest reduction

00:26:53 in violent crime in 17 years.

00:26:55 Had it not been for that aggression,

00:26:57 criminals would not have feared the police.

00:26:59 Had it not been for that aggression,

00:27:01 public trust and confidence in the police service

00:27:03 would not have gone from 14% in August, 2018

00:27:06 to 59% when I left.

00:27:07 So there was a time that was required

00:27:10 for to have a leader to stand up and fight.

00:27:12 We were at a war, we are still in a war.

00:27:14 You cannot be a leader in a war of armed conflict

00:27:18 where hundreds of lives are being lost annually

00:27:20 and you expect me to sit down and tiptoe through the tulips.

00:27:24 You've got to show that aggression

00:27:26 because by that aggression I showed,

00:27:28 and the aggression was measured,

00:27:29 it wasn't aggression by abusing my authority

00:27:32 because if you recall even during COVID,

00:27:33 when every police service in the world,

00:27:35 there was abuse of authority, there was absenteeism,

00:27:38 we did not have one incident

00:27:40 of the police abusing the authority.

00:27:42 And it lifted morale,

00:27:45 it lifted motivation by the police officers.

00:27:47 People do not understand what the police service did

00:27:49 during that COVID period.

00:27:50 We had 150 men coming down into Frederick Street

00:27:54 with Molotov cocktails and iron and stuff

00:27:56 to destroy Port of Spain.

00:27:58 The defense was stayed in camp,

00:27:59 they said they were on standby, thanks to Stuart Young.

00:28:02 And the police service became the military.

00:28:04 The police service did what the defense was did in 1990.

00:28:07 They had hundreds of them, they stood firm,

00:28:09 they used the barriers, they used the tear gas,

00:28:11 they diverted those 150 back down East of Duke Street

00:28:14 to avoid Port of Spain being destroyed.

00:28:16 That is the type of aggression that is needed.

00:28:19 If you do not have that type of aggression,

00:28:21 the officers are going to back off,

00:28:23 they're not going to want to defend the country.

00:28:26 We have a country to defend

00:28:27 and you need that type of leadership.

00:28:29 You can't fight a war unless you are aggressive.

00:28:32 If you're gonna sit back and wait,

00:28:34 the criminals are going to invade you.

00:28:36 And just to quickly point out

00:28:37 what you mentioned with the prime minister.

00:28:41 I swore an oath, my oath was to my God,

00:28:43 my people and my country, not a politician.

00:28:45 So if a politician is clueless in understanding

00:28:49 the public health regulations

00:28:50 and you cannot arrest people in their home

00:28:53 and you make a public statement to say,

00:28:55 well, you should arrest people in their home

00:28:56 because it might benefit me politically.

00:28:59 You could get thousands of young police officers

00:29:01 being influenced by a prime minister

00:29:03 making an incorrect statement because he was the,

00:29:06 and when we conversed after,

00:29:08 the poor lad didn't understand his own laws.

00:29:11 The police could not arrest people in their homes.

00:29:13 23 police chiefs in the United States roughly

00:29:17 told the most powerful man on the planet,

00:29:19 Mr. Trump, shut up.

00:29:20 Your comments are causing problems for me

00:29:24 to protect my community, my state, my region.

00:29:27 And that is what a commissioner is supposed to do.

00:29:30 You're not supposed to counter and bow

00:29:33 to illegal comments or wrongdoing.

00:29:36 That is the way I was cut.

00:29:37 Nothing is going to change.

00:29:39 I operate like that as the minister of national security.

00:29:41 I operate like that as commissioner of police.

00:29:43 When it is in future, I'm gonna be a prime minister

00:29:45 or a politician again or what?

00:29:47 When I put my hand on that Bible,

00:29:49 it is to my God, my country, and my people,

00:29:52 not a politician.

00:29:53 - Gary Griffith, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.

00:29:57 And we do appreciate your frank talk.

00:29:59 Thank you very much.

00:30:00 Although you're not, your name is not Frank,

00:30:02 but we appreciate your frank talk.

00:30:05 Talk to you again soon.

00:30:06 Thank you very much.

00:30:07 Bye for now.

00:30:08 Okay, it's time for a quick break.

00:30:10 We are coming back.

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00:32:28 - Welcome back everyone.

00:32:45 I hope that you're enjoying the Parang music.

00:32:46 Well, for the past few weeks,

00:32:48 some of our attention has been focused

00:32:50 on the cyber attack at TSTT.

00:32:52 But have you wondered for one moment

00:32:55 what this means if your personal information

00:32:58 is now in someone else's hands?

00:33:00 Well, to make some sense of all of this

00:33:02 is Enterprise Risk Consultant

00:33:05 and Senior Cybersecurity Lecturer,

00:33:07 Penetration Tester and Digital Forensic Investigator

00:33:11 at CSFI, Mr. Shiva Parasram.

00:33:14 Mr. Parasram, good morning

00:33:16 and thank you very much for joining us.

00:33:18 - Good morning, thanks for having me.

00:33:19 - Yeah, well, Mr. Parasram,

00:33:21 I think that we have been pre,

00:33:25 well, occupied by what has been happening at TSTT.

00:33:30 I think that some of us have been also preoccupied

00:33:33 by the politics concerning this matter.

00:33:36 But I think very little focus has been placed

00:33:39 on really what has happened.

00:33:42 And I remember a report in the early stages of this matter

00:33:48 where it was said that there's a possibility

00:33:51 that personal information of 800,000 people

00:33:56 could have been leaked by this.

00:34:00 What does this mean for these 800,000 people?

00:34:04 - Well, Marlon, it's very concerning

00:34:07 because it's your personally identifiable information,

00:34:11 as you've said, the PII.

00:34:12 So we're talking about not just your email address and stuff

00:34:15 but your home address, your first name, middle name,

00:34:17 last name.

00:34:18 I've had to download the data dump,

00:34:23 as we call it, itself from TSTT.

00:34:25 So it was a bit over six gigabytes, as they said,

00:34:29 but there's some pretty damaging information inside of there

00:34:33 because it's not just text information,

00:34:35 there's also photographs of ID pictures, passport pictures,

00:34:39 and even worse than that,

00:34:40 in some cases you have authorization letters with signatures.

00:34:44 So imagine for a second,

00:34:46 if as a hacker, for example,

00:34:48 I have all of that information belonging to you

00:34:51 and I have your ID, your email, your username,

00:34:54 your full address, your signature,

00:34:57 your passport picture,

00:34:58 the amount of things that I can now do

00:35:00 in terms of identity theft.

00:35:02 So that's where citizens should actually be concerned

00:35:05 because despite everything that went down,

00:35:10 and it went down quite terribly,

00:35:11 I have to say from a PR perspective,

00:35:14 as people were fed wrong information

00:35:16 and first it wasn't, then it was,

00:35:18 despite all of that,

00:35:21 if something were to happen to an individual,

00:35:23 let's say a business person,

00:35:25 and their information was misused

00:35:28 and involving some sort of fraud

00:35:30 or financial transaction gone wrong, et cetera,

00:35:34 who's to blame from this point on?

00:35:37 Is TSTT to blame?

00:35:38 Am I to blame for giving them my information

00:35:40 in the first place?

00:35:41 But yes, we have a certain amount of trust

00:35:44 that we give them

00:35:44 because when you sign up for an account,

00:35:46 especially for something related to phone services,

00:35:48 internet cable, whatever,

00:35:50 it's a lot of information you have to hand over to them.

00:35:53 So in any case, in any institution,

00:35:55 we put a certain amount of trust

00:35:58 out there into these companies and institutions.

00:36:00 So we expect that they take care of the information.

00:36:03 But as we've seen in particular,

00:36:05 it's not that simple.

00:36:07 Now I have to say as well that ransomware attacks

00:36:09 and hacks can happen to any agency,

00:36:13 whether it be government or otherwise.

00:36:14 So these are things that happen

00:36:16 and companies have a lot of things

00:36:18 to put in place moving forward.

00:36:20 - So then, Mr. Parasram,

00:36:23 I think that some of the information

00:36:25 that you're giving us here is troubling.

00:36:28 Is there anything that can be done

00:36:31 to withdraw this information,

00:36:34 to destroy this information that is out there

00:36:37 and apparently in the wrong people's hands?

00:36:41 What can be done?

00:36:43 - From that perspective,

00:36:45 it's only when international law enforcement agencies

00:36:48 take down these gangs and their information

00:36:51 on the dark web and so on.

00:36:52 That's usually the only way that it can be taken down

00:36:55 because initially they would have requested a ransom

00:36:58 be paid for the information

00:36:59 not to be released in the first place.

00:37:01 But usually the amounts are quite exorbitant

00:37:04 sometimes in the high millions of US dollars.

00:37:06 So it's not practical for the majority of companies.

00:37:09 The other issue that you have is that I visited,

00:37:12 I spent a lot of time on the dark web

00:37:14 as a security researcher as well.

00:37:15 And from the time when I visited the group Ransom X,

00:37:21 their page at the end of October until now,

00:37:24 there were tens of thousands of visits to that page.

00:37:28 So it means that possibly tens of thousands of individuals

00:37:31 would have downloaded all of this information.

00:37:33 They could have reshared this information,

00:37:34 they could have saved this information as well.

00:37:36 So that's the trouble with having things out on the internet.

00:37:39 It's there perpetually indefinitely forever.

00:37:43 So there's not much that can be done.

00:37:46 - Does anyone have a responsibility?

00:37:51 And when I say anyone, is it the, is it TSTD?

00:37:55 Is it the government?

00:37:56 It sucks.

00:37:57 Can some organization make a request for this information

00:38:02 to be taken off the dark web?

00:38:04 - We can make a lot of requests,

00:38:07 but you have to remember these very intelligent

00:38:11 criminal organizations.

00:38:12 These are extortionist groups.

00:38:13 These are some of the best hackers,

00:38:15 meaning some of the best programmers,

00:38:17 the best IT engineers,

00:38:18 even the best financial analysts as well,

00:38:20 because they would usually go about the internet

00:38:23 scouring for information.

00:38:24 So financial statements saying that this company

00:38:27 has made hundreds of millions in profits, for example.

00:38:30 That's how they will know who to target

00:38:31 apart from what it is.

00:38:32 But other than that, honestly,

00:38:37 yes, we have the Data Protection Act,

00:38:40 but it's a bit old archaic and stuff.

00:38:42 And I've found that it doesn't really put

00:38:45 that much responsibility on organizations.

00:38:48 I think it needs to be revamped and enforced

00:38:51 to a large extent.

00:38:53 There's a lot of work that needs to be done on it.

00:38:55 - Yeah.

00:38:56 As you look at this situation and what has transpired

00:38:59 over the past few weeks,

00:39:06 is it that what should members of the public

00:39:11 or customers of TSTT,

00:39:15 what should they expect, let's say in the coming days,

00:39:18 in the coming weeks, in the coming months?

00:39:20 - For customers, we have to be,

00:39:26 and I say we because I am inside of there as well.

00:39:28 My information is inside of there

00:39:29 and I'm really upset about that.

00:39:31 But what we should expect is that anyone,

00:39:34 any organization, any individual

00:39:36 can even use our information against us,

00:39:39 because they have things such as our email addresses.

00:39:41 So for example, a phishing attack can come our way

00:39:44 where someone crafts a very convincing email

00:39:47 and they can even use the breach itself.

00:39:50 A malicious threat actor, hacker, a group,

00:39:52 another individual, they can send you an email,

00:39:55 for example, saying, "Dear Marlon,

00:39:56 we have your information due to the TSTT breach."

00:39:58 Or, "Dear Marlon, we are TSTT,"

00:40:00 even though they are just pretending to be.

00:40:03 Your information has been released, including your email,

00:40:05 your username, address, your ID, and so on.

00:40:08 Please click on this link to ensure

00:40:09 that you change your password or something like that.

00:40:12 So that's one thing that can happen,

00:40:15 because telephone numbers are out there.

00:40:16 You can even expect calls from people

00:40:18 pretending to be from legitimate organizations,

00:40:21 including TSTT, telling you that,

00:40:23 "Well, just to confirm your account number, sir or ma'am,

00:40:26 we have this information here."

00:40:28 And they can try to use it against you.

00:40:29 They can even say that they have to come across

00:40:31 and do a site visit or something like that.

00:40:33 And most people might just say,

00:40:35 "Okay, well, finally, they're coming to fix the landline,

00:40:37 the cable, something like that."

00:40:39 Even though TSTT has stated

00:40:42 that there was no credit card information found as well,

00:40:45 I would still advise people to monitor

00:40:48 not just your credit card, but your debit card,

00:40:50 and your accounts, your bank accounts as well.

00:40:54 If possible, a lot of the credit card,

00:40:56 not the credit cards, but the banks,

00:40:58 the apps that you use for the banks,

00:40:59 they have a feature for credit cards

00:41:02 where you can lock your credit card.

00:41:03 Just in case, I would advise for everyone,

00:41:06 please lock your credit card

00:41:07 so that no new transactions are made

00:41:09 that put you in trouble,

00:41:11 either with debit or credit transactions as well.

00:41:13 So we have to be very vigilant,

00:41:15 not just from now, but moving forward.

00:41:17 It has to be ingrained into us

00:41:19 as almost a cybersecurity awareness culture from now on.

00:41:22 Because like I said,

00:41:23 this information is going to be out there

00:41:24 forever, potentially.

00:41:25 - Wow.

00:41:26 You do have a dilemma,

00:41:28 and the dilemma is that what you have explained to us there,

00:41:32 that is just how business operates these days, right?

00:41:35 By the email and wiring funds and so on.

00:41:39 So then how do you know who is who?

00:41:42 Who is legitimate?

00:41:44 - So in IT and cybersecurity,

00:41:46 we have something called a zero trust approach.

00:41:49 Zero trust meaning you just can't trust anybody anymore.

00:41:52 Even if you get a link from a friend via WhatsApp

00:41:54 before clicking on the links,

00:41:56 you have to call them and confirm,

00:41:57 not message them,

00:41:58 but call them before forwarding and sharing information.

00:42:01 And that's the problem we have with businesses

00:42:05 because we have no legislation such as the GDPR,

00:42:08 which applies to the European Union,

00:42:10 even some of the regional territories

00:42:12 like Curacao and so on.

00:42:15 Because we have none of that,

00:42:16 companies are not, I guess,

00:42:18 legally obligated to release this information.

00:42:21 And of deep concern,

00:42:23 yesterday I was up all night on this on the dark web.

00:42:25 I've noticed that there's a bit of an uptick

00:42:27 in the information on the dark web.

00:42:29 A lot of businesses have their information for sale now

00:42:32 on Russian marketplaces on the dark web.

00:42:35 So there wasn't a data leak on these businesses,

00:42:38 but I've noticed that even if I search

00:42:41 for random companies and businesses,

00:42:42 now I am seeing their email addresses

00:42:45 and bled out parts of their passwords

00:42:47 for sale portals that were affected.

00:42:50 We're talking about a lot of local businesses.

00:42:52 So I unfortunately expect things to get a lot worse

00:42:56 in the coming days with breaches and attacks and so on.

00:42:59 So I'm pleading with companies

00:43:01 to please do what they can to secure assets

00:43:03 and especially customer data,

00:43:05 because at the end of the day,

00:43:06 even though they might be attacked,

00:43:07 we are the victims because it's our information out there.

00:43:10 And unfortunately, as well,

00:43:12 turnout being what it is sometimes with the crime situation,

00:43:14 it puts us even more at risk out there.

00:43:17 - Yeah.

00:43:18 And I guess it is safe to say, sir,

00:43:21 that we can expect there is a strong possibility

00:43:25 that we may see an uptick in fraudulent activities.

00:43:29 - Correct.

00:43:31 Because if you have hackers having access to company emails

00:43:35 and addresses as well,

00:43:36 there's a lot of fraud

00:43:39 and the possibilities are almost endless.

00:43:42 It really is almost like a movie scenario

00:43:44 where you can think up something

00:43:45 and the possibility is there for them to use data

00:43:48 against you and your company and your accounts

00:43:50 in a myriad of ways.

00:43:53 - Yeah.

00:43:53 As we look at the entire situation,

00:43:56 do you believe that this attack

00:43:59 would have occurred locally or internationally?

00:44:01 - Definitely internationally.

00:44:05 These gangs, these ransomware gangs,

00:44:09 they are notorious for this.

00:44:10 They've hit companies that are with hundreds of millions

00:44:12 of US to billions of US,

00:44:13 including companies like Ferrari.

00:44:16 In Las Vegas recently, there was Caesar's Palace MGM.

00:44:19 And these companies, for example,

00:44:21 Caesar's Palace, I believe in particular,

00:44:23 they were hit by the same organization

00:44:25 that is responsible for leaking the price smart data

00:44:28 in the Caribbean as well.

00:44:29 So Caesar's Palace, they paid half of the ransom,

00:44:33 which I think was 15 million US or something like that.

00:44:37 But the ransomware groups still stole data.

00:44:39 So there's a possibility

00:44:41 that they could even release that data

00:44:43 of 65 million individuals.

00:44:45 And a lot of people in Trinidad

00:44:46 would have rewards for those places as well.

00:44:49 So these are groups that,

00:44:50 yes, we will say they're international,

00:44:52 but they are not centralized.

00:44:54 They're decentralized groups.

00:44:56 And the members are not even aware

00:44:58 of other members inside of there.

00:45:00 So you could have people from anywhere,

00:45:02 locally, regionally, internationally,

00:45:03 but they work together.

00:45:05 And they offer this as a subscription service sometimes,

00:45:08 just as how you would subscribe to even Netflix

00:45:10 or the Trinidad Express newspapers, for example.

00:45:14 You can go on, anyone can go on the dark web,

00:45:16 even though I don't recommend it, it's very unsafe.

00:45:19 And you can subscribe to this malware

00:45:20 and imagine someone inside your company

00:45:23 can subscribe to this malware

00:45:24 and introduce this malware, right?

00:45:25 Which is the virus, the Trojan, the ransomware

00:45:28 into your organization.

00:45:29 So no matter what controls you have,

00:45:31 it could still happen inside your environment,

00:45:34 which is why I'm saying it could actually happen

00:45:35 to any, anybody.

00:45:37 - Yeah, Mr. Parasuram, if you could just hold your thoughts

00:45:40 and stay with us for a little while longer,

00:45:41 we just have to go to a very short break.

00:45:43 We'll be right back.

00:45:44 We're coming back, everybody.

00:45:45 (upbeat music)

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00:47:09 (upbeat music)

00:47:12 (speaking in foreign language)

00:47:15 - Beyond the Tape, weekdays at 5.30 p.m.

00:47:39 (upbeat music)

00:47:41 All right, everybody, welcome back.

00:47:48 So we are continuing our discussion

00:47:50 just for a few minutes more

00:47:51 concerning this cyber security attack

00:47:54 that took place at TSTT.

00:47:56 And with us on the line still is Shiva Parasram.

00:48:00 He's a cyber security expert.

00:48:02 Mr. Parasram, thank you very much

00:48:03 for staying on with us for a few minutes more.

00:48:06 But let me ask, is it that the Caribbean,

00:48:11 countries like Trinidad and Tobago

00:48:13 and our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean

00:48:15 and organizations set up in the Caribbean,

00:48:18 are we being seen as a fertile ground for these attacks?

00:48:21 - That's an excellent question.

00:48:24 And yes, we are being seen,

00:48:25 and I quote myself as saying,

00:48:27 that we are low-hanging fruit, right?

00:48:29 Because even look at Trinidad with the Forex issues

00:48:32 that we have.

00:48:33 Purchasing the right hardware, software monitoring tool,

00:48:36 it's difficult because these are not only very expensive,

00:48:38 but you have to pay for them in US.

00:48:40 And because we've sort of been out of that spotlight,

00:48:43 and these attacks have mostly been

00:48:45 on large international companies, it was fine before.

00:48:48 But now you have every ransomware group in the world

00:48:51 taking notes of the fact that one or two ransomware groups

00:48:54 have been successful in leaking data.

00:48:56 So again, they would be scoring financial statements

00:49:00 on the web, looking for profitable companies,

00:49:02 governments as well, to see who has a chance of paying

00:49:06 and the problem with that is that once,

00:49:09 it's almost like bleeding in open water.

00:49:12 Once one is there, you're guaranteed that others are looking.

00:49:15 So even with TRCT, it's not over

00:49:17 because the groups would be there looking at their responses,

00:49:20 how they've reacted, even if they boast

00:49:22 that they have things under control,

00:49:24 that is almost an invitation to them

00:49:26 to accept that challenge, to say,

00:49:28 "Okay, well, we will see what happens from there."

00:49:31 So we really have to be incredibly vigilant now

00:49:34 as the wider Caribbean to these attacks

00:49:36 and maybe even work with each other,

00:49:37 bring the joint forces and departments together

00:49:40 and work closely with each other.

00:49:42 Because like I said, I expect us to get a lot worse

00:49:45 between now and going into 2024.

00:49:47 - Wow.

00:49:48 Let's speak a little bit about the dark web.

00:49:51 Who are these persons who are operating this dark web?

00:49:57 I think you said earlier, hackers.

00:50:00 But how do they operate?

00:50:03 So is it that they steal the information,

00:50:05 they ask for payments, and if that payments,

00:50:10 or if those payments are not made, then what's next?

00:50:13 - So the dark web to begin with

00:50:15 is really just part of the internet.

00:50:19 What we are accustomed seeing in the internet

00:50:20 is the surface web, but the dark web

00:50:22 is where you have a lot of unrestricted

00:50:24 and unfiltered activities, good and bad.

00:50:26 So like you rightfully said, you have a lot of groups,

00:50:28 extortionist groups, extortionist criminal groups,

00:50:31 very large enterprise organizations, almost like cartels.

00:50:34 And they would get their way into your system,

00:50:37 usually via misconfiguration of some sort,

00:50:39 if you don't have your device secured

00:50:41 or someone clicked on a phishing link,

00:50:43 that's usually their entry point.

00:50:44 Or someone purchased the software and let them in

00:50:48 via some sort of flash drive even.

00:50:51 So once they get inside your organization,

00:50:53 they take their time, they map out the organization,

00:50:56 they look for everything that's valuable.

00:50:58 Then they let you know once all of that reconnaissance

00:51:00 is complete, they let you know what they have,

00:51:02 what they found, what they've exfiltrated

00:51:04 and stolen from you.

00:51:06 And they give you a little time to converse with them,

00:51:10 even broker a deal with them if you have to.

00:51:12 They let you know what they have,

00:51:14 what they intend to do and give you some time.

00:51:16 So they look at the information,

00:51:19 they put a value to the information.

00:51:20 So your information and my information, it has value.

00:51:23 There's a lot of value if they're asking

00:51:24 for millions upon millions of US.

00:51:27 And you are expected to pay them in cryptocurrency,

00:51:31 not necessarily Bitcoin.

00:51:32 But Bitcoin and Monero are usually

00:51:34 the cryptocurrencies of choice.

00:51:36 And they put it out there on their respective pages.

00:51:39 So just like we have one additional tv6.com or something,

00:51:42 they have their own versions of websites,

00:51:44 even though the names would not be like ransomX.com

00:51:48 or alpha.com.

00:51:49 And they have it out there for the world to see.

00:51:52 And if you decide to not pay them the release information,

00:51:56 it may not be all, it may be released in parts.

00:51:58 So TSCP, for example, was saying that even though

00:52:00 they process petabytes of information,

00:52:03 there was only six gigabytes of information.

00:52:05 But as far as we know, that's what we've been told.

00:52:08 They told us that they will release 600 gigabytes.

00:52:10 Price Smart has a lot larger,

00:52:12 I think it's 500 gigabytes out there.

00:52:15 So it's very damaging because we don't know what was done.

00:52:18 We don't know what information was stolen.

00:52:20 So it's not just ransomware.

00:52:22 You will hear public high profile individual state

00:52:27 that maybe they have recovered from an attack or a hack

00:52:32 or something, a data leak.

00:52:34 There's honestly, there's no way you can ensure the public

00:52:37 that this is the case because up until now,

00:52:39 until you've done a very deep inspection,

00:52:42 sanitization and a full digital forensic audit,

00:52:45 you cannot state that they are no longer inside the systems.

00:52:50 So these companies as well, being as large as they are,

00:52:52 they have what you call a very large attack surface,

00:52:54 meaning the more services they offer, the websites,

00:52:57 the businesses where you can go in and pay,

00:52:59 the attack surface is very large.

00:53:01 So until you get this investigation over with

00:53:03 and you do a deep sanitization,

00:53:05 you cannot guarantee the public

00:53:06 that they are not still in there

00:53:08 or that there are 10 other groups inside of there

00:53:10 waiting for something to happen either.

00:53:12 - Yeah, Mr. Parasram, while we come to the end

00:53:15 of our interview for this morning,

00:53:16 what are some of the tips and advice

00:53:20 that you can give people?

00:53:22 - So I'd like the public to start not trusting

00:53:27 any organizations.

00:53:29 Be careful with your money, your cards, your information.

00:53:32 Feel free to ask these organizations

00:53:34 when they are collecting your information,

00:53:36 how will my data be stored?

00:53:37 How can you assure me that it's being secured

00:53:40 or stored securely?

00:53:42 But other than that, please be very careful

00:53:45 on any type of link that is sent to you,

00:53:46 whether it's by email, whether it's by SMS,

00:53:49 WhatsApp, LinkedIn, it doesn't matter.

00:53:51 Whatever link you have to click on,

00:53:53 please be wary of the senders of it.

00:53:55 Look at the spelling, call someone, right?

00:53:58 Please monitor your financial accounts, your statements.

00:54:01 Look for even something that's going to be off by a dollar

00:54:04 or 10 cents.

00:54:05 Bring it to the attention of the financial institutions.

00:54:07 It's their responsibility to protect our money, right?

00:54:10 On top of that, please stay vigilant

00:54:12 when you get phone calls and stuff.

00:54:14 Try to never give out your personal information.

00:54:16 People will ask you to confirm certain things

00:54:18 over the phone.

00:54:19 You can express your concerns and let them know,

00:54:22 is there another way that I can contact you

00:54:23 or your supervisor or your company?

00:54:26 So it's the same as if you're walking down the road,

00:54:29 you know, in the middle of the day,

00:54:30 you don't want to be walking down with cash and jewelry

00:54:32 and so on.

00:54:33 You have to be aware of your surroundings.

00:54:34 It's the same steps that unfortunately now

00:54:37 we have to take online.

00:54:38 We have to just try and be very vigilant

00:54:40 and do our best to stay secure.

00:54:42 - Yeah, Shiva Parasram, cybersecurity expert.

00:54:44 It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you this morning.

00:54:47 Thank you for the tips.

00:54:48 Thank you for the advice,

00:54:49 but also thank you for the education.

00:54:51 We do appreciate it.

00:54:52 Thank you very much again.

00:54:53 - Very welcome.

00:54:54 Thank you for having me.

00:54:55 - All right, bye for now.

00:54:56 So it's time for a quick break.

00:54:57 We also have some news for you.

00:54:58 We're coming back.

00:54:59 (upbeat music)

00:55:03 - Good morning.

00:55:06 I am Ansel Gibbs with a news update.

00:55:10 The judiciary was recently targeted by hackers,

00:55:14 a revelation from the chief justice.

00:55:17 In recent weeks and months in this jurisdiction,

00:55:20 we have heard of system breaches

00:55:22 in public and private institutions.

00:55:25 We in the judiciary were targeted at the same time

00:55:27 by some of the same actors.

00:55:30 Thankfully, our hyper-vigilance allowed us to detect

00:55:33 and contain intrusion at the point of attempted penetration,

00:55:38 but we can't just pat ourselves on the back

00:55:40 and be complacent.

00:55:42 This is the new reality and hackers are always adapting.

00:55:47 So must we.

00:55:49 Heritage Petroleum says cleanup operations are underway

00:55:54 following what the company describes as a minor oil leak

00:55:58 on a pipeline in the Massa Hood area.

00:56:01 The company says it observed the leak on Wednesday.

00:56:04 According to officials, the pipeline has been repaired

00:56:08 and a heritage team will remain on site

00:56:11 until the cleanup is complete.

00:56:13 And in the weather forecast,

00:56:18 partly cloudy to cloudy morning conditions

00:56:20 with occasional showers will gradually transition

00:56:24 to fair and breezy weather this afternoon.

00:56:28 There's a medium chance of the isolated thunderstorm,

00:56:31 which may be accompanied by gusty winds

00:56:34 and localized street or flash flooding.

00:56:37 Given these conditions,

00:56:38 marine interests are advised to anticipate

00:56:41 occasionally choppy seas.

00:56:43 - The art of fine chocolate infused with golden rum

00:56:57 paired with the delicate sweetness of plump raisins.

00:57:03 Rum and raisin, artfully crafted, a pure masterpiece.

00:57:09 Rum, raisins, chocolate.

00:57:14 Mm, divine.

00:57:18 Imagine Charles, make your moments magical this Christmas.

00:57:23 - San Fernando, the comedy event of the year is here.

00:57:26 Back in that bubble of bad behavior comes the Sapper

00:57:28 on Saturday the 18th of November at 8 30 PM

00:57:31 and Sunday the 19th of November at 6 30 PM.

00:57:33 - Henry stole $2 million.

00:57:35 - Nice guy, and he's done it.

00:57:35 - It's absolutely the final two shows

00:57:37 of "Back in that Bubble of Bad Behavior."

00:57:39 This is it, San Fernando, don't miss it.

00:57:41 - Police. - Police.

00:57:42 - Sergeant Alexander Rogers for the Spain CID.

00:57:44 - Tickets available at our usual outlets.

00:57:46 Check social media and press for further details.

00:57:48 - More police. - What?

00:57:50 - Detective Sergeant Herrod, Canuclia Police.

00:57:52 - Oh God.

00:57:53 - Imagine being able to own an affordable home

00:57:57 for less than half a million dollars.

00:58:00 One you've been promised will be made on a lot of land

00:58:03 here in central Trinidad.

00:58:05 Once the requisite payment is made

00:58:07 to the company making the offer.

00:58:09 But with a year and a half gone and payment made,

00:58:12 would-be homeowners are seeking answers

00:58:15 from the company that has gone silent.

00:58:17 (dramatic music)

00:58:20 (dramatic music)

00:58:23 - Skill online here with this weirdo named Larry.

00:58:48 I'm getting rid of him now.

00:58:50 Eh eh.

00:58:55 (laughing)

00:59:01 Let's take a selfie.

00:59:03 It looking good boy.

00:59:06 I'm putting it online.

00:59:08 - Hey, I thought you said you went to the beach

00:59:13 with your parents.

00:59:15 - Who's you?

00:59:16 - It's me, Larry.

00:59:19 From online.

00:59:20 ♪ Do you remember ♪

00:59:36 ♪ I could feel it just coming in the air ♪

00:59:40 ♪ Coming in the air ♪

00:59:42 ♪ Coming in the air tonight ♪

00:59:47 (upbeat music)

00:59:49 ♪ This is a situation shit ♪

01:00:13 ♪ Because we want to see other people ♪

01:00:15 ♪ Situation shit ♪

01:00:18 ♪ I said this is a situation shit ♪

01:00:20 ♪ Because we want to see other people ♪

01:00:22 ♪ Situation, situation shit ♪

01:00:25 ♪ Tell me why all these stress days come from your neck ♪

01:00:29 ♪ Since I'm the next one gonna fall out your neck ♪

01:00:34 ♪ Why all these side ones just be sick ♪

01:00:37 ♪ Lord please don't let me do this again ♪

01:00:41 ♪ Tell you what, I'm on your back ♪

01:00:44 - All right, so welcome back everyone.

01:00:46 So we're throwing some focus on the upcoming carnival

01:00:49 that is to come in 2024, but we do have on set right now

01:00:53 is Mfede Rubin, also known as Rich Raster.

01:00:56 And he's here to share his soca offerings

01:00:59 for carnival 2024.

01:01:02 Rich, I'll refer to you in that way, right?

01:01:06 (Rich laughing)

01:01:07 Rich, so tell us a little bit about you

01:01:10 because I suspect some people will be familiar with you

01:01:14 and your music, right?

01:01:16 But there are some people who may not be familiar.

01:01:18 So let's speak a little bit about you.

01:01:20 - I'd like to say good morning to Trinidad and Tobago

01:01:22 and the wider world.

01:01:23 Originally born as Mfede Rubin in South Trinidad.

01:01:28 I abbreviated my original name when I started singing

01:01:33 and I went by Fede for the girl then, for a long time.

01:01:36 - Fede for the girl then.

01:01:37 - Yeah, for a long time, for a long time.

01:01:40 And going through my career, growing up,

01:01:44 I mean, migrating to Canada, becoming a businessman.

01:01:49 That name just didn't really resonate with me anymore.

01:01:52 So a lot of my popular songs was under that subrique

01:01:57 where Trinidad might know me

01:02:00 as I was in the Soca Star competition a while back.

01:02:02 And then rebranding, you know, COVID,

01:02:05 COVID was the grand reset

01:02:06 and it was just like the perfect time to just rebrand

01:02:10 and let the name match who I am now.

01:02:15 And meaning like manifesting that.

01:02:17 So I manifested Fede for the girl then, that came to life.

01:02:21 And now it's time to manifest Rich Rasta.

01:02:23 - Rich Rasta boy.

01:02:24 - Real music, real me.

01:02:26 Just, you know, the Rich Rasta is a oxymoron.

01:02:30 Like there's never a Rich Rasta.

01:02:32 But that's what I want to be.

01:02:33 I want to be humble, but have the means to help the world.

01:02:37 - Yeah.

01:02:38 - You know what I mean?

01:02:39 - Times have changed, you know, Rich Rasta.

01:02:41 What I will tell you, or let me ask this in this way.

01:02:45 So you have been around for a while.

01:02:47 - I've been doing music for over 15 years.

01:02:50 - Yeah. And it's mostly Soca?

01:02:52 - Yes. I would say 10 years of Soca

01:02:55 and that's the last five years of me experimenting,

01:02:58 kind of creating my own sound to say,

01:03:02 I wouldn't go as far to say genre,

01:03:04 but just redefining how I want to sound,

01:03:08 what I want to sing about.

01:03:09 - Right.

01:03:10 - And I made a promise to myself to only sing real music,

01:03:14 like not to tap into that fantasy of what, you know,

01:03:18 like we could create, we are creators

01:03:19 and we can create anything really.

01:03:22 - Yeah.

01:03:22 - But where Calypso really took off

01:03:25 is because of that social commentary aspect,

01:03:28 meaning you go to listen to a record

01:03:30 to hear what's happening in the country.

01:03:32 You go to listen to a record to see the pulse

01:03:35 of what's going on around us.

01:03:37 And sometimes even the taboo things

01:03:39 that we don't ever talk about.

01:03:41 Somehow in music, you could say basically anything.

01:03:45 - Yeah.

01:03:46 - I mean, obviously you have to be responsible

01:03:48 with your words, but for some reason,

01:03:52 and when you're doing music, you're allowed,

01:03:54 and comedy, you're allowed to push the barrier,

01:03:57 push the envelope.

01:03:59 - Yeah.

01:03:59 - As to say, yeah.

01:04:01 I've made a promise to myself to only sing music

01:04:03 that things that I've experienced

01:04:05 or that I've been around to experience,

01:04:07 maybe not myself, but like a friend, a family member.

01:04:10 So that's the pledge to myself

01:04:12 to just keep the music as real as possible

01:04:15 because the world, as you say, the world is changing

01:04:18 and we go through real things every single day.

01:04:20 And going at it this way,

01:04:23 we are hearing music about what is happening.

01:04:26 - Yeah.

01:04:27 - You know, there's no more postmortems, no more.

01:04:29 - Yeah.

01:04:30 - It's like, you know, fun and which is good too.

01:04:33 That's where Sooka started, started as this,

01:04:35 well, Calypso I should say,

01:04:37 started as this freedom thing, you know?

01:04:39 Not the real, we want to build this nostalgic place

01:04:42 where we could forget about the oppression

01:04:44 and forget about where we were

01:04:46 and create this euphoric feeling.

01:04:48 - So tell us about your contribution for next year.

01:04:52 - Well, the name of my first contribution is Situationship,

01:04:55 which is already out.

01:04:56 - Yeah.

01:04:57 - And I'm going back to what I was just saying, real.

01:05:00 - Yeah.

01:05:01 - So coming, fun, funny enough coming,

01:05:03 I come back to Trinidad every year for six months

01:05:07 to dedicate myself to the music and like immerse myself.

01:05:11 I don't just want to come, release a song and leave.

01:05:13 I want to be here and mark it, give it to just you.

01:05:17 But coming home, you know, you hear stories,

01:05:18 you know, every time you come home,

01:05:20 I come home, I hear a story and I hear a story.

01:05:21 And I just find this tone was, it just kept coming up.

01:05:25 Everyone, everybody I talk to,

01:05:28 they ain't say any word Situationship, but they ain't one.

01:05:33 - What is a Situationship, Rich Raster?

01:05:35 - To me?

01:05:36 - Yeah, and Studio, if we can,

01:05:38 could you play it so that we can hear

01:05:40 what Rich Raster is speaking about?

01:05:41 - To me a Situationship is anything

01:05:44 that you need to omit something.

01:05:47 - All right.

01:05:48 - So meaning you could omit it to yourself,

01:05:50 you could omit it to somebody else,

01:05:52 but you're not in a straight line.

01:05:55 - Okay.

01:05:56 - The lines are bent, the rules are bent a little bit.

01:05:59 - It's blurred, blurred lines.

01:06:00 - Blurred lines, exactly.

01:06:01 That's what I saw.

01:06:02 I, me personally, I think anything that you need to omit.

01:06:05 And it doesn't have to be anything too draconian.

01:06:08 - Yeah.

01:06:09 - You know, it doesn't have to be a man and a woman

01:06:10 relationship, which is most Situationships,

01:06:13 but you could have a Situationship with your weight.

01:06:16 - Yeah.

01:06:17 - You know, yeah, yeah.

01:06:18 - Studio, could we hear a little bit of it?

01:06:20 ♪ Every stress just come from your neck ♪

01:06:23 ♪ Since I'm the next one gonna fall out tonight ♪

01:06:27 ♪ Why all these side ones just be sad ♪

01:06:31 ♪ Lord please don't let me do this again ♪

01:06:35 ♪ Can you offer man another bag of her ♪

01:06:38 - Oh, it's one of those, your dress, man.

01:06:41 (laughing)

01:06:42 - It is, I mean, taboo.

01:06:45 - Yeah.

01:06:46 - Things that we don't necessarily,

01:06:47 you know, conversations we don't get to have every day,

01:06:49 but it is happening.

01:06:51 It is happening.

01:06:53 Every day, everywhere.

01:06:55 I mean, okay, so as simple as you come,

01:06:58 I don't know if you're married or what,

01:07:00 but the security guard, you bring her coffee every morning.

01:07:03 Now you're not gonna tell her significant other

01:07:05 that you're bringing her coffee for this person

01:07:06 every morning.

01:07:07 - Okay, all right.

01:07:08 - And all they have in a rapport, work wife.

01:07:11 - Okay, okay.

01:07:11 - A work wife is a situation, so far.

01:07:13 - Richard, I said, okay, thank you very much.

01:07:15 You see that road you're going down?

01:07:17 Let me forget that.

01:07:18 You looking to put me in trouble

01:07:19 and people watching me cut her and all that.

01:07:21 So let me forget that, right?

01:07:23 - But you have.

01:07:24 - Well, I mean, it's life.

01:07:26 And I believe that we need to get back there.

01:07:30 We need to get back to sharing real things

01:07:32 because, I mean, there's so much happening.

01:07:35 And I mean, we could even get into politics

01:07:37 and all the other things,

01:07:39 but the music has lost that social commentary aspect,

01:07:41 I believe.

01:07:42 - Yes.

01:07:43 - And I just wanna, I wanna do more.

01:07:44 - You're writing?

01:07:45 - Yes.

01:07:46 - You write all of your songs?

01:07:48 - Yes.

01:07:49 - Who's producing for you?

01:07:50 - I actually kinda, I like to be immersed

01:07:53 in the whole project.

01:07:54 So I'm not like a traditional producer,

01:07:56 but I know what I want to hear.

01:07:58 So I like to use live instruments.

01:08:00 But the guy that produced this song is Greg,

01:08:03 Gregory Joseph, he goes as Gregs.

01:08:05 He is a keyboardist/guitarist for the Oslo Album.

01:08:08 - From Trinidad?

01:08:08 - From Trinidad.

01:08:09 - From Trinidad.

01:08:10 - Yeah, he does a lot of Parang.

01:08:12 We've worked together for a long time.

01:08:14 I met him through Wilf & Albs.

01:08:16 So he does acoustic stuff.

01:08:18 So we did it together.

01:08:19 - Do you have other songs for 2020?

01:08:20 - I have one more song to drop for 2024.

01:08:23 And the name of that song is "Not Giving Up".

01:08:25 - "Not Giving Up".

01:08:26 - Yeah.

01:08:27 So as I said, I'm keeping it real.

01:08:29 I've been doing music for over 15 years.

01:08:32 And I've had a lot of friends in this industry

01:08:35 and acquaintances.

01:08:37 I've been marching the road.

01:08:38 So I just want to let people know,

01:08:40 no matter how long the road is,

01:08:42 no matter how long the journey is,

01:08:44 and that you can't, you can't, you can't waver.

01:08:47 If you know in your heart something is for you,

01:08:50 you need to get better, not just do it,

01:08:52 but get better and don't give up.

01:08:55 - What has the response been to-

01:08:57 - Situationship?

01:08:58 - Yeah.

01:08:59 - So far-

01:09:00 - You've been getting good play?

01:09:01 - Yeah, so far, people love this song,

01:09:03 but they just don't love it out loud yet.

01:09:06 - Okay.

01:09:07 - Because it's one of those songs-

01:09:08 - It could be a creeper, right?

01:09:09 - Right, it is taboo.

01:09:11 So if you're in a car with your wife or whoever,

01:09:14 it'll be very difficult to really,

01:09:16 "Wait, but I really like this song."

01:09:18 They're going to ask, "Well, why?"

01:09:19 - Yeah.

01:09:20 - And then you have to explain yourself.

01:09:21 So it's one of those songs where I believe closer

01:09:24 to the season where a little more is allowed,

01:09:27 a little more, you know, energy, vibes,

01:09:30 you're allowed to enjoy the carnival freely, I believe.

01:09:33 But the other song that I'm going to release,

01:09:35 Not Giving Up, I believe that's going to touch some hearts

01:09:38 because I'm sure there's everybody in Trinidad today,

01:09:41 around the world, has had goals, aspirations,

01:09:44 you know, something to look forward to,

01:09:46 and there's been a roadblock,

01:09:48 and they've wanted to be like, "All right, I've had enough.

01:09:51 I want to finish up."

01:09:53 - Have you, I suspect you have management?

01:09:56 - Yes.

01:09:57 - Yeah?

01:09:58 - Yes.

01:09:59 - So have they taken steps where we will see Rich Rasta

01:10:01 somewhere in the upcoming months

01:10:03 and for the carnival and so on?

01:10:04 - Yes, yes.

01:10:06 My first live performance with a band

01:10:08 is going to be on December 2nd at Sound Forge

01:10:11 with Ulf & Al's birthday celebration.

01:10:14 - Yeah.

01:10:14 - There's like a couple boat rides,

01:10:19 but it's just before Christmas.

01:10:21 I actually want to go back home

01:10:22 and spend time with family for Christmas.

01:10:24 - Right, and you're coming back.

01:10:25 - Yeah, yeah.

01:10:26 That's the plan to roll out for the season.

01:10:29 - How do people contact you if they want to?

01:10:32 - I mean, we're in the digital era,

01:10:34 so social media, Rich Instagram, TikTok, Facebook,

01:10:39 Rich Rasta, R-I-C-H-H-R-A-S-T-A.

01:10:43 I believe we could get there, get my email from there,

01:10:47 get my number from there,

01:10:48 and then the top management and we link anybody.

01:10:50 - Yeah, Rich Rasta, we wish you all the best.

01:10:53 I mean, we have not gotten into the real carnival thing yet.

01:10:57 You know, we're trying to deal with the Christmas first.

01:10:59 - Definitely.

01:11:00 - But I would love when you see

01:11:03 we have gone full blown into the carnival,

01:11:06 that you come back and do a performance for us.

01:11:08 - Today is just, I want to show my face to the country

01:11:12 because people have been hearing this song and liking it.

01:11:14 I want to put a face to the music.

01:11:17 - But I'm liking what I'm hearing thus far.

01:11:19 I'm liking the music.

01:11:20 I'm liking the power in the voice,

01:11:23 the clarity in the voice.

01:11:24 I'm liking that.

01:11:25 - Much appreciated, much appreciated.

01:11:27 - And I really do wish that you have a good season.

01:11:32 - Yeah, well, a retired chef.

01:11:33 (laughing)

01:11:35 Let's just put that disclaimer out there.

01:11:37 Retired chef.

01:11:39 Yeah, I've had restaurants before.

01:11:40 I've cooked for Acorn, Snoop Dogg.

01:11:44 I've done quite a bit in terms of--

01:11:46 - So where you cook for Snoop Dogg?

01:11:47 - In a place called Muskoka.

01:11:49 - Yeah, and what you cook for him?

01:11:50 - Oh, what do I cook for him?

01:11:51 - You cook some callaloo for him?

01:11:52 - And the Akai, you know.

01:11:53 (laughing)

01:11:55 You have to keep your client's information private.

01:11:58 - Confidential, all of that, right?

01:11:59 - Definitely, definitely.

01:12:00 - You cook for him?

01:12:01 - All of that, right?

01:12:02 - Definitely, definitely.

01:12:03 - What?

01:12:03 - Definitely, definitely.

01:12:04 - Snoop Dogg eat some curry crab and dumpling, I think.

01:12:06 - Nah, nah, nah.

01:12:07 (laughing)

01:12:08 - But, Rich Raster, it was a pleasure speaking with you.

01:12:10 As I said, we wish you all the best.

01:12:13 Please come back during the carnival season

01:12:14 and do something for us.

01:12:15 - Yeah, definitely.

01:12:16 I would love to come to the rooftop thing that we have.

01:12:18 So, yeah, man, I just give thanks for the opportunity.

01:12:20 - Of course.

01:12:21 - Of course, it's been a pleasure to do it.

01:12:22 - All right, Rich Raster.

01:12:23 Take care until then, all right?

01:12:25 So we are going to a very quick break.

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01:15:15 - All right, so welcome back everyone.

01:15:17 So we are discussing the issue of AI innovation,

01:15:22 and we do have from the Signal Hill Secondary School

01:15:25 at this time, Sian Darbrough, student,

01:15:29 Iana Clark, also a student,

01:15:31 and we do have teacher Devon Olivier.

01:15:34 Good morning.

01:15:36 - Good morning.

01:15:37 - Yeah, well, Mr. Olivier, let's begin with you.

01:15:40 Yeah, let's speak about,

01:15:43 let's speak about the AI innovation

01:15:49 and your involvement here.

01:15:51 - Well, the project is more than just

01:15:54 about artificial intelligence.

01:15:56 - Yes.

01:15:57 - We hope that we can incorporate

01:15:59 both artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

01:16:04 The project is really purposed to introduce the school

01:16:08 in a more immersive way than traditional ways

01:16:11 to potential students and parents

01:16:14 and all the interested persons in the public.

01:16:17 - But why do you think that this is the most opportune time

01:16:22 to do this now?

01:16:23 - The opportune time, well, this is a time

01:16:26 where we have these new technologies emerging,

01:16:30 and we are now in a time in the world

01:16:34 where VR is becoming popular,

01:16:37 artificial intelligence as well,

01:16:39 you know about ChatGPT and OpenAI,

01:16:42 and also Facebook has released

01:16:44 their new artificial intelligence products as well.

01:16:48 So we hope that we can capitalize

01:16:50 on the moving technology and immerse persons

01:16:55 and involve them in a more immersive way

01:16:58 in the school life.

01:17:00 - Yeah, Zion, I see that you're shaking your head

01:17:02 in approval.

01:17:04 So I think it is something that you do agree with

01:17:06 as Mr. Olivier is saying,

01:17:10 but Zion, what do you think that you and your colleagues

01:17:15 are trying to achieve by this?

01:17:19 - We really want to achieve this

01:17:23 because it's something that we want.

01:17:25 We want to prove that our school

01:17:27 from a small island to be able to compete

01:17:29 on a worldwide scale.

01:17:31 We haven't seen something like this done in Caribbean

01:17:33 and the secondary school level.

01:17:34 We can't take that.

01:17:36 This is a cutting edge idea that person will love

01:17:40 because it seems to shut up the way that society is going

01:17:43 in a modernized, new way of doing things.

01:17:47 - Yeah, and Iyana,

01:17:49 how have your colleagues been embracing this?

01:17:57 Have they been interested?

01:18:01 - Yes, we've always interested in this

01:18:03 because as my colleague, Zion said that how society

01:18:08 is now being modernized and virtual reality

01:18:11 and artificial intelligence is now becoming new topic.

01:18:16 So we all share experience.

01:18:17 We all share all love for this topic.

01:18:20 And we figured that how doing this

01:18:24 will actually train us

01:18:25 because first we entered this entire concept

01:18:29 without any idea, we were all blinded by it.

01:18:32 But through the entire creation of this app,

01:18:36 we were able to educate ourselves further into the topic.

01:18:41 And we're hoping that through educating ourselves,

01:18:44 we would also educate younger folks

01:18:46 about AI and virtual reality.

01:18:49 - Teacher Olivier, how many students were involved

01:18:56 in this project and creating this app?

01:19:00 - We have like two teachers and I think it's seven students.

01:19:05 Seven students in all.

01:19:06 - Yeah, when did it hit you that, hey, let's do this app?

01:19:11 When did you get that aha moment?

01:19:14 Let's do this.

01:19:16 - Well, I mean, I guess we always had the interest

01:19:20 in introducing the school to potential students,

01:19:23 especially in the primary school.

01:19:25 And we were always looking for ways

01:19:27 and then the idea came from some students

01:19:30 and they came to us and we rolled with it.

01:19:34 - Yeah, and how long did you all take to develop it?

01:19:37 - I think we started from the beginning of this term.

01:19:42 And we now are about 80% finished.

01:19:47 And we're hoping that the app could allow people

01:19:50 to be more immersed.

01:19:53 We want to allow people to feel as though

01:19:56 when they experience the AI,

01:19:57 they are in the space in secondary school

01:20:01 and when they experience the,

01:20:04 no, when they experience the virtual reality, sorry,

01:20:05 they are in the space and when they experience the AI,

01:20:08 you feel as though you're speaking to somebody

01:20:10 with intimate knowledge about the school.

01:20:12 - Yeah, all right, so you are 80%,

01:20:16 it's almost 80% complete.

01:20:19 When do you expect that it should be completed

01:20:22 and when should it be available to people?

01:20:26 - We are hoping that by January the second,

01:20:30 but with projects like technology projects

01:20:34 and even in the construction industry,

01:20:36 when you plan a few weeks ahead,

01:20:39 sometimes the project goes on a little longer than that

01:20:42 and so on, so we're hoping that by January,

01:20:44 we will be ready to release it to the public.

01:20:46 - Yeah, Sayan, take us through the app.

01:20:49 When we go into the app, what do we expect to see?

01:20:53 - When you go into the app,

01:20:54 you will be provided with a virtual tour of the school

01:20:58 so you can actually feel as though you're walking

01:20:59 through the school.

01:21:00 You'll see the school from all different angles,

01:21:02 the aerial view, pictures of the classroom

01:21:05 and you could actually move as if you were walking

01:21:08 through the school at that time,

01:21:10 but you're not actually there.

01:21:11 In addition to this, you'll see a newspaper,

01:21:14 school newspaper on the app,

01:21:15 which will just be talking about current issues

01:21:17 that will need to be solved,

01:21:19 issues that will appeal to the students

01:21:21 and then you will see information on subject areas,

01:21:24 features of coming events and of course,

01:21:27 the AI will be there so you can ask any question

01:21:30 about the school and get a response.

01:21:32 - Yeah.

01:21:33 Iyana, you also seem very excited about this app.

01:21:38 It would seem that you're raring to go

01:21:40 and you can't wait until the app is fully operational.

01:21:45 - Indeed.

01:21:48 - Yeah.

01:21:49 So let's speak, is it that the app is going to be available

01:21:54 to all students?

01:21:57 Well, not only the students, but I suspect to everyone.

01:22:01 - To the entire world.

01:22:03 - Yeah, yeah.

01:22:04 - To the entire world.

01:22:05 - Is it going to be free?

01:22:06 - Anybody with an internet connection.

01:22:08 - Is it going to be free?

01:22:09 - Yes.

01:22:11 - Okay, all right.

01:22:12 So that's good.

01:22:15 Iyana, is it going to be, how do you say,

01:22:19 when you're going to the app,

01:22:21 is it going to be, let's say, people-friendly?

01:22:25 When you navigate, is going to be,

01:22:30 anyone can use it from the young

01:22:32 to the old person like me?

01:22:35 - Yes, we're designing this app

01:22:38 that anyone from any age range could access it

01:22:43 and it would be easy to access.

01:22:44 There's not going to be something complicated.

01:22:46 It's something very simple.

01:22:48 - Yeah.

01:22:50 And where--

01:22:51 - I could probably add to that.

01:22:53 If you, so anybody with a mobile device, a cell phone,

01:22:56 most of these new modern devices,

01:23:00 they equipped with the technology

01:23:01 to just allow you to just go onto the app

01:23:04 and as you move the phone in different directions,

01:23:06 it will automatically control the app

01:23:09 to view the different directions

01:23:11 in the virtual reality space.

01:23:14 But besides that, you have to remember,

01:23:15 we also have this AI.

01:23:17 And we're hoping that,

01:23:18 well, we wouldn't let too much out,

01:23:19 but we're hoping that you should be able

01:23:23 to interact with the AI in the simplest ways possible

01:23:27 so that we could ask it questions about the school

01:23:29 and it would respond in the simplest way possible.

01:23:33 - Yeah.

01:23:33 But Mr. Olivier, this sounds like a lot of effort

01:23:38 would have gone into this,

01:23:40 and a lot of information is going to have to be input

01:23:45 into this before it becomes fully operational.

01:23:49 - Yes.

01:23:50 - Yeah.

01:23:51 - So we're hoping that we'll have to teach the AI

01:23:54 by telling it everything we know about the school

01:23:57 from the inception of the school to the current events.

01:24:02 - But Sayan, how do you even attempt to do that?

01:24:06 I mean, you're speaking about an app

01:24:09 where its aim is to answer all questions about the school,

01:24:14 I suspect from the simplest of questions

01:24:18 to questions that may be more in depth.

01:24:21 So how do you even begin to think

01:24:25 about what people are going to ask?

01:24:28 - Yes, I think I completely agree with something.

01:24:32 That is why I've got a lot of effort.

01:24:34 A lot of effort needs to be put into this,

01:24:35 a lot of research,

01:24:37 because we need to be able,

01:24:38 the AI needs to be prepared to answer questions

01:24:40 from all angles.

01:24:42 We are not sure what people want to know,

01:24:43 so we have to include every single detail about the school.

01:24:47 So we go about this by firstly compiling a list of things

01:24:50 that we want people to know about the school,

01:24:52 and then we have teachers like Sir Louis Berry

01:24:54 who's good in technology,

01:24:56 who can teach us and show us apps that we can use

01:24:59 to program this AI in order to raise it to the public.

01:25:03 - Right, but Iyana, suppose there's a situation

01:25:05 where I pose a question

01:25:08 and there is not that information on the app.

01:25:13 Is there going to be some sort of prompt

01:25:17 where you say, well, here's what we are in the process

01:25:20 of processing that information and would provide it to you?

01:25:24 Is it something like that?

01:25:26 - Exactly, yes.

01:25:27 - Yeah?

01:25:28 - Exactly like that.

01:25:30 - Okay.

01:25:31 - It's something that has to constantly-

01:25:32 - Keep up with them.

01:25:34 - So we constantly be updating the app

01:25:36 to avoid as many of those situations as possible.

01:25:40 - So Iyana, I think that it may be safe to say

01:25:42 that you all would have spent some sleepless nights

01:25:45 in preparing this app.

01:25:47 - Yes, because as I mentioned,

01:25:50 we all are completely blinded.

01:25:52 So a lot of research had to be conducted

01:25:55 before we can start the creation of it.

01:26:00 So we spent a lot of time having sleepless nights

01:26:03 and it was really difficult because as students

01:26:07 and as a teacher, we all have different schedules

01:26:09 and meeting up to discuss this app

01:26:13 was quite a challenging process,

01:26:15 however, we managed to overcome it.

01:26:17 - Yeah.

01:26:18 Sian, what do you think that you have learned

01:26:21 by you being involved in developing this app?

01:26:28 - I always used to think that I was someone

01:26:32 who was not very well versed in technology,

01:26:34 but I think from being a part of this project,

01:26:37 I have learned so much about virtual reality and AI

01:26:41 thanks to Sylvia and all the other students involved.

01:26:44 I think I've also got communication

01:26:47 and I think I've also got ambition

01:26:49 and how to come up with innovative ideas.

01:26:51 So it's something great to show that I believe in.

01:26:55 - Yeah, and Iyana,

01:26:58 how has this impacted on you positively?

01:27:02 Iyana, you're hearing me?

01:27:06 - Oh, just a minute.

01:27:07 - Yeah, how has this impacted positively on you?

01:27:10 - Well, I would say it acknowledged,

01:27:14 it gave me knowledge on the new advanced technology

01:27:18 because at science,

01:27:19 and I wasn't someone that was kind of liking technology,

01:27:24 but now that I see how everything is now modernized

01:27:27 and virtual reality and AI is actually quite enticing,

01:27:32 I would say it allowed me to also communicate

01:27:36 with my fellow colleagues.

01:27:38 It also enhanced my time management

01:27:42 and it's good.

01:27:46 - Yeah.

01:27:47 Mr. Olivier, have you seen a level of growth

01:27:51 in the students who have participated in this project?

01:27:55 - Yeah, for sure.

01:27:57 And as they said, we are still in the process.

01:28:01 We are updating parts of the app all the time

01:28:04 and especially in the area of the VR aspect of the app,

01:28:08 we have literally the students themselves

01:28:11 doing that part of the project.

01:28:14 Of course, guided by the teachers,

01:28:15 but the majority of the work is being done by the students

01:28:17 and they knew nothing about,

01:28:20 most of us knew nothing about how to get this app

01:28:23 up and running and the students took the challenge

01:28:27 and right now they are in charge of that part of the app

01:28:31 and I just come along every now and then and advise

01:28:35 and I'm working on other things in the background.

01:28:37 - Yeah.

01:28:38 Mr. Olivier, anything else you'd like to tell us

01:28:40 before you leave us this morning?

01:28:42 - I just wanna say thanks for having us.

01:28:45 - Yeah, and thank you,

01:28:48 Deanna and Sian and teacher Devon Olivier,

01:28:53 it was a pleasure speaking with you.

01:28:55 I suspect this is something that is new among schools

01:29:00 and I think that you all should be credited

01:29:03 for taking this giant leap.

01:29:05 So we congratulate you all and wish you all the best

01:29:08 and can't wait for when the app becomes fully operational.

01:29:12 Maybe at that time we can speak about it

01:29:14 and the next time you're here,

01:29:16 we can go through the app and see how we can navigate

01:29:20 the app, but in the meantime, thank you very much.

01:29:23 - Thank you.

01:29:24 - Bye bye.

01:29:25 Okay.

01:29:26 - All right.

01:29:27 - So we are going to a very short break again.

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01:30:31 with four or five burners, chest freezers,

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01:30:38 'Tis the season for quality, value and performance.

01:30:41 So gift yourself the best range of appliances

01:30:44 available nationwide.

01:30:46 (upbeat music)

01:30:51 - Thing is about to break for you.

01:30:56 - Three hours in Gethsemane,

01:30:57 he dragged that tire called salvation for man.

01:31:00 - Lift my eyes unto the hills.

01:31:05 We only have one place to go for help.

01:31:09 Hallelujah.

01:31:11 So I celebrate in Jesus.

01:31:13 ♪ There's a king who leads his people to victory ♪

01:31:20 ♪ We are destined ♪

01:31:24 - Walk into your new season.

01:31:26 ♪ I come to tell you about the show ♪

01:31:31 ♪ You know that you see further than what they've got ♪

01:31:35 ♪ So everything was happy and in order ♪

01:31:39 - The Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic presents

01:31:42 That's What Friends Are For

01:31:45 on Saturday the 18th of November at 6.30 p.m.

01:31:49 and Sunday the 19th of November at 5.30 p.m.

01:31:53 at the National Academy for the Performing Arts.

01:31:56 - Come and enjoy an evening of light, smooth jazz

01:32:03 and disco with Mr. Kenneth Lestrop as music director.

01:32:09 (upbeat music)

01:32:11 Also featuring the debut of the Trinidad and Tobago

01:32:16 Youth Philharmonic Children's Choir.

01:32:19 See you there.

01:32:22 - All right, so everyone and in studio this morning

01:32:28 we do have musical director, Mr. Kenneth Lestrop.

01:32:31 Mr. Lestrop, thank you very much for coming this morning.

01:32:33 - Thank you very much and good morning to you

01:32:36 and to the whole of Trinidad and Tobago.

01:32:37 - Yeah, well tell us about this event, Mr. Lestrop.

01:32:40 - We are really excited about this event.

01:32:41 As I told you before, this is unique to Trinidad and Tobago.

01:32:46 It's not happening anywhere else in the Caribbean.

01:32:49 We are doing a full blown tribute to the Beethoven

01:32:54 of the 20th and 21st century, Bert Bacharach.

01:32:59 He died this year and Bert Bacharach has been around

01:33:03 for decades and has produced some of the most

01:33:06 beautiful music from "That's What Friends Are For."

01:33:10 Say a little prayer for you, make it easy on yourself.

01:33:13 This guy is in love with you, close to you.

01:33:16 What do you get when you fall in love?

01:33:18 Lots of great music.

01:33:19 This is gonna be a weekend of smooth jazz, of disco.

01:33:24 We have the likes of the music of Anita Baker,

01:33:27 Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind and Fire, Donna Summer,

01:33:31 Crusaders, Jazz Standards.

01:33:33 And as I said, to top it off is this beautiful tribute

01:33:37 to Bert Bacharach.

01:33:39 - Yeah, but you know, Mr. Lestrop,

01:33:42 when you're speaking about the participation

01:33:44 of the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic,

01:33:47 it gives a certain sort of flavor to this entire event, right?

01:33:52 - Yes, yes, yes, yes.

01:33:53 The beautiful thing about working in a youth orchestra,

01:33:56 and may I say that this is the largest symphony orchestra

01:34:00 and the only youth orchestra in Trinidad and Tobago

01:34:03 is that this orchestra, we do all forms of music.

01:34:07 We play the symphonies of Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky,

01:34:12 you name them, we have done all the major symphonies.

01:34:17 We have done the Handel, Messiah,

01:34:20 and then we have Christmas concerts,

01:34:23 and then we immerse the students also in pop music.

01:34:26 We have done Michael Jackson, we have done '70s music,

01:34:31 we have done '80s music this year.

01:34:35 You know, we're doing things a little different.

01:34:36 It's always 'cause we have to keep the youths engaged

01:34:39 and excited about their music.

01:34:41 So they don't know, their greatest skill

01:34:44 is really in the classical music.

01:34:47 But of course, when you can play classical music,

01:34:49 you can play any kind of music.

01:34:50 - Yeah, and you think, sir,

01:34:53 that the young people are interested in this type of music?

01:34:58 How palatable is it to them?

01:34:59 - Oh yes, yes, yes, yes.

01:35:01 Yeah, you see, once you enter youth orchestra,

01:35:04 Toronto Youth Orchestra, you get in that environment.

01:35:07 You know, the energy and the understanding of the music,

01:35:12 the ability to follow the score

01:35:16 and to follow the recording of the music

01:35:19 and to see how all the ideas come together.

01:35:22 Then they learn about the lyrical content of the music

01:35:25 and the value of the music,

01:35:27 the value that the music brings to humanity.

01:35:29 These students are well hyped up, piped up.

01:35:33 I mean, you should hear this orchestra.

01:35:35 You should hear them play Arthur's Theme by Birdback Rock.

01:35:40 ♪ What do you get when you're lost in New York City ♪

01:35:44 Ah, man, this is world-class.

01:35:47 This is a world-class orchestra.

01:35:49 I know I'm passionate about it

01:35:50 because I know the body of the group.

01:35:51 - We see it, we see it, Mr. Littlestrop.

01:35:53 We see that, we see the passion.

01:35:55 We see why you're the music director.

01:35:57 - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Right?

01:35:58 25 years we've been doing this

01:36:00 and we've grown from strength to strength.

01:36:02 Not even COVID could stop us.

01:36:03 We kept going, kept going,

01:36:05 and we are back on full blown.

01:36:07 We intend to establish the first music academy

01:36:12 in Trinidad and Tobago and in the region.

01:36:15 We have paid off for three lots of land fully.

01:36:19 We are now in the process of paying off for the fourth lot.

01:36:22 And once we own that,

01:36:25 we have the architectural designs for the academy.

01:36:28 We are leaving a legacy for Trinidad and Tobago

01:36:31 and the youth of the nation

01:36:33 so they can stop all this stupid crime and so on,

01:36:35 and they could get themselves involved

01:36:38 in purposeful, lifelong learning,

01:36:42 making connections with friends,

01:36:44 and making music,

01:36:46 and making this world a better place through music.

01:36:50 - When it comes to a concert such as this,

01:36:53 how long do you and the students,

01:36:58 or the participants,

01:36:59 maybe I should say students,

01:37:01 musicians,

01:37:02 - Yes, four years old.

01:37:04 - How long does it take to prepare for a concert such as this?

01:37:07 - Okay, well, we just came out from our classical season.

01:37:11 In that classical season,

01:37:17 we actually did a tribute to Black Stalin,

01:37:22 and then we did some other types of classical music.

01:37:26 That was August.

01:37:27 So as soon as school was reopened,

01:37:31 I started working on the arrangements for this.

01:37:34 So I think, you know,

01:37:35 we have been,

01:37:36 and we started rehearsals immediately as school reopened,

01:37:40 and we rehearsed every Saturday night

01:37:43 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.,

01:37:46 and I kept rolling out all the music

01:37:50 from Burt Bacharach and Chaka Khan

01:37:52 and Dionne Warwick and Earth, Wind and Fire.

01:37:55 Every week, I would roll out about like

01:37:57 three or four pieces

01:37:58 and have them practice in their sections.

01:38:00 And now we've brought the whole cast together

01:38:03 with the Ewan Gellion singers.

01:38:04 It's a 10-piece choir,

01:38:06 but the singers are very versatile.

01:38:09 Some of the best voices in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:38:12 I have a band I've been working with.

01:38:14 They have been with me from the inception,

01:38:16 since 25 years.

01:38:17 So, you know, we are a real tight unit.

01:38:20 - Yeah. - So, yeah.

01:38:21 - But tell me, how do,

01:38:23 because I think you mentioned just now,

01:38:25 from the age of four years old, right?

01:38:27 - Yes, yes. - So how do parents

01:38:30 get their children involved in this orchestra?

01:38:33 - Yeah, they just, well,

01:38:36 most of the times,

01:38:37 it's either that they have come to our concerts,

01:38:40 and when they see little ones on stage,

01:38:42 they say, "Well, mommy, if these kids could do it,

01:38:44 "I could do it too.

01:38:45 "I want to get involved."

01:38:47 And so, we take them on from as young as five years old,

01:38:50 some four going on five,

01:38:53 some join us later,

01:38:56 early secondary school,

01:38:58 where they learn the wind and brass instruments.

01:39:00 This orchestra has every constituted instrument

01:39:04 of the symphony orchestra.

01:39:06 Double bassoon, tuba,

01:39:07 bass clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone,

01:39:12 oboe, flute, clarinet, violins, violas, cellos,

01:39:17 double basses, percussion, the footworks.

01:39:20 - Yeah.

01:39:21 What do you think is the right age

01:39:24 for a child to be immersed in such a program?

01:39:29 - Yeah, yeah.

01:39:31 - Because at four and five,

01:39:32 they may be still feeling out.

01:39:34 - Four and five is when you get them in the environment.

01:39:38 - Yes.

01:39:39 - That's really important,

01:39:41 to get them in environment,

01:39:42 to make them understand this is serious,

01:39:44 and I'm in a group of people

01:39:47 who are doing productive things.

01:39:50 They learn that discipline,

01:39:51 they learn to focus and so on.

01:39:54 You know, they have the attention and so on,

01:39:58 but that's okay.

01:39:59 - Yes.

01:40:00 - But by eight, seven, six, seven,

01:40:02 they're fully ready.

01:40:04 - Yeah.

01:40:05 - They're fully ready.

01:40:05 - So you see the development.

01:40:07 - Yeah, and then we have them,

01:40:08 that tenure for like,

01:40:10 some students have been with us like 18 years,

01:40:13 you know, and they've grown,

01:40:14 they become leaders in the orchestra,

01:40:16 they become teachers in the orchestra.

01:40:19 Some of them have gone on to national scholarships,

01:40:21 some abroad and so on.

01:40:24 So we keep that wheel turning all the time.

01:40:27 We are all about succession planning.

01:40:30 - Right, I suspect so Mr. Listrop,

01:40:33 that you all may have touched maybe hundreds

01:40:36 - Oh yes.

01:40:37 - Of children over the years, right?

01:40:38 - Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.

01:40:39 Next year we celebrate 25 years, you know,

01:40:42 and we are planning big things for next year.

01:40:46 - Yeah.

01:40:47 - 25 years.

01:40:48 - Recently, just now you told me about a concert

01:40:52 that would have been held recently by the Philharmonic.

01:40:56 - Yes.

01:40:57 - What was the response like?

01:40:59 - They, on the,

01:41:03 the Black Stalin.

01:41:05 - Yes.

01:41:06 - Yeah, some people, people really enjoyed that concert.

01:41:09 To hear the music of Black Stalin in, you know,

01:41:13 very intricate parts, you know,

01:41:15 I was working with an arranger out of the UK

01:41:18 through that base and so on,

01:41:20 and he brought a different approach

01:41:24 to the entire music of Black Stalin

01:41:27 and the counter melodies and the jazz harmonies and so on.

01:41:30 It was well received.

01:41:32 - Yeah.

01:41:33 - Yes, yes, yes.

01:41:34 - Is it that when a child is,

01:41:38 is put into the program or parents ask you all to,

01:41:43 look, I want my child to be a part of this program.

01:41:48 What does the program entail?

01:41:51 Does it entail not only learning to use the instrument,

01:41:55 but does it entail writing music and so on?

01:41:59 - Yeah, this is a full program, you know,

01:42:00 so it's, they get involved in music theory.

01:42:04 They get involved in air training,

01:42:07 sight singing, sight singing, sight reading,

01:42:10 actual reading of music,

01:42:12 lots of opportunities to perform in gigs and so on

01:42:17 and make music together.

01:42:20 Lots of opportunities to make connections

01:42:22 with other musicians.

01:42:25 It's a whole, I mean, we,

01:42:27 over the years we have actually done four tours, you know.

01:42:30 - Really?

01:42:30 - Really done, we went to St. Lucia,

01:42:32 we went to Curacao, we went to Barbados,

01:42:35 and I can't, I can't remember.

01:42:38 Yeah, we've done four tours.

01:42:41 - Yeah.

01:42:41 - Very successful tours.

01:42:43 - All right, we just have about two minutes again, sir.

01:42:45 So let's return to the concert.

01:42:48 Where can people get tickets and so on?

01:42:50 - Okay, so tickets limited are still available

01:42:54 at Napa's box office.

01:42:56 You can go there today, tomorrow, and Sunday.

01:43:00 Showtime tomorrow is 6.30, Sunday 5.30.

01:43:05 Tickets at Napa box office.

01:43:07 You can get it at UWE bookshop.

01:43:09 You can get it at Antony's Floral and Valsane.

01:43:12 You can get it at Quality Stationery Services

01:43:16 behind Massey Stores in St. Augustine.

01:43:18 You can get it at Champions Industries,

01:43:22 Macharita Road in Arima.

01:43:24 All for members of the orchestra.

01:43:26 Just call my number, 751-6297.

01:43:29 - Yeah, and it's two days, right?

01:43:31 - Two days.

01:43:32 - It's Saturday and Sunday.

01:43:33 - Two days.

01:43:34 Come prepared, this is not a sit down concert.

01:43:37 This is not a sit down concert.

01:43:38 You can become a playing Al Jarreau

01:43:40 and Earth, Wind and Fire and come to sit down.

01:43:42 - Come to dance.

01:43:43 - Come to dance, come to sing.

01:43:45 - Yeah.

01:43:46 - That's what friends are for.

01:43:46 - Yeah.

01:43:48 Mr. Listrop, thank you for the energy this morning.

01:43:51 - Yes, thank you very much.

01:43:52 - Thank you very much.

01:43:52 And we wish you all the best for your two events.

01:43:56 Remember on Saturday 18th, November 6.30

01:43:59 and on Sunday 19th at 5.30, Napa Porter Space.

01:44:03 - Thank you very much.

01:44:04 - Thank you very much, sir.

01:44:04 - Trinidad and Tobago, that's what friends are for.

01:44:06 This weekend, the only place to be is at Napa.

01:44:10 - And come to dance.

01:44:11 - Come to dance.

01:44:12 - We're going to have a break, we're coming back.

01:44:14 (upbeat music)

01:44:17 - The biggest Christmas sale is at CV Optical.

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01:44:35 on selected purchases.

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01:44:38 for everyone.

01:44:39 - The Trinidad Express newspapers celebrates 45 years

01:44:43 of recognizing esteemed individuals

01:44:45 who have made a significant contribution

01:44:46 to national or community life.

01:44:48 We invite you to submit your nominations

01:44:50 for the 2023 Individual of the Year

01:44:53 in the following categories.

01:44:55 Community Group of the Year, Youth of the Year

01:44:58 and Individual of the Year.

01:45:00 Email your nominees with a brief justification

01:45:03 to ioty@trinidadexpress.com.

01:45:06 For more information, visit trinidadexpress.com.

01:45:10 - Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:45:13 ♪ Go out and tell the world of Jesus ♪

01:45:18 ♪ Tell of the wondrous things he has done ♪

01:45:21 - Inspiration through dance is fueled by the spirit.

01:45:23 ♪ Go out and spread the gospel ♪

01:45:25 - Inspiration is found in the diversity of nation.

01:45:29 ♪ Go tell the world of Jesus ♪

01:45:31 - Inspired word of God, directs the path.

01:45:35 Join us every Monday morning at 8.30 a.m.

01:45:38 right here on TV6 for our many moments of inspiration.

01:45:42 (upbeat music)

01:45:46 (upbeat music)

01:45:49 - All right, so welcome back everyone.

01:46:15 So we're not finished as yet.

01:46:16 We do have on the line at this time,

01:46:18 Chairman of the Tunapuna Piyako Regional Corporation,

01:46:21 Mr. Josiah Austin.

01:46:22 Chairman Austin, good morning

01:46:24 and thank you very much for joining us.

01:46:26 Chairman, you're hearing me?

01:46:29 - Good morning, yes, yes, I'm here.

01:46:31 Good morning and thanks for having me.

01:46:32 - Of course.

01:46:33 Chairman, well, let's talk about Tunapuna week.

01:46:36 - Yes, certainly.

01:46:38 A week of fun, a week of activities,

01:46:41 a week of family, friendship

01:46:44 and bringing the Tunapuna Piyako region together.

01:46:48 So yeah, we have the theme.

01:46:51 The theme of the Tunapuna week is inspiring excellence

01:46:55 with a culture of achievement and ambition.

01:46:58 You know, this is something that we once enjoyed in 2016

01:47:02 and I felt the need to bring back that energy

01:47:05 to the Tunapuna Piyako region.

01:47:07 You know, most of the other boroughs and cities,

01:47:09 they enjoy their borough month

01:47:11 and the city week and so forth.

01:47:13 And I felt the need as Tunapuna Piyako

01:47:15 being one of the largest corporations,

01:47:19 we definitely deserve some activity,

01:47:22 some activity like that.

01:47:23 And we start off on Sunday with interfaith service

01:47:28 at 9 a.m. at the St. Charles RC Church.

01:47:34 And then that is followed by a military parade

01:47:38 between Constantine Recreation Ground, Makoya

01:47:41 and the Exeter Spaniard in Tunapuna.

01:47:43 And thereafter we jump into Monday with a business breakfast.

01:47:47 So we have all these small, medium, large businesses,

01:47:51 government agencies, other delegates,

01:47:54 all present at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Montauk

01:47:57 where we have that business breakfast.

01:48:00 Featured speakers, we have Minister Paula Gopi-Skoon,

01:48:04 Minister of Trade and Industry.

01:48:06 We have Mr. Gregorio, who is the president

01:48:10 of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Commerce.

01:48:12 We have myself and we also have Mr. Paladi,

01:48:15 the owner of Pennywise,

01:48:17 who would have started in the Tunapuna region

01:48:20 as a very small business and then expanded

01:48:22 and he will be sharing his story.

01:48:25 Then we move into senior citizens brunch

01:48:29 at the St. Mary's Hall in Takaragua on Tuesday.

01:48:32 Right, so we have senior citizens

01:48:34 from each electoral district present

01:48:37 and we have a bunch of activities for them.

01:48:41 Around 10 a.m. we will start there

01:48:43 at the St. Mary's Parish Hall

01:48:45 and then we jump into Wednesday.

01:48:48 We have a partnership with NCRHE, right?

01:48:51 A full day of health fair, full health fair action pack.

01:48:56 We have at the end a burnout competition.

01:48:59 We have Soka artists and so forth passing through

01:49:02 that will be held at Eddie Hart.

01:49:04 And then on Thursday we jump into our civic reception

01:49:07 where we honor workers within the corporation,

01:49:10 past workers for the long service awards and so forth,

01:49:13 current workers and we also honor persons in the region,

01:49:17 cultural and arts awards, sport awards and so forth.

01:49:22 So that will be held yet again

01:49:23 at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Monto on Thursday night.

01:49:28 And then on Friday we jump into TPRC services day

01:49:32 where we show for all our services,

01:49:34 our disaster management unit, our public health unit.

01:49:37 We show for all those services,

01:49:38 we invite the businesses to come in

01:49:41 and see what we offer as a corporation.

01:49:43 And in the evening we kind of cap off

01:49:45 with entertainment for the staff and cookout competitions,

01:49:50 just bringing the staff and our council together.

01:49:52 So that will be on Friday

01:49:54 and then we have some entertainment day as well.

01:49:57 And then on Saturday we have a partnership

01:49:59 with the Ministry of Youth Development

01:50:01 and National Service, right?

01:50:03 Youth Day starting at 10 a.m.

01:50:05 The youth caravan will be passing through

01:50:08 in the various electoral districts.

01:50:09 We'll have various agencies

01:50:12 showing what they have to offer for the youth.

01:50:16 You can come and enroll and get job opportunities

01:50:20 and so forth and then at the end

01:50:22 we'll have some entertainment,

01:50:23 some fun-filled activities with some soca artists

01:50:28 and so forth passing through.

01:50:29 That will be at the Constantine Ground in Macquarie

01:50:32 in the paved area.

01:50:34 And then on Sunday we jump into our cultural day.

01:50:38 That day is where we lock off the streets of Tunapuna

01:50:40 and we have small, medium and large pan bands.

01:50:44 We have parang bands and we have three or four

01:50:47 top, top soca artists passing through.

01:50:50 That will be between the Tunapuna Police Station

01:50:54 and the Royal Castle in Tunapuna.

01:50:56 So a fun-filled week, short planning,

01:51:01 but our execution is well.

01:51:04 We tested it during our independent celebration

01:51:07 at Eddie Hart Savannah, one of its kind,

01:51:10 with fireworks and pan and artists and so forth

01:51:14 and it was well executed.

01:51:15 And this will be the second of its kind

01:51:18 which Tunapuna Piako will be showing what we are made of.

01:51:22 - Yeah, and Chairman, I think it is safe to say

01:51:25 that from what we are seeing and hearing from you

01:51:27 is that the corporation's plan is to really touch

01:51:32 every sector of the community in Tunapuna

01:51:38 and it is not only a celebration,

01:51:41 but it is to also show the achievements of Tunapuna

01:51:46 and I suspect even to inspire, as it were,

01:51:52 people who are living in the region.

01:51:55 - In the region, yes, certainly.

01:51:57 - Yeah? - Certainly.

01:51:58 - Well, Chairman, it has only been a few months now since,

01:52:01 and we will return to the Tunapuna week

01:52:03 before we end our discussion,

01:52:04 but I know that it has only been a few months now

01:52:09 since you have taken over as Chairman of the corporation.

01:52:14 What has that experience been like for you?

01:52:18 - It's a very, I wouldn't, I would say I gravitated

01:52:23 to the experience very easily.

01:52:27 I guess the youth, as we would have spoken before,

01:52:30 would have added to that,

01:52:31 but as a representative from Akwaeatrein City,

01:52:35 a lot of what I've done in that district,

01:52:38 I've shared with my council.

01:52:40 We have a good mix of youth and experience

01:52:44 and I believe it's just bringing together the council,

01:52:47 sharing some ideas that I would have had before

01:52:50 and just executing.

01:52:52 So simultaneously,

01:52:53 while we are dealing with all these events,

01:52:55 we have a rapid road paving exercise going on,

01:52:59 as we call that the road restoration program

01:53:02 that's being run in each electoral district.

01:53:05 We have some partnerships

01:53:06 with the Tunapuna Station Council,

01:53:08 where we are putting up CCTV cameras and so forth

01:53:12 throughout the Tunapuna region and further east.

01:53:17 And that will be done throughout the weekend, actually.

01:53:20 So there's a lot of things where security,

01:53:22 where road restoration and infrastructure is concerned

01:53:27 and also entertainment and activity.

01:53:30 So a lot of things are happening simultaneously

01:53:33 in the Tunapuna Piako region.

01:53:35 And I guess, as I said before,

01:53:37 the youth and experience is adding to that.

01:53:39 - Yeah, Tunapuna, your chairman working, boy,

01:53:41 the chairman and the corporation working, right?

01:53:45 Chairman, so if people need more information

01:53:48 about the Tunapuna Week,

01:53:50 I suspect they can go on your social media platform

01:53:52 to get additional information.

01:53:55 - Certainly.

01:53:56 Most of our counselors would have the information up.

01:54:00 You could check on their Facebooks and Instagram pages

01:54:05 and also our Tunapuna Piako regional social media pages.

01:54:10 You can look there and you will see all of the activities

01:54:14 that's taking place this weekend.

01:54:15 We have mics out in the electoral districts.

01:54:18 We have ads that's being run

01:54:21 on various radio stations and so forth.

01:54:24 So you will be hearing about each of these days.

01:54:27 As I would have mentioned before,

01:54:29 the health fair at Eddie Hart on Wednesday

01:54:34 is open to the public.

01:54:36 On Friday, the services day, TPRC services day,

01:54:40 open to the public at our regional corporation,

01:54:43 come in and see what we have to offer.

01:54:45 On Saturday, our youth fest, that youth exclusion,

01:54:49 partnership with Ministry of Youth Development

01:54:52 and National Service, that is open to the public

01:54:54 starting at 10 a.m. at the Concertina Recreation Ground

01:54:58 and at around 4 p.m. we are on the main road

01:55:01 in Tunapuna for our cultural day.

01:55:03 So that's a bit of the announcements for the public.

01:55:08 - Yeah, chairman, just on behalf of the people

01:55:12 living in Tunapuna, they need a little more street lights

01:55:15 in the vicinity of St. Vincent Street on the main road,

01:55:18 in the vicinity of the market.

01:55:19 It's very, very dark.

01:55:20 And the CCTV cameras would be appreciated.

01:55:24 - We did the market recently and we've run the fiber.

01:55:28 So we have the cameras in the market

01:55:31 that's running to the corporation and elsewhere.

01:55:33 And we also, this weekend we're doing the main road.

01:55:36 So partnership with the Tunapuna Station Council.

01:55:40 So yeah, a lot of activity.

01:55:42 - Chairman, thank you very much.

01:55:44 We do appreciate it.

01:55:45 - No problem, thank you.

01:55:46 - So that's gonna do it for our program for today.

01:55:48 Remember that Emmy Prime comes up this evening.

01:55:51 See you all on Monday, everybody.

01:55:52 Have a good and safe weekend.

01:55:54 Bye for now.

01:55:55 (upbeat music)

01:55:57 ♪ Oh, it's Christmas again ♪

01:56:00 ♪ The rich and the shorty bought a date, yeah ♪

01:56:02 ♪ Oh, it's Christmas again ♪

01:56:04 ♪ Children that be happy ♪

01:56:06 ♪ Teaching things they never see ♪

01:56:09 ♪ Christmas that unite all family ♪

01:56:11 ♪ Oh, it's Christmas again ♪

01:56:13 ♪ Oh, oh, sing it to me ♪

01:56:16 ♪ Oh, it's Christmas again ♪

01:56:18 ♪ Come on, fun loving ♪

01:56:20 ♪ Oh, it's Christmas again ♪

01:56:23 ♪ Give it ♪

01:56:23 (upbeat music)

01:56:26 (upbeat music)

01:56:29 (upbeat music)

01:56:31 (upbeat music)

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