00:00 In his message for Christmas Day 2023, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made an
00:05 apparent reference to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and
00:10 Russia's war with Ukraine as he said the killing fields of two world wars in the
00:15 20th century have now reappeared with the same relentless intensity. The Prime
00:21 Minister then focused on Trinidad and Tobago as he said that the customary
00:25 harmony of the Twin Island Republic is being disrupted by an upsurge in
00:30 mindless violent crimes including all too frequent murders. The Prime Minister
00:35 said that is an indication that citizens are not observing one of the basic
00:39 tenets of the country's national watchwords that of tolerance for each
00:44 other with all its wider meanings. Trinidad and Tobago suffered just over
00:49 600 murders in 2022 and as of Christmas Eve there continue to be concerns
00:55 about whether there would be close to the same amount or more murders by the
01:00 end of 2023. However Prime Minister Rowley said in his Christmas Day message
01:06 that quote "thankfully in all this we can still display the best in us we still
01:12 show our true character or kindness friendship deep love true faith what
01:17 family life means and our life's purpose" unquote. The Prime Minister called on the
01:22 population to build on these values particularly that of family life which
01:27 he believes is key to Trinidad and Tobago's seemingly intractable social
01:32 issues and to look at the country differently. Dr. Rowley said to the
01:36 citizenry quote "if you search you will find it is a land of opportunity
01:41 providing from prenatal care for mothers to preschool to vocational and tertiary
01:47 education for students with provisions for the employed the underemployed and
01:52 unemployed and social care for our elderly" unquote and just two days after
01:57 he announced Trinidad and Tobago acquired the license to explore and
02:01 export natural gas from Venezuela's dragon the field Prime Minister Rowley
02:06 said that as a people we have and continue to distribute the benefits of
02:10 our natural resources prudently spreading it as widely and evenly as
02:16 possible. Jule Brown TV6 News
02:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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