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00:00:00And a very special good morning Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world.
00:00:17I'm Marlon Hopkinson.
00:00:19As always, welcome to The Morning Edition.
00:00:21It's Thursday, 2nd May 2024, just incidentally, I have someone dancing in studio.
00:00:26I can't tell you who it is, but apparently that person loved that song, yeah?
00:00:30So a very special good morning to that person.
00:00:33I'm not going to call names, right?
00:00:36So I hope that you had a good night and that you're safe and sound with us this morning.
00:00:40We do appreciate it.
00:00:42We do have a very interesting program for you this morning, as we do every morning.
00:00:47So I invite you to stay with me for the next two hours, all right?
00:00:52Let's check out to see what's happening on the front page of the Daily Express.
00:00:56Don't Threaten Me, AG responds to warning from Auditor General's lawyers to sue if state
00:01:01does not pay her legal costs and May Day celebrations out in their numbers.
00:01:07Union members walk along Rushworth Street yesterday during the annual May Day rally
00:01:12through the streets of San Fernando.
00:01:15Auditor General's report revealed Indonesian firm disappears, U.S. $26,000 up in the air.
00:01:24One MP receives $752,000 in government rent, all right?
00:01:30Let's touch a little bit on the impasse.
00:01:31So Armour responds to Auditor General's lawyer, AG not intimidated by threats.
00:01:37Attorney General Reginald Armour has told Auditor General Jaywanti Ramdas, his attorneys,
00:01:43that he will not be threatened and may declare that the legal representation she wants the
00:01:48state to finance is personal to her.
00:01:52All right, let's look at some sport now.
00:01:55Dominant Charles, opener blasts unbeaten ton as West Indies A go 2-1 up in T20 series.
00:02:04West Indies A grabbed a 2-1 lead in their 20-20 series against host Nepal after opener
00:02:11Johnson Charles carried his bat for a dynamic play of the match, 100, to set the foundation
00:02:16for a 76-run win yesterday.
00:02:19The 35-year-old St. Lucian cracked 13 fours and seven sixes in an undefeated 119-off-61
00:02:26balls and was the cornerstone of the Caribbean-sized total of 227-for-3 after they decided to bat
00:02:33in the third T20 of the five-match series, all right?
00:02:39That's a lot of licks with the bat, boy, yeah?
00:02:43Yeah, all right, we're moving on.
00:02:46Just to tell you a very short story concerning cricket, right?
00:02:50So we went to one of these fet matches, boy, and you know everybody have to bring somebody,
00:02:56their cousin, their brother, who could play cricket.
00:02:59So there's this girl who came to play cricket, one of the persons here at TV6 brought that
00:03:07person, and we're looking at the person and we're saying, that person doesn't look like
00:03:12they could play cricket, man, just incidentally it was a girl, and that girl started to hit
00:03:21fours and sixes.
00:03:23You talk about licks, well, I'd have to tell you, she sent the ground in panic because
00:03:31how well that girl was batting, yeah?
00:03:34You can't judge a book by its cover, a man like me, I walk on with a lot of style, well,
00:03:40that was just it's style, come out with duck, yeah, so I have a little story, just thought
00:03:48I would share that with you this morning, all right.
00:03:50So it's time to remind you of our Trinbago Unites feature, and we have the number up
00:03:54on the screen, right?
00:03:56So remember, I do appreciate your photographs and videos, and please put your name, you
00:04:01don't have to put your full government name and where you live in and all of that, no,
00:04:06no, no, no, no, yeah, put your first name or a sobriquet if you want, we're taking that,
00:04:10all right, so this is a beautiful image, it's from my veranda in Speyside, not my veranda,
00:04:17meaning my veranda, but it's from Solange's veranda at Speyside in Tobago, yeah, Solange,
00:04:25thank you very much for that picture, but you see that coconut branch, we need to remove
00:04:31that coconut branch, yeah, and make a coquille broom, yeah, it's blocking the view, man,
00:04:37it's blocking the view, all right, Solange, only if it is your tree, take down the branch,
00:04:42yeah, all right, don't interfere with it if it doesn't belong to you, all right?
00:04:47So as I said, we do have a lot for you on the program today, you have your coffee, your
00:04:50tea, get something to eat, we're coming back, everybody, stay right there.
00:05:01Thank you very much.
00:05:31Thank you very much.
00:06:01Thank you very much.
00:06:31Thank you very much.
00:07:01Thank you very much.
00:07:31Thank you very much.
00:08:02Thank you very much.
00:08:24All right, so welcome back, everyone, a very special good morning to all of you again.
00:08:27Well, the debate continues today on the controversy between the Finance Ministry and the Auditor General.
00:08:32With us this morning is someone who has had a frontal view, a courtside view, as it were,
00:08:37of the matter, Opposition Senator Jayanti Lachmidiyaw.
00:08:40Senator, good morning.
00:08:43Hi, good morning, how are you?
00:08:44I'm good.
00:08:45Well, Senator, just when we thought that maybe tensions were subsiding, that's not the case,
00:08:52because from what we're seeing in the Daily Express this morning, where the AG is speaking,
00:08:57he's saying, don't threaten me.
00:08:59And he's responding to a warning from the Auditor General's lawyers to sue if the state
00:09:04does not pay her legal costs.
00:09:06So am I right?
00:09:07The tensions are still very much rising?
00:09:12Yes, I think that, well, you know, what is happening now is that the attacks on the Auditor
00:09:21General have been met with, I think, a very strong response.
00:09:25And the issue has now evolved about personalities.
00:09:30And it's turned into something that has moved away from what I think is a real critical
00:09:35issue, which is the audit and the audit report and a report that has been submitted to the
00:09:40Parliament in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution that is not being made
00:09:46public because of what the government has done.
00:09:48And I think that that issue really is what it should be.
00:09:52This thing about a personal attack, from what I've read in the newspaper, because let me
00:09:56make it very clear, I'm not, I don't have a, well, I understand what you mean by a court
00:10:01side view, but I mean, in terms of the legal aspects of it and Miss Ramdas retaining of
00:10:09Attorney General, I've seen very clear of that, because of course, there's a political
00:10:14side and a legal side.
00:10:15But from what I've read in the newspaper and what I've seen, there was an undertaking
00:10:20and the Attorney General said this in the Parliament, that he gave Miss Ramdas authorization
00:10:25to seek independent counsel and that he would be willing to pay for it.
00:10:30What I see happening now is that the government seems to be very displeased based on their
00:10:37comments made in the Parliament with her choice of attorney.
00:10:41And they have now sought to resile from that position.
00:10:44And I think this whole concept of a threat, what's being characterized as a threat against
00:10:50the Attorney General is something which is very standard in the law, where if you have
00:10:55a disagreement between parties during the pre-action stage, you would tell the other
00:11:00side, well, I would be forced to disclose your prior correspondence to the court.
00:11:04Because of course, if she were to take him to court to enforce that, that promise to
00:11:09pay her legal fees, she would have to disclose the contents of a letter that he sent to her
00:11:14saying, go on, get independent legal advice.
00:11:16I am conflicted.
00:11:17I cannot advise you, which I believe was an error to begin with.
00:11:20And I will pay your legal fees.
00:11:23So I don't know that that issue should overshadow the bigger problem that we have here, which
00:11:29is that we have an Auditor General's report being withheld from the public, which is,
00:11:33in my view, in breach of constitutional law.
00:11:36And, you know, it ought not to be done specifically because this is now in the public domain that
00:11:42there are very serious concerns.
00:11:43And I think it's the first time in history that you have so many concerns being raised
00:11:48in a report that is so important for transparency and accountability when it comes to the public.
00:11:53Senator, two things.
00:11:54When I said a courtside view, the only reason why I said that was because I know that you
00:11:59were in the Senate when the minister was making his presentation.
00:12:02Yeah.
00:12:03So I just want to make that clear.
00:12:05No problem.
00:12:06That's fine.
00:12:07Yeah.
00:12:08But Senator, what is all of this about?
00:12:11To the layman, it would seem that because I know that the finance minister would have
00:12:17spoken about that it was this situation was first discovered by public servants and they
00:12:26brought it to him.
00:12:27And of course, he, according to the minister, he reported it to the Auditor General and
00:12:32so on.
00:12:33So on the surface, it seemed to be a simple issue to resolve.
00:12:39And as I told you, Senator, it seemed that it seems that tensions are still very much
00:12:44high.
00:12:45This situation is changing by the minute, the hours, the days.
00:12:49So what is all of this about?
00:12:52All right, let's start from the beginning.
00:12:54Let's start with the law, what the law says.
00:12:56The law says the accounts of the states have to be submitted to the Auditor General by
00:13:02a specific date, which is the 31st of January each year.
00:13:06And that was done sometime in February.
00:13:10The Ministry of Finance is saying that they detected an error, a very big error, not a
00:13:16small error of three point something billion dollars of revenue being understated in the
00:13:20national accounts.
00:13:21Now, what the law says is that the time period which ends on the 31st of January can be extended
00:13:29if you bring a motion to Parliament.
00:13:31That wasn't done at that time.
00:13:33What they did is they asked the Auditor General to accept amended accounts.
00:13:38The Auditor General said, I don't know that I have the power to do that because the law
00:13:44says that 31st January is the deadline for the submission of accounts.
00:13:49There was some toing and froing rather than, and this is why I said in the Senate that
00:13:53the Attorney General missed a golden opportunity, rather than the Attorney General immediately
00:13:58go to the Parliament and say or have a meeting with all the parties and say to the Auditor
00:14:05General, well, I will move a motion in the Parliament and extend the period from the
00:14:0931st of January forward to allow you to receive the accounts.
00:14:13And I am advising you that if I were to do so, you can properly receive the accounts,
00:14:17which is the advice she asked for, then that would have been, to me, proper and that would
00:14:22have been a proper way to do things.
00:14:24Legally, that wasn't done.
00:14:26Instead, they retained senior counsel and what the agency describes as a very senior
00:14:32junior counsel to shoot off a pre-action protocol letter to the Auditor General and tell her
00:14:37that she must receive the accounts.
00:14:39The Auditor General then decided to receive the accounts having received this pre-action
00:14:43protocol letter.
00:14:44I do believe that she had the authority to do so, however, but I will let the courts
00:14:48decide on that if it reaches that far.
00:14:51Without any motion being brought, she received the audited accounts.
00:14:54Having received the audited accounts in March, she had, or I think early April, she continued
00:15:00to have concerns.
00:15:02She said they never, for one, the accounts she is saying, the accounts were backdated.
00:15:07So you just slip in new figures and date the thing and sign it as being certified correct
00:15:11as at the 31st of January when you're bringing it to me in early April.
00:15:14She said apart from that, this $3.something billion in revenue, when she started to examine
00:15:19it and have meetings with them and so on, they couldn't justify it.
00:15:23And there's still $780 million in revenue which they cannot account for.
00:15:28And on top of that, she said when she completed her audit, there's a billion dollars in expenditure
00:15:34that also cannot be properly, that there's no proper documentation relating to.
00:15:38That's what is reported in the newspaper.
00:15:40I haven't seen her report, but apparently that is what she included in her opinion.
00:15:44So based on all of those concerns, she said, all right, you all wanted an opportunity.
00:15:48I took the accounts.
00:15:50You threatened me with pre-action correspondence.
00:15:52I took it.
00:15:53I examined it.
00:15:54My deadline to submit now, because again, no motion was brought to the parliament to
00:15:58extend time frame.
00:15:59Her deadline to submit her report now is the end of April.
00:16:02I'm submitting my report and I send it to the parliament.
00:16:05That was done on the 24th of April.
00:16:07The minister of finance, having received the report, looks at it, sees her opinion included
00:16:13in it that there's unsubstantiated revenue, whatever, whatever.
00:16:17And she apparently set out the history of the matter in her reports, receiving the amended
00:16:22accounts, et cetera, decides to bring a motion of parliament to go back in time and open
00:16:27up the time period for the ministry to supply accounts to her.
00:16:30But her report is completed and sent to the parliament and ought to be laid.
00:16:33And that's why I said the motion brought was very improper because what it sought to do
00:16:38is to block that report from being laid in the parliament and now try to force her to
00:16:44pull it back.
00:16:45I made the analogy of this meritless situation to pull back the report and to now go and
00:16:50change her report and give them an opportunity to supply for the information.
00:16:54The other reason I believe it to be, yeah, sure, go ahead.
00:16:57Is it safe to say then that judging from what you are telling us this morning, you believe
00:17:02that this situation may have been mishandled from the beginning and therefore all of this
00:17:08controversy could have been prevented?
00:17:11Yeah, I mean, I expect that perhaps there may be errors in accounting.
00:17:15I'm not an accountant, but I anticipate that dealing with this kind of money and documents
00:17:19and so many ministries, you may have an error.
00:17:21OK, the error was discovered.
00:17:23It took some time for them to reach out and do the accounts and whatever.
00:17:28But from the instant that the auditor general raised the matter of I don't know that I have
00:17:34legal authority beyond the 31st of January to receive accounts, amended accounts, I think
00:17:39that the attorney general ought to have stepped in, brought the motion, extended the time
00:17:44at that point, and they should have tried to sort it out.
00:17:47But the bottom line, I believe in all of this, is that if you as the treasury cannot supply
00:17:55the information to the auditor general, you cannot simply stop her from issuing her report
00:18:00and wait on you if it takes a year and a decade or a month to find the justification.
00:18:07You also can't expect her to simply accept the different accounts and slip in the figures
00:18:12without you properly justifying this change.
00:18:15That would be a breach of her professional duties as an auditor.
00:18:18I mean, that's why you have independence.
00:18:21It's supposed to be separate and apart as a check and a balance on the public purse.
00:18:25And that's it operates that effort.
00:18:27If a parlor has to get audited, that's the process all the way up to the state.
00:18:31The other thing is that, you know, there is a there is actually a process built into the law
00:18:37where a special report can be done at any point in time.
00:18:40So why are you forcing the auditor general?
00:18:43And this is why now within the political arena, apart from the legal side of it, you will hear
00:18:48people saying, well, look, there seems to be more to this than just simply that you want correct accounts.
00:18:53It seems to me that there's something in that report that you don't want to get out there
00:18:57because the report could be laid.
00:18:59And then if you are able to justify the billion dollars in expenditure and find documentation
00:19:04and if you can find the documentation for the remaining seven hundred and eighty million dollars
00:19:08in revenue that you can't as of today, then you can ask the auditor general to issue a special report
00:19:14and say, OK, this revenue has now been accounted for X, Y, Z.
00:19:18So any report can go forward.
00:19:20I believe that that is where the focus should be right now by the Ministry of Finance.
00:19:24They ought to really be focusing on trying to get their house in order because this is no small error.
00:19:31This is not this is not chump change.
00:19:32This is three point seven billion dollars you're talking about.
00:19:35They're blaming the central bank.
00:19:36And, you know, I would like to know who will be held accountable for this error.
00:19:41It's not a small error.
00:19:42Hasn't the politics really solid this entire issue at hand?
00:19:50You spoke about personal attacks before the finance minister would have spoken about.
00:19:55He had some concerns about the firm that is representing Miss Ramdas.
00:20:02He even singled you out as having a past relationship with the firm.
00:20:09And we did hear your explanation on that day.
00:20:12So, again, that's a that's a norm.
00:20:16That's a norm, I think, with the government.
00:20:18When I but even when before they got to me, I listened in the house when the motion was being debated last week, Friday in the house.
00:20:26And I thought that the way that they characterized this, you see, is they can't.
00:20:32They don't want to take any of the blame.
00:20:34They are trying to shift the blame of this and shift the blame on the auditor general.
00:20:38She refused.
00:20:39She didn't want to do it.
00:20:40She's been difficult.
00:20:41That's that thing.
00:20:42That's a narrative that they started to create in the house.
00:20:45The lady decided, listen, I have to defend myself.
00:20:47And I think on Sunday or something like that, I saw.
00:20:50Oh, that's what he said.
00:20:51He got a reaction.
00:20:52He got a response or a letter from her on Sunday from her attorneys.
00:20:56And they went on it.
00:20:57But the very first time I stood up in the Senate to speak, I was interrupted in the first five minutes by Farrah Salrawi,
00:21:05who started to make back and all about, you know, the law firm and I work with Mr.
00:21:08Ram Logan and so on and so forth.
00:21:10Look, at the end of the day, people have a constitutional right to choose who they want.
00:21:15Who should the auditor general go to?
00:21:16One of the lawyers who are handpicked by the attorney general and receive millions of dollars in briefs every year from him.
00:21:21I mean, there's only a handful of senior counsel in this country practice public law.
00:21:26Right. Mr. Ram Logan is one of them.
00:21:28If it is the auditor general chooses to go to that person.
00:21:33I don't know that that should affect the government's ability to defend themselves.
00:21:38If they can defend their own kind of thing.
00:21:41I think you think in hindsight.
00:21:43And I think that the way that they have spoken about the auditor general in the parliament is very,
00:21:52I find it condescending and I find very disrespectful to someone who was very, you know, such high constitutional office.
00:22:00And, you know, they should cease and desist from that.
00:22:02And as I say, focus on the real issue here, which is that there's a seven hundred and eighty million dollars in revenue,
00:22:08state revenue, taxpayers' dollars unaccounted for, expenditure that they cannot explain.
00:22:12And I think based on what has now been put into the public domain and reported today, based on information coming to the opposition,
00:22:20there are a lot of bigger questions that they have to answer about government expenditure.
00:22:25So I think that is where we need to remain.
00:22:27In hindsight, and I heard your explanation of things in the Senate, in hindsight,
00:22:34because there may be there may be people, serious minded persons in Trinidad and Tobago,
00:22:40who after hearing that you were in some way associated in the past with the law firm.
00:22:49In hindsight, do you think that you said that you were interrupted by Firas al-Rawi?
00:22:55So is it that you had prepared or was going to give yourself an opportunity to tell the Senate, look, this was my former relationship with the firm?
00:23:08So in hindsight, the question is, were you prepared to do that or should you have done that?
00:23:17And because of your past relationship with the firm, you should have recused yourself from the debate.
00:23:26I don't think I should recuse myself at all from the debate.
00:23:35You are not required to recuse yourself if you declare conflict, if you feel you are conflicted.
00:23:41You see, this matter is a separate matter altogether from every other matter that I have worked on and will work on in the future,
00:23:49because Mr. Ram Logan from time to time will ask me to come in on a particular matter as his junior counsel.
00:23:55Mr. Ram Logan is also handling a lot of work that has a political slant on behalf of the UNC,
00:24:01our local government matter that we had to fight to get elections held.
00:24:05I was involved in that matter, obviously, because I am a member of the UNC and part of the parliamentary arm of the UNC.
00:24:11So is it that I will never speak in the Senate again on anything because I was on Ram Logan for a period of time at his firm
00:24:18and because I continue to work with him on several matters?
00:24:21It's a matter reported today in the newspaper where it was my client and I ended up briefing Mr. Ram Logan because we work together.
00:24:29I don't see what that has to do with anything.
00:24:32Does it prevent me from having an opinion on the law?
00:24:35I have not given a, I don't think, a biased opinion whatsoever.
00:24:41When I spoke in the Senate, I was very clear and I made myself very clear that I had absolutely no contact with this client.
00:24:48I have no inside information.
00:24:50I referred only to information published in the newspaper, as did every other senator who spoke on the matter.
00:24:59So that is a distraction and that is foolishness coming from the government.
00:25:03Again, when they cannot have their way, they resort to personal attacks and bullying.
00:25:08And what I mentioned about Farris El-Rai was from my first contribution back in 2020.
00:25:12They continuously raise these matters about me and that I shouldn't speak.
00:25:17And I work with Ram Logan and that's just a running issue with them and they'll get over it.
00:25:24Senator, I want your view on this full independent investigation as announced by the finance minister.
00:25:32Well, I think that we ought to have a full investigation into what happened at the central bank that would result in such a big error being made.
00:25:46Somebody lost their job at the central bank for disclosing who were the largest consumers of Forex.
00:25:52I would like to know who would lose their job over this situation now.
00:25:55The other thing is that they need to investigate whether or not the Treasury Department had enough due diligence in the original preparation of the accounts,
00:26:04as well as the conduct of Treasury and their officers moving forward.
00:26:08And this whole issue of sending amended accounts and backdating it, I think that's a serious thing as well.
00:26:14That raises very serious concerns about the propriety of the behavior of public officers.
00:26:19And if that's what the Auditor General is saying she was supplied with, then I think that investigation should go on as well from there.
00:26:25And then, of course, as I keep saying, the bigger investigation is where the money go on.
00:26:30That's a $780 million question. So there does seem to be a need for a very big investigation.
00:26:38Of course, I don't think that the government should be investigating themselves.
00:26:43They have a habit of doing that, however, himself or to himself.
00:26:46If it is that Minister Inbert intends to investigate it by himself, I don't think anybody will have much trust and confidence in that.
00:26:54What I've raised as well is that I don't want to see this extension of time being tuned into a witch hunt against the Auditor General,
00:27:05because it seems that they have painted a target on her.
00:27:08And I very much would hate to think that when this amount of money is at stake, money that belongs to the people of Toronto,
00:27:18and reports such as these have such grave implications for our international reputation,
00:27:24that this turns into a personal witch hunt against anyone or anything.
00:27:27But at the end of the day, large errors such as this, there should be some accountability
00:27:31and investigation into what transpired and the conduct of public officers.
00:27:34Yeah. What about, because we heard of this over the past few days also,
00:27:39that the Auditor General saw the advice of the Attorney General, and he then advised her,
00:27:46well, here's what, you are going to have to seek legal help from somewhere else,
00:27:50because I am also advising the Finance Ministry. What do you think about his conduct there?
00:27:57Is there a conflict of interest?
00:27:59Well, firstly, yeah. I mean, if he felt conflicted and he decided to advise her of that,
00:28:05you know, that's his choice, I guess, because again, conflict of interest in law is a sort of a,
00:28:11it's a personal thing. You have to decide whether or not you feel conflicted.
00:28:15To some extent, it's personal. There's a lot of guidance in law, but yeah, there is.
00:28:19If he felt conflicted, no problem. He decided to advise her on that.
00:28:24I don't know why he, I don't know why he got involved with the Finance Minister,
00:28:30because there's something called the Treasury Solicitor's Department,
00:28:33which is staffed with attorneys that can advise the Ministry of Finance.
00:28:37So that's one thing. Secondly, he could have, because from what I understand,
00:28:45and again, I don't know what was his personal involvement in the matter,
00:28:49but he did in fact brief counsel to send the letter to the Auditor General.
00:28:53So I don't know that he was so personally invested that he couldn't assign someone,
00:28:58for example, within the ministry to give an opinion on the matter.
00:29:02It's a ministry full of lawyers, right? So that's the second thing.
00:29:07The third thing is having chosen to tell her, well, go ahead and retain your choice of counsel.
00:29:12I just believe that he should, it's the honorable thing for him to do, to stand by that,
00:29:17whether he likes the advice that she got or not,
00:29:19whether he likes the choice of attorney or law firm or whatever it is.
00:29:22I don't think that that is something, I think it would be very dishonorable of him
00:29:27to resile from the position that he adopted, seeing that he advised her to do so.
00:29:31But like I said, if he had studied the law properly, as I have and as others have,
00:29:36I think that he would have come to the conclusion,
00:29:38and I'm disappointed that perhaps the attorneys retained to advise on the matter
00:29:43instead of threatening the Auditor General with a pre-action letter, didn't say,
00:29:48get to the parliament in the morning and move a motion to extend the time.
00:29:52That's the only way the Auditor General should have, could have been able to receive the account.
00:29:56So I think that there was mishandling some, you know, along the way.
00:30:01As attorney general, the box stops with you. You are the legal advisor to the state.
00:30:04And I think he should have been a little bit more involved and studied the situation a little bit better.
00:30:09And, you know, had that been done back in March when the error was discovered,
00:30:13we would have avoided this whole big, ugly mess.
00:30:16Senator, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.
00:30:18Thank you very much for your perspective this morning. Thank you again.
00:30:21Thank you very much and have a wonderful day, you and your viewers.
00:30:25Bye for now, Senator. All right. So it's time for a quick break.
00:30:28We do have. All right. We're coming back. We're coming back, everybody.
00:30:33Nothing for you right now, but we have some later. We're coming back.
00:30:39Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
00:31:09no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
00:31:39no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
00:32:09Carlos Edwards can win jones and more the legends versus the TNT All-Stars
00:32:16Friday May 10th 8 p.m.
00:32:18Haisley Crawford Stadium gates open from 4 p.m. Tickets available now uncovered $300 and covered
00:32:26$450
00:32:35The cura pentecostal Reform and Ministries International
00:32:37Ministries International of 27 McDonnell Street,
00:32:41Kirup, Trinidad, West Phoenix, presents
00:32:44Empowerment Through the Word.
00:32:46Come with us as we affect humanity
00:32:48with the life transforming power
00:32:51of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:32:53We invite you to sit with us and be with us.
00:33:02Who cares?
00:33:03Who cares?
00:33:04Who really cares?
00:33:05Who cares?
00:33:06I care because I know that tobacco use
00:33:09is the single largest preventable cause
00:33:11of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
00:33:13Smoking cigarettes has been found to harm
00:33:15almost every organ and organ system in your body.
00:33:19You can do something about that.
00:33:20Don't smoke.
00:33:21If you do, stop.
00:33:23I care because cancer doesn't.
00:33:32Morning.
00:33:32Morning.
00:33:33Listen, I just noticed something out.
00:33:37There are many people at the barbeque already.
00:33:39What is that?
00:33:40Girl, the man is passing up and down
00:33:41in front of here with a set of women.
00:33:44I really noticed some women living there, you know.
00:33:46And they can't even say as much as good morning.
00:33:48Well, listen, I wonder if it's human trafficking.
00:33:52You think it's that?
00:33:53So, how can you spot and identify perpetrators
00:33:56and victims of trafficking?
00:33:58Many victims are found living and working together
00:34:01in the same place and sleep in shared
00:34:03and inappropriate spaces.
00:34:05Victims work excessively long hours.
00:34:07They often sleep in the daytime and work long nights.
00:34:11They are often escorted everywhere they go
00:34:13and may appear to be malnourished.
00:34:15They may show signs of physical abuse, drug,
00:34:18and alcohol use, and may also appear withdrawn,
00:34:21fearful, or intimidated.
00:34:23Victims who are migrants are often not in possession
00:34:26of their identity or immigration documents
00:34:28and have irregular immigration status.
00:34:32These perpetrators can be male or female
00:34:34and may appear to be managing or controlling the victims.
00:34:38And they may even at times appear to be the victim's
00:34:40best friend, boyfriend, or employer.
00:34:44We are the counter-trafficking unit
00:34:46of the Ministry of National Security, Trinidad and Tobago,
00:34:50safeguarding human life.
00:35:01♪ Hey, let's have a party, a Caribbean party ♪
00:35:18♪ The entire region together in one big splashdown fiesta ♪
00:35:23♪ One big splashdown fiesta of Caribbean connection ♪
00:35:31♪ A regional vibration, I say we jam in ♪
00:35:37♪ To the songs of the Caribbean, we groove in ♪
00:35:41♪ To Calypso and Sylvan ♪
00:35:44All right, so welcome back, everyone.
00:35:45So we are to discuss now a very important
00:35:49and interesting issue, the issue of reparations
00:35:53and the CARICOM Global Reparations Agenda.
00:35:56So we are joined now by Dr. June Sumer,
00:35:59Chair, UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent,
00:36:03and Mr. Tahaka Obika,
00:36:05TT National Reparations Committee member.
00:36:08All right, Dr. and Mr. Obika,
00:36:12thank you very much for coming this morning.
00:36:14Thank you very much for having me and to the viewers
00:36:18and listeners.
00:36:18Yeah.
00:36:19This is a very important topic.
00:36:20Of course.
00:36:21And whilst we have the United Nations Permanent Forum
00:36:27for People of African Descent on the line,
00:36:29I will let it go quickly, but I want to say one thing.
00:36:32Yes.
00:36:33There's a global reparations movement,
00:36:35there's a Brattle Group Report,
00:36:37with sums in the value of billions being determined
00:36:41to be assigned to the descendants of persons who are enslaved
00:36:45and persons who are of the first peoples of the Caribbean.
00:36:50And nationally, so globally,
00:36:52at the Accra Reparations Conference,
00:36:54joined between the African Union and the CARICOM region,
00:36:58it was determined that a Global Reparations Fund
00:37:00should be one of the things to be considered.
00:37:03Nationally, we have proposed a National Reparations Fund
00:37:08with rules for putting money in
00:37:10and also taking funds out of it.
00:37:13And we are proposing that
00:37:15to the CARICOM Reparations Committee at this time.
00:37:19And there are other nations in the Caribbean
00:37:21proposing same, for example, Barbados.
00:37:24But at this time, I wish that we can go straight to-
00:37:27Of course.
00:37:28Our guest who is-
00:37:29Of course.
00:37:30Who is taking time from her international schedule
00:37:31to share with Trinidad and Tobago.
00:37:32Yes, and Doctor is speaking to us
00:37:33from St. Lucia this morning.
00:37:35So, Doctor, let's speak a little bit
00:37:37about the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent
00:37:41and its contributions
00:37:43to this CARICOM Global Reparations Agenda.
00:37:48Well, the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent
00:37:52was established about three years ago.
00:37:56In keeping with a demand from the decade,
00:38:00people were advocating
00:38:01that we must have that Permanent Forum
00:38:03for us to look at the specificity
00:38:05of the issues affecting people of African descent.
00:38:09That is mainly people in the diaspora.
00:38:12But we do recognize that we have no people
00:38:15of African descent if we don't have Africa.
00:38:18So, we do have a lot of coordination in that regard.
00:38:23We have given a voice, really and truly,
00:38:25to people of African descent.
00:38:27And you can see it in the last session that we had,
00:38:29the third session in Geneva,
00:38:31where we had almost 2,000 registrants
00:38:35and we had like 87 side events
00:38:38where people of African descent got together globally
00:38:41to speak to the issues.
00:38:42One of the most interesting things
00:38:45about that third session was that
00:38:47of these almost 2,000 people,
00:38:49more than 60% of them were young people
00:38:53below the age of 25.
00:38:56And so, you know that it's capturing their imagination
00:38:59because they recognize that a number of things
00:39:02and inequalities and discrimination has continued,
00:39:05which is the legacy of enslavement.
00:39:08And that is how we have been able to tie it
00:39:12with the reparations movement.
00:39:13They have all called our voices within the forum
00:39:17were not the primary voices.
00:39:19These are the voices of people of African descent
00:39:22asking for reparations,
00:39:24asking for repair for four centuries of enslavement,
00:39:29asking for removal of systemic racism,
00:39:34asking for us to look at a new global order
00:39:38so that there is some recognition
00:39:41that people of African descent
00:39:43have made a considerable contribution
00:39:46to the development of the world.
00:39:49And also recognizing that we,
00:39:52if we do not step forward and advocate for ourselves,
00:39:57that our future will continue to be left behind
00:40:01because we are now developing systems
00:40:04that are already making us invisible in the world.
00:40:07So these are some of the issues that we deal with
00:40:10at the Permanent Forum.
00:40:11Ms. Obika, let's talk a little bit
00:40:13about the TT National Reparations Committee.
00:40:15Let's talk a little bit about that, the objective of that.
00:40:18Yeah, so at the United Nations decade began 2015,
00:40:24but deliberations for that, of course,
00:40:25would have happened a few years prior.
00:40:27So in the Caribbean region,
00:40:28we have National Reparations Committees
00:40:31of which Trinidad and Tobago is no exception.
00:40:33Our committee was reconstituted
00:40:35in September to November of last year.
00:40:39And I have the privilege to serve as a member,
00:40:43as an economist.
00:40:44And so therefore, there are many aspects of reparations
00:40:48that we are focusing on.
00:40:49Self-repair is a main aspect.
00:40:51For instance, if someone does a grievous harm,
00:40:54you are not going to necessarily wait
00:40:56for the process to go to court
00:40:59before you administer self-care.
00:41:00You first look to heal yourself.
00:41:02And therefore, it is incumbent on us
00:41:05to also match the claim on the colonial powers,
00:41:09the former colonies.
00:41:10You can't say former,
00:41:11because all of them have possessions still in the Caribbean,
00:41:13whether it's Dutch, English, Spanish, or French.
00:41:15They all have possessions still in the region.
00:41:17For example, Curaçao, Montserrat, and what have you.
00:41:22So therefore, self-repair is key.
00:41:25We are planning a National Reparations Week this year.
00:41:28More details will be flowing,
00:41:31but also an education program.
00:41:34Because persons appreciate
00:41:36that reparations, repair is necessary.
00:41:39And we can't call for reparations to end
00:41:42until the repairing has ended.
00:41:44And so the reparations fund is one aspect of it.
00:41:48Education program is another aspect of it.
00:41:49But I want to speak to one of the 10 point plan agenda items
00:41:53where CARICOM is asking for technology transfer.
00:41:57The industrial revolution that we study so dearly
00:42:02as economists in the Caribbean
00:42:05really could not have happened
00:42:06without enslavement of Africans.
00:42:08In fact, there was a saying,
00:42:10as rich as a West Indian sugar planter in Western Europe.
00:42:14And therefore, the savings that the families
00:42:17and the economies of Europe were able to amass
00:42:20came on the backs of our ancestors.
00:42:22And also the first people,
00:42:23because you have to understand
00:42:25that the first peoples were,
00:42:27some cases submitted to the genocide,
00:42:29but some persevered and remain with us today.
00:42:32And therefore, Africans were brought onto the plantations.
00:42:35And therefore, knowledge transfer,
00:42:38technology transfer is essential.
00:42:40How can we in the region break down the silos
00:42:44that decide, because the French boat dropped us off,
00:42:47we're not gonna speak to the persons
00:42:49who were dropped off by the English boat.
00:42:50So we have our own work to do
00:42:53to be all inclusive in the region,
00:42:55but we also have to call for
00:42:57the 10 point plan agenda items.
00:43:00As a nation, people ask,
00:43:02this reparations thing, if people will get money,
00:43:04people ask that all the time.
00:43:05In Barbados, there's a live issue.
00:43:07In Grenada, there's a family that has pledged
00:43:10to pay funds to the Grenadian people, all right,
00:43:13based on they own 2000,
00:43:15they possess 2000 African ancestors on their plantation.
00:43:20And therefore, it's a live issue for policy makers
00:43:23in Grenada to decide, one, who to accept funds from,
00:43:26two, should that be enough?
00:43:28Should that absolve them from paying further reparations?
00:43:33And then on top of that,
00:43:36how do persons benefit from this?
00:43:39Because if you're saying someone's ancestor
00:43:41was disadvantaged, because once you are a slave,
00:43:44your great-grandchildren are slaves,
00:43:46there was no notion of liberation from the system.
00:43:50And therefore, you've got no recompense.
00:43:53What, how can someone know
00:43:56who is a descendant of enslaved Africans
00:43:59seek to participate?
00:44:00So therefore, the process for establishing such a fund
00:44:03will have to require public consultation,
00:44:07much in the way that the Constitution Reform Committee
00:44:09is doing it.
00:44:11These things aren't necessarily going to be popular subjects
00:44:14where you'll have thousands of persons amassing,
00:44:16but we can use social media to get responses
00:44:18and programs like yours to bring to bear.
00:44:22Dr. Souma is one of the foremost advocates globally.
00:44:27We were in Barbados recently,
00:44:29and I had a conversation with the head,
00:44:33the chair of their task force, MP Trevor Prescott.
00:44:37And they are also eager to share
00:44:39what they are doing in Barbados.
00:44:40And Dr. Souma could even tell you
00:44:42some of the education programs
00:44:43that they have in St. Lucia.
00:44:44Doctor, clearly this issue of reparations,
00:44:49it's an issue that we have been speaking about
00:44:51for years and years and years now.
00:44:53My question is, has there been any,
00:44:56well, one who is listening,
00:44:58has there been any improvement?
00:45:00Has there been any development?
00:45:02Has there been the embracing
00:45:06of what we have been calling for?
00:45:10I will tell you that power concedes nothing.
00:45:14I will start with that.
00:45:16And so there is, it is a negotiation.
00:45:20While it has captured the popular imagination,
00:45:23it is still a negotiation.
00:45:25But you can see a lot of progress.
00:45:28And to be sure, reparations,
00:45:30the call for reparations started centuries ago
00:45:32because we never accepted that we will enslave people.
00:45:35We never accepted that we would chattel, which is property.
00:45:40The call for repair started centuries ago.
00:45:43So it's not a new thing.
00:45:44It is becoming more and more popular
00:45:47because more people have accepted it globally.
00:45:50In the United States, for example,
00:45:52while you do not see a federal approach to it,
00:45:56you do see various states taking on the task
00:46:01of doing reparations.
00:46:03California is the biggest one right now
00:46:06and the conversation around reparations in California,
00:46:09which takes me then to Mr. Ubike's point
00:46:11with regard to a development fund,
00:46:13because there are different ways in which the funding,
00:46:17and I'm telling you that the BRATL report
00:46:19has estimated $120 trillion in repair financially
00:46:26for the Americas.
00:46:28So it's not just the Caribbean,
00:46:31but also North America, Latin America, et cetera.
00:46:36In Latin America, the movements have grown exponentially.
00:46:41It used to be just a grassroots movement.
00:46:44Now governments, that is the other thing,
00:46:46governments are asking for reparations,
00:46:50as well as in Africa that had taken a back seat
00:46:53in the conversation, but now has stepped forward,
00:46:56as Mr. Ubike said,
00:46:57with the Ghana Reparations Conference last year,
00:47:01and have actually issued a statement on reparations.
00:47:05And the general feeling from the gatherings
00:47:09that we have had so far,
00:47:10all the sessions of the permanent forum,
00:47:12is that we must take this to the ICJ
00:47:14because there is no limitation on crimes against humanity,
00:47:19and enslavement has been deemed by the United Nations
00:47:22as a crime against humanity.
00:47:25And so, yes, there are countries that are hesitating
00:47:29to even apologize,
00:47:31but there are many countries that are stepping forward,
00:47:34as well as individuals, as well as banks,
00:47:37as well as insurance companies,
00:47:39as well as families that are saying,
00:47:42we were involved and we want to be involved in repair.
00:47:45But doctor, do you think that there is a general feeling,
00:47:52especially from the young people?
00:47:54Do you think that there's a general feeling from them
00:47:57that they do understand what the reparations,
00:47:59what we are speaking about,
00:48:01and there's a general thrust by them
00:48:05to support the efforts of people like you
00:48:09and your organizations for these reparations?
00:48:12You think so?
00:48:15Well, it would depend on where you are in the Caribbean,
00:48:19because in St. Lucia, for example,
00:48:20our National Youth Council
00:48:22sits on the reparations committee,
00:48:23and they are very involved in helping us
00:48:26to rule out our education programs.
00:48:29So we have gone to the schools, for example,
00:48:32during COVID, we had an extensive public education program,
00:48:36and we have even able to bring in St. Vincent
00:48:42and the Grenadines and Jamaica and so on on that program.
00:48:45So, and that is a program for young people.
00:48:48So I'm saying that it depends on
00:48:50where you are in the Caribbean,
00:48:52that you see the involvement of youth.
00:48:54But I would add that a lot more has to be done.
00:48:58In the Caribbean, we have different languages,
00:49:01we have different groups, we have different locales,
00:49:03and we need to be able to do that.
00:49:05So St. Lucia, for example,
00:49:07has started a new round of reparations education.
00:49:11So we are going into the communities now
00:49:14to speak to the issue of reparations.
00:49:16Jamaica has actually done textbooks, as well as Guyana,
00:49:20to be able to facilitate the discussion in the schools.
00:49:24So I am not too sure that we can look at it
00:49:28just with regard to one country,
00:49:31we have to look at it as a whole.
00:49:33And we are making strides in involving the young people.
00:49:36And as I said, more than 60% of the young people
00:49:41calling for reparations at the level of the Permanent Forum
00:49:44were at that conference asking, well, not even asking,
00:49:49but demanding reparations.
00:49:51So the young people are more aware than we think they are.
00:49:54Maybe we don't engage them enough, but they are aware.
00:49:59Yeah, Mr. Obiko.
00:49:59Thank you, Dr. Sumo, you provide a great perspective.
00:50:02And one of our conversations is harmonizing
00:50:05the efforts in the Caribbean
00:50:06and benefiting from that as a collective.
00:50:08In Trinidad and Tobago,
00:50:09you know that there has been an exercise by the government
00:50:12looking at the history of Trinidad and Tobago
00:50:14and ensuring that we write a history
00:50:16that tells the true story that our forebears went through.
00:50:20And it brings me to a point,
00:50:23not to bring our international guest in
00:50:24or regional sister in,
00:50:26in that locally, there's a question
00:50:29of renaming Emancipation Day to African Emancipation Day.
00:50:33I grew up in NJ.
00:50:34Yes.
00:50:35Now, politically, it is clear,
00:50:37people know that I'm part of the People's National Movement.
00:50:40But the history will speak for itself.
00:50:42Historically, to ask Trinidadians
00:50:45who consider themselves to be, in those days,
00:50:48Creole, Negro, or Black,
00:50:52to attach African to their name with no explainer,
00:50:56no Afro-Trini, no African Trinidadian,
00:50:59just African, full stop.
00:51:02That may not necessarily have been easily accepted.
00:51:08I'm talking about coming
00:51:09from the Pan-African movement myself.
00:51:11And the call was always for Emancipation Day to be the name.
00:51:17Now, it is timely that 2024 is the end of the decade,
00:51:22the United Nations decade for people of African descent.
00:51:25This year, also in October,
00:51:26we have the Pan-African Congress,
00:51:29the ninth Pan-African Congress in Togo, Lume,
00:51:31incidentally, my wife's home country.
00:51:33And Trinidad and Tobago has always been at the forefront
00:51:36of spreading the internationalization of Emancipation Day.
00:51:40My father was one of the vanguard members in NJ at that time
00:51:44in the Caribbean, in Africa,
00:51:46getting them to celebrate emancipation.
00:51:48So maybe this year, at the end of the decade,
00:51:50the renaming it African Emancipation Day
00:51:53can be Trinidad and Tobago's continuing contribution
00:51:56to putting in the forefront the repair of African people
00:52:01from this process of enslavement.
00:52:02And maybe when persons, when the noise has settled,
00:52:06and maybe in a couple months when persons reflect,
00:52:09they may recognize that it was actually a good decision
00:52:12at this time, because timing is everything,
00:52:15to rename the celebration African Emancipation Day.
00:52:18Yeah.
00:52:19Doctor, I just have about two minutes again.
00:52:22Do you believe-
00:52:23Not to get involved in internal issues
00:52:26in Trinidad and Tobago,
00:52:27but the specificity of African liberation
00:52:32must be at the forefront of this Emancipation Day,
00:52:34which is celebrated on the 1st of August.
00:52:37It is about the fact that we have not recognized
00:52:42that we also had a part to play in our own liberation.
00:52:471st of August is only a representation.
00:52:51We had been fighting for our liberation,
00:52:53and we were successful in Haiti in getting liberation.
00:52:56We are talking about African liberation.
00:52:59Now, we recognize that there are many different forms
00:53:02of inhumanities that have been reaped
00:53:06on people of the Caribbean,
00:53:08but this specific day is the focus
00:53:11on people of African descent and their liberation
00:53:14and their struggles,
00:53:15their continuing struggles for liberation,
00:53:17because to me, you will have to look at emancipation
00:53:20on a continuum.
00:53:21It cannot be a one-time thing.
00:53:24We are not fully liberated
00:53:25because colonialism continues, especially in our region.
00:53:29Yeah.
00:53:30Mr. Obika, we just have about one minute again.
00:53:32Well, I just want to say thank you,
00:53:35and I want to repeat a statement that was made
00:53:37by a British MP, an African British MP,
00:53:39in the Accra Operations Conference.
00:53:41The call for reparations will end
00:53:44when the repairing has ended,
00:53:46and in Trinidad and Tobago, we can look,
00:53:49we like to look at things in a critical way,
00:53:51which is good for our culture,
00:53:52but maybe we can be more positive in our orientation.
00:53:55This year is the end of the United Nations decade
00:53:57for people of African descent.
00:53:59Maybe as our signal to the world,
00:54:01renaming emancipation, there's African emancipation,
00:54:04it can be one more step in the repairing process,
00:54:08and hopefully we may even get a chance
00:54:10to showcase Trinidad and Tobago's
00:54:12and the Caribbean's contribution
00:54:13at the Pan-African Congress in Togo this year.
00:54:17And let me tell you, this is a longstanding issue,
00:54:21but a very interesting issue, informative,
00:54:24and I would want to continue this topic,
00:54:27the discussion on this topic sometime in the future, yeah?
00:54:30Mr. Obika, thank you very much.
00:54:31Doctor, it was a pleasure speaking with you.
00:54:34Bye for now.
00:54:35Safe, yeah.
00:54:36All right.
00:54:37So we are going to a very short break.
00:54:38We do have this for you.
00:54:40It's an orchid from B. Tilloxing from Balmain, Cuba.
00:54:45Yeah, we're coming back, everybody.
00:54:46♪ So feel free, for we are the people of the Caribbean ♪
00:54:53♪ Showing that we don't want no basin plan ♪
00:54:58♪ Our Caribbean connection ♪
00:55:02♪ So we jump on the vibration ♪
00:55:05♪ I say we jump in to the sun ♪
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00:56:37Good morning. I am Anselm Gibbs with a news update. Hundreds of workers gathered on Wednesday
00:56:53for the annual May Day celebrations. Poor working conditions, back pay backlogs, retrenchments
00:57:00and wage negotiations were among the issues highlighted.
00:57:25As the audit report impasse continues between the Auditor General's Office and the Ministry
00:57:30of Finance, one economist says the public spat is affecting the country's image.
00:57:36It is imperative for this issue to be resolved at the earliest because the longer it prolongs,
00:57:43the more serious concerns will arise about the credibility and the accuracy of our reported
00:57:49fiscal performance in 2023 and more importantly, our national accounting practices. If there
00:57:56was indeed an error and the reported revenues were understated, especially by such a significant
00:58:02magnitude of 2.6 billion, it's very possible that stakeholders would question the veracity
00:58:08of our reported fiscal performance in prior years and whether there were errors preceding
00:58:13this one.
00:58:16In the weather forecast, partly cloudy and breezy conditions are expected across the
00:58:21islands with occasional light to moderate showers. It's likely that winds may gust
00:58:26at times, especially near showers. Marine users should be aware of occasionally choppy
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00:58:39open waters.
00:58:50The TV6 Daily Health Tip is brought to you by Omega XL.
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01:01:26Hallelujah! So I celebrate in Jesus.
01:01:48Alright, so welcome back everyone. So we do have some breaking news for you. Police officers are leading
01:01:52some protesters away with their hands zip-tied behind their backs after getting through a
01:01:58line of barriers. We have this report for you from the BBC.
01:02:23It's so true. It's something that I've never seen before, even as recently as a few years ago during
01:02:31George Floyd. It was happening, but maybe to a different extent because of the rapid growth of live streaming.
01:02:41Alright, so that report deals with the situation of protests in LA. Of course, you know, over the past few
01:02:49days there have been violent protests in the U.S. concerning the war between Israel and Palestine.
01:03:01So that's what that report is about. Alright, so we're moving on. We're moving to some football now.
01:03:07And we do have what I call a true, true legend in football in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:03:15I think I saw him do like that just now. I don't know if he was surprised when I said that.
01:03:20But Russell Latopi is here with us this morning. He's a living legend. And let me tell you, we as a country have
01:03:28been supporting Latopi and members of his team even before the days when he was a member of the Strike Squad
01:03:36and we were making our way to Italy. Latopi, we were crying with you, you know, when we didn't make it to Italy.
01:03:43We cried as a nation.
01:03:44Yeah, and then we made it to Germany, right? You and members of your team, you took us to Germany.
01:03:51So we have been with you all the way. So it's really a pleasure meeting you this morning.
01:03:56And let me tell you, yeah, if we describe you as a legend, well, that's what you are in football in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:04:02So let me just ask you, where have you been? We have not seen you for a while.
01:04:07Yeah, morning all. Thanks for having me. Well, I've been travelling and working. Unfortunately, the profession that I choose
01:04:20takes me all over, right? So I've been in Barbados for a few years, Australia, Dubai.
01:04:27And now I'm back home for a while and I'll be trying to put on this event.
01:04:32Of course.
01:04:33Which we're here to speak about a bit, which is the Legends game.
01:04:37We're really excited about this event coming up on the 10th of May.
01:04:44Yeah, Latopi, look at this. That's how many years ago.
01:04:48It's been a while. It's been a while.
01:04:51I've been fortunate enough to represent Trinidad in three different decades.
01:04:59And I've played with fathers and sons during my time, uncles and nephews and that sort of thing.
01:05:08So it's been a fantastic journey during my playing career representing Trinidad and Tobago.
01:05:18Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about what you're here this morning to speak about, about this Legends game.
01:05:25The Legends are coming.
01:05:28Yes, you know, we've been really lucky to have these four players, Brazilian players, I should say,
01:05:38because we also have some other Caribbean Legends who would be joining us.
01:05:43But we're very fortunate that we can bring these players to our shores and help us participate
01:05:51and celebrate in a day of entertainment and football.
01:05:57So everybody can enjoy, you know, we want to create an event where we can have the kids again rubbing shoulders
01:06:05and we want to lead by example and get a good energy back into football in Trinidad.
01:06:12Yeah. And let's speak a little bit about that.
01:06:14The good energy as it relates to football in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:06:20It would be remiss of us not to mention this morning that you were the coach of the national men's football team
01:06:30for a number of years. You have had some great success there.
01:06:35People may forget that, but you have had some success there, too.
01:06:39But as you look at the state of football in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:06:44Yeah, I think that football is generations and it's time.
01:06:50I think I was fortunate that I had a good generation of players that came through with me,
01:06:58that we were able to achieve things and put us on the footballing map.
01:07:07So I think now it's another time and it's a conversation that I go through a lot.
01:07:14I think players like Dwight and myself and Dennis and Marvin Andrews, Sturgeon, we played for a long time.
01:07:25So in one way, it blocked the generation from coming through, I think.
01:07:31And I think we had the effect of that over the last maybe 10 years.
01:07:36But I think it's a really good generation coming.
01:07:39I think that Angus has brought some stability to the team.
01:07:43I think we're moving in the right direction.
01:07:46And again, football is working as hard as you can.
01:07:51And then you see what happens. You see where the chips fall.
01:07:55But you leave everything out there and you give your best.
01:07:58And that's all we can ask these young men to do.
01:08:01Unfortunately, we're playing in the CONCACAF region where there's a lot of strong teams
01:08:09who have great financial support, more than we have.
01:08:14And it really helps in terms of preparation and preparation is really everything.
01:08:20Yeah. As you know, it was not an easy task.
01:08:23Even in the days when we were trying to get to Italy, that was not an easy task.
01:08:27Getting to Germany was also not an easy task.
01:08:31You see sometime in the future where you see us being a part of the World Cup again.
01:08:38That's somewhere in our future?
01:08:40Yeah, absolutely. We have to believe.
01:08:43That's the first step. If we don't believe that we can make it there, then we won't.
01:08:50Again, you know, there's a lot of great talent coming through the system.
01:08:57So we just need to support them. And I believe in good energy.
01:09:04You know, it's something that is infectious and grabs hold of everybody.
01:09:10I think as a country, if we have a good energy towards the football and we support the boys,
01:09:15whatever happens, I think that gives them the motivation to push through.
01:09:20Yeah. But you believe is there a need still for a greater infrastructure in place for footballers?
01:09:28Because as you know, Latipi, when you look at other countries as the US, as the UK and so on,
01:09:37other countries in Europe, there's this rigid structure in place.
01:09:42So you don't have a footballer training at the Hazley Crawford Stadium,
01:09:47and then he has to go and catch a maxi at City Gate and then go home and go to his job and whatever.
01:09:53So in that context, there has to be a greater rigid structure in place.
01:09:56Absolutely. I think, you know, there is always a balance.
01:10:01I think we are not in a bad place. Right.
01:10:04But I'm sure that we can be in a better place.
01:10:07I would agree with you in saying that if we can become more professional in terms of our structure
01:10:14and the way we do things, it gives greater support and a greater possibility for young players to be successful.
01:10:22You know, if we one of the things that I realize with youth or development football is that we focus a lot on the results
01:10:33and not in creating the best possible player we can get based on his abilities and potentials.
01:10:43So I think if we if we can change that a bit in developmental age groups,
01:10:49then then we have a better product for the national senior team coach.
01:10:54Yeah. And talking about about support, let's talk a little bit about the Russell Latipi Foundation.
01:10:59Yes, it was its foundation was started in 2000 by by my mom.
01:11:07And again, I lived away for a long time.
01:11:10So there was a lot of things that I wanted to do and participate in that I couldn't.
01:11:17But I'm happy that I have the time now.
01:11:20And we definitely partnered with I-95 to to do this legends game.
01:11:26And again, we we really excited about about doing this game and getting this project off the ground.
01:11:33You know, legends football has been around the world for the past 15, 20 years has been really big.
01:11:39And and we think as a football loving nation, we thought that we can we can bring this concept to Trinidad and and then see where we go from there.
01:11:50And again, we we love Brazilians. Yes. Yes.
01:11:53And the way they play and everything about their culture and their spirit and how they're happy people, because we are as well.
01:12:02Yeah. We have the samba, we have the soca. We have the soca.
01:12:06So it's it's maybe a different rhythm, but it's all moving to the same place.
01:12:12So, yeah. So we're happy to to be able to participate.
01:12:16You're going to be taking the field, too. Yeah, I'll be I'll be lacing up my boots.
01:12:20And that's why we kind of go legends so I can I can get away with it.
01:12:24But I've been doing a bit of training just to get myself in good condition.
01:12:29You know, we want to we want to put on a really good event and a really good show.
01:12:35I've been fortunate along with I-95 that we've invited players from from different generations that I've played with.
01:12:44So we have some boys from Strike Squad. We have some soca warriors.
01:12:49We have a few players who were just retiring some in the twilight of their career.
01:12:57So, you know, it might be a little slower being legends, but in terms of quality and technical ability, a lot of the players will be on full display.
01:13:07Yeah. Let's talk about where can people get tickets.
01:13:11So, yeah, tickets are island tickets and, you know, when there is a lot of different franchises that that is putting on that is selling physical tickets as well.
01:13:22Yeah. Latopi, Edmilson. Can we go back to the graphic?
01:13:27Yeah. Kaka, Kafu, Mr. York. White is going to be here, too.
01:13:33Mr. York is going to be here, too.
01:13:35So, yeah, we have oil jar from St. Lucia, Elijah Joseph, Kendall Velox, just to name some of the Caribbean players.
01:13:43And and I want I want really that the all star team is a bit of a surprise, you know,
01:13:50but I would say that we have players from from the both different generations that I was fortunate to play in,
01:13:57which is Strike Squad and Soca Warriors that we qualified for.
01:14:02And, you know, as you were speaking there and calling the names as every name you called,
01:14:07it took me back to, you know, a certain part of I remember football at that particular time.
01:14:15Right. I know that there are some surprises.
01:14:20Of course, he can't give you everything, but there are going to be some surprises and something for extra for the fans. Right.
01:14:27Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so we because this is a fun game for us, you know, it's not an official competitive game.
01:14:36Yes. We wanted to change the format a bit and make it entertaining for the fans.
01:14:43So instead of going to 45 minute half, we're going to go in third.
01:14:47So we go 30, 30, 30. And in between these intervals, we want to highlight some of some of the academies that we have here.
01:14:58So we invite them to play a game at these intervals.
01:15:02We have academies who is doing fantastic things, giving young players the opportunity to play professionally, to go on trial,
01:15:10to to go and study, to get a degree, to look after their lives.
01:15:13So we want to highlight that. And then in the other interval, we also want to get the fans involved.
01:15:20So with our sponsors, we're going to do some giveaway.
01:15:23So we're going to have a little crossbar challenge or penalty kick out that we'd invite the fans to come now.
01:15:29And this is an interesting one because, you know, we want to bring a good energy.
01:15:35So we want to give the fans the experience to know that sometimes there's a lot of pressure on.
01:15:39And when players make mistakes, it's not because they want to, because it's a lot of pressure.
01:15:44So we will get the fan down maybe to take penalties and that sort of stuff.
01:15:49Yeah. And get a feel for what really happens at a competitive game when it's when it's a full house.
01:15:57Yeah. And I'm sure that there's going to be the opportunity for the fans to have close contact with some of the players to take pictures and so on.
01:16:05It's going to be a party atmosphere.
01:16:07Absolutely. You know, we have these these Brazilian World Cup winners for a short time.
01:16:15And we want to see how much we can we can involve them with the fans, with the players, rub shoulders with local players and that sort of thing.
01:16:25So, yeah, we definitely have fans have an opportunity to to get autographs and pictures with.
01:16:33Yeah. On another note, do we see you and persons?
01:16:43Of course, you can't speak for Dwight York, but I'm talking about other prominent footballers who have done very, very well.
01:16:51Do we see any time in the future where we can see a reintroduction of you all into football at an official level, you think?
01:17:03Yeah. Yeah. I think the possibility is always there.
01:17:06Or everybody that I've played with in the past wants to come back and contribute in a positive way.
01:17:14I think it's it's a question of finding the right rules, right positions where players can ex players, I should say, can can give their best and and be in a position where where where what is their strength.
01:17:30Right. So I think that is a possibility.
01:17:33I know that there's a new executive in charge now.
01:17:37So I know we have to give them some some time to settle in.
01:17:41I know that anybody who sits in in that office, in that seat wants to do well because we have football loving culture and people.
01:17:51So I think if we give them a little time to settle in and make whatever changes they deem necessary.
01:17:59I'm sure that there is enough ex players who have done well at a high level, who has done their coaching badges, who is involved in administration and so forth.
01:18:10And who wants to come back and contribute?
01:18:12I'm sure there is a place for them to to come back and and and do what they did for so long, which is contributed to the up the uplifting of football.
01:18:21So tell me something, because some people want to know. So where this name Little Magician came from?
01:18:27I believe it would be my friend Valentino Singh.
01:18:33Journalist.
01:18:34Yes. Yeah. We drew in college football in Takal.
01:18:39Yeah. Sandotech when we were playing, you know, we possibly had a really decent game with Sandotech.
01:18:46And yeah. And during one of his articles, he mentioned that like a magician.
01:18:53And then the name just stuck from there.
01:18:55Yeah. And, you know, and it is only a few seconds ago I realised what I was doing and I was calling Latope Latope.
01:19:05And some people call him letters. And it is because because of your contribution.
01:19:11And I think that the impact that you had on us individually as a society that we feel we know you, you know.
01:19:19So I think that that Trinidad and Tobago has had a very close and loving relationship with you.
01:19:25And I think that that's very special. I think that that you were and I'm sure, of course, still a very special footballer,
01:19:34because I felt looking at you, any time you put Latope on that field, something is going to happen, right?
01:19:41Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, that was that was the idea.
01:19:46You know, but I have to say that that there were a lot of fantastic players, of course, you know,
01:19:54and if to name a few, we had the 73 team with Gali Cummings and Leroy Dillion and these other players.
01:20:02And then after that generation, then then we had the strike squad.
01:20:09So we've always had a lot of top players who and these players gave me the feeling and the belief that I can go on
01:20:19and and do whatever I wanted in terms of playing at the highest level.
01:20:24And I hope that I was able to pass that on to the players that, yeah, that came after me.
01:20:29Yeah. Anything else you'd like to tell us about the about the match? Legends match?
01:20:33Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's going to be a fantastic day of entertainment, of football.
01:20:43There's, you know, want to say thanks to a lot of the sponsors who come on board.
01:20:48You know, if I don't want to forget any names, so we're going to do a proper release to name all the sponsors,
01:20:56because I don't want to forget anybody. But it's going to be a fantastic day.
01:20:59And we really look forward to having the fans come and celebrate and enjoy this day with us.
01:21:05Yeah. Latipi, Lataz, as some people call you. It has been a pleasure speaking with you.
01:21:12And thank you very much for the contribution that you have made to football.
01:21:16And to thank you for the experiences that you have given us as a country.
01:21:20Yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. And I look forward to seeing you all on May 10th.
01:21:26Kickoff is 8 o'clock. But the gate opens at 4 and there would be a lot of stuff.
01:21:31We would have some best village dancers. We would have a lot of.
01:21:35So come and enjoy with us a fantastic day of football and entertainment.
01:21:39Yeah. We're coming down. We're coming down. We're going to have a very short break, everybody. We're coming back.
01:21:56It's finally here. La Vega pre-Mother's Day seal from April 26 to May 5th.
01:22:18Enjoy 20 percent of everything at both branches.
01:22:21Beautify your home and garden with a wide variety of indoor plants,
01:22:25fruit trees, local and exotic soil, pots and more.
01:22:28There will be double shakalas, gardenias, anthuriums, medallions and bougainvillea.
01:22:33Just to name a few. This is one seal you don't want to miss.
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01:23:13The world is in crisis. Distressing news are flowing from every quarter in the society.
01:23:20And the hearts of many are failing them for fear.
01:23:24However, in the midst of these alarming conditions come good news.
01:23:30Jesus Christ saves, keeps and satisfies.
01:23:35This is the message of Daybreak.
01:23:44Hello, I'm Peter.
01:23:46An Englishman living in Trinidad for many, many years.
01:23:49I've come to love this country because of the warm-hearted people, the diverse culture, the fantastic food and, of course, the great weather.
01:23:56A few years ago, I came across Habitat and boy, oh boy, this is what the country needs.
01:24:01At Habitat, they work alongside families to give them a better life, providing more opportunities for families, especially the children.
01:24:08If each one of us does the same, then all our actions will add up to create major changes.
01:24:12I work with Habitat for Humanity to make small but significant actions which contribute to the life I have come to love in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:24:19Help build a home. And a home means an awful lot.
01:24:23A house is not a home. A home is a home. It's where the heart is.
01:24:26So come with me and let's make it happen.
01:24:43What you can see from this image is a man lying in a pool of blood in his living room.
01:24:49He was shot dead a short while ago as two bandits tried to rob him and his family.
01:24:55What you can't hear is his wife crying inconsolably.
01:24:59What you don't know is that his four-year-old daughter is standing looking at her father, confused, begging him to wake up.
01:25:07Can you imagine what this wife and child are going through and what they will have to go through?
01:25:12They try to process what has happened.
01:25:14How can we begin to help?
01:25:16We can start right here at the Victim and Witness Support Unit.
01:25:20From investigation to counseling, to helping families find justice, to helping families find peace, this unit gives victims and witnesses hope to cope.
01:25:33We are the Victim and Witness Support Unit, bridging the service gap between the victims, witnesses, and the police.
01:26:04Victim and Witness Support Unit
01:26:11All right, so welcome back, everyone.
01:26:22So Ansa Merchant Bank Limited and Ansa Bank, leading financial institutions in the Caribbean,
01:26:28are releasing the region's first natural capital report produced by a corporate financial institution.
01:26:35So to tell us more, Keisha Garcia, ESG, natural capital lead, Ansa Merchant Bank Limited,
01:26:41and Omar Mohamed, CEO of the Cropper Foundation.
01:26:45Thank you very much for coming this morning.
01:26:46Good morning.
01:26:47Thank you for having us.
01:26:48Of course.
01:26:49Keisha, let's speak a little bit about this first corporate natural capital report.
01:26:56What is the rationale for that?
01:26:57All right.
01:26:58It's a very good question.
01:27:00So back in 2019, our banks started to take note of certain changes that were occurring
01:27:08here in our region.
01:27:10We saw that food security was a problem.
01:27:13We took notice of that.
01:27:14We took notice of the fact that we had more impacts related to climate change, which is
01:27:19well beyond our control, the climate change issue.
01:27:23We noticed that our water resources were under increasing pressure, and we realized that
01:27:28people were suffering, beginning to suffer.
01:27:31Signs were showing as a result of these changes.
01:27:34And so at that time, the banks had also, as part of the Ansa Mercal group of companies,
01:27:43whose purpose is inspiring better choices for a better world, the banks as a part of
01:27:48the group had started along that path towards reporting on sustainability using the Environmental,
01:27:55Social, and Governance Framework, ESG.
01:27:58And as we started to take note of those environmental changes that I mentioned, we thought, look,
01:28:03we really need to place emphasis on this area of natural capital.
01:28:07Natural capital relates to the living components of the environment and things like our air,
01:28:12water, soils, and geology, everything that comes together to deliver benefits to us humans.
01:28:18And so we thought this, in time, will continue to get more and more costly to us as a bank,
01:28:25risky, and us as a society.
01:28:28And so we needed to figure out what we could do to address that issue.
01:28:34And it was then that the bank started to look around for, how do we get this done?
01:28:39And the Cropper Foundation became a very natural partner in this space.
01:28:44And Omar can tell you more about the foundation, and it is on that basis that we launched the
01:28:49Caribbean Natural Capital Hub in 2022, and as a part of that took a very firm decision
01:28:56to begin to report on natural capital so that we can take account of our risks and
01:29:03opportunities in this space and begin to address where we as a bank are having a negative impact
01:29:11on nature, as it were, and we're not alone.
01:29:13So in 2022, we had actually signed a petition along with over 400 companies worldwide, including
01:29:21some Fortune 500 companies, to say that we want disclosures on nature to become mandatory
01:29:29at a national and global level so that companies, especially large companies, are beginning
01:29:34to report on their impacts so that, as well as the world, we can begin to take action.
01:29:40Yeah.
01:29:41Omar, let's speak about the Cropper Foundation's input in this exercise here.
01:29:47Sure.
01:29:48So the foundation, well, we're a non-profit.
01:29:50So we're almost on the other side of the corporate spectrum.
01:29:55But for almost 25 years, our main goal has been this idea of ensuring that decisions
01:30:02that are being made about development in the Caribbean are made using the best available
01:30:06data and placing nature and the environment at the center, because we're not external
01:30:13to nature.
01:30:14We all depend on it.
01:30:16We live within nature.
01:30:18So we've worked for decades on public policy, academia, but we've never worked with private
01:30:25sector before.
01:30:27And this opportunity came up, and I have to say, it took four years, took four or five
01:30:33years to actually get going, because as a non-profit working in this space, we have
01:30:38some very immovable principles, and we have to really think carefully about this engagement.
01:30:46But what we were able to see after many, many, many conversations was really this honest
01:30:53attempt to move the needle within the corporate space, and that said a lot.
01:30:59So our role really in this partnership is to co-lead the Caribbean Natural Capital Hub,
01:31:04which is this regional movement, as well as to provide that anchor for some of the more
01:31:11technical parts of this approach.
01:31:13So we're the ones who may have to go into the room of bankers and say, well, biodiversity
01:31:19is X, Y, Z.
01:31:21Natural capital is X, Y, Z.
01:31:23So we're there to, again, help shepherd that process, help to establish some of the partnerships,
01:31:31particularly regionally and globally within the more technical space, bring those two
01:31:35things together, and I think really model what this multi-stakeholder partnership should
01:31:42look like, and I'll really echo the theme for this year's World Biodiversity Day, which
01:31:48in case people know, we have these international UN days, one of them being around biodiversity,
01:31:53and it's be part of the plan, this global biodiversity plan.
01:31:57It's calling for everyone to acknowledge their responsibility and work together.
01:32:03So we've been in this partnership now for a couple of years, and I have to say it's
01:32:08really informed, I would say, both of our experiences and exposure to the other sides
01:32:17of that spectrum when it comes to the stakeholders that need to be involved in nature positivity
01:32:23and putting nature first.
01:32:25Is it possible to say, because you have been gathering information for a while now, is
01:32:32it possible to say some of the main things that you have found, let's say specifically
01:32:37in Trinidad and Tobago?
01:32:39Absolutely.
01:32:40So what we have done is we have looked across our funding, all our lines of financing, both
01:32:47in terms of our loans and our investments at our banks, Ansa Merchant Bank here in Trinidad
01:32:53and Tobago, Ansa Merchant Bank in Barbados, and Ansa Bank, which is our retail and commercial
01:32:58bank here in Trinidad.
01:33:00We looked across all of the portfolios, and we did an analysis of the risks related to
01:33:05different sectors or asset classes within our different areas.
01:33:11And what we have found, what the information has shown us so far, are sectors such as construction,
01:33:18mining, agriculture, and energy, where we have a fair amount of money either lent or
01:33:26invested.
01:33:28Those are the ones that pose some of the highest risks to our natural capital footprint as
01:33:35a bank.
01:33:36Because, of course, once you lend money, you see yourself as an enabler, you're partnering
01:33:40with people to do certain activities.
01:33:43And unfortunately, here in the Caribbean, we do not yet have the regulations.
01:33:49In some cases, we do have environmental regulations through the Environmental Management Authority,
01:33:54and there are national laws.
01:33:56But in terms of actually bringing down some of these natural capital impacts, we don't
01:34:01really have a framework that allows that.
01:34:03And so what we see our purpose as here, as banks, would be to work with our customers
01:34:10on a voluntary basis, explaining to them, as Omar says, it's about raising awareness
01:34:15and helping people to appreciate why this is important, part of our own journey.
01:34:21And so working with our customers to see if we can collectively reduce the impacts
01:34:26that we are having on nature.
01:34:28Yeah.
01:34:29So it's really an attempt at really creating this symbiotic relationship between business
01:34:36and the environment, so that business doesn't really impact negatively on the environment.
01:34:42And additionally, absolutely.
01:34:44And then additionally, not just not have a negative impact, but see where there are opportunities
01:34:50for us to improve the state of nature.
01:34:53Because based on most of our data, both here in Trinidad and Tobago and globally, the state
01:34:59of nature is declining.
01:35:02And more worryingly, it is declining at an accelerating rate.
01:35:08And it is now believed that by 2030, which is just a few years down the road, we're going
01:35:13to reach some what we call tipping points in biodiversity and water, which will render
01:35:19our natural systems at high risk for collapse or irreversible change, or these abrupt types
01:35:27of activity, you know, in the way that you see these greater storms, more frequent storms
01:35:32coming in.
01:35:33So you reach that stage where, you know, it's difficult to turn back.
01:35:37And so we need to act and we need to act now.
01:35:40Yeah.
01:35:41Omar, you think that business, they are embracing this concept?
01:35:46Yes, I would say so.
01:35:47I mean, a couple of years ago, I would probably have a different answer.
01:35:51But I think we are all becoming more and more aware, maybe forced to do so.
01:35:58I mean, the COVID pandemic helped us realize the sort of intangible benefits that we get
01:36:05from nature.
01:36:06Some of us might have never considered the psychological impacts of being able to walk
01:36:10outside or go for a hike.
01:36:13But now we understand that there are these values that we probably never thought about.
01:36:18So I think, you know, things like the pandemic, as Keisha said, the increasing impacts of
01:36:26extreme weather events and other issues have made us realize just how interconnected everything
01:36:31is.
01:36:32So again, it's not just about a company being cognizant of its impacts, but we realize how
01:36:37dependent we are on the stability of these natural systems.
01:36:41So even if you are not a company that directly extracts from the environment, let's say agriculture,
01:36:49to get to work in Port of Spain, you need these roads to be free of floods.
01:36:54And what that depends on is not just drainage, but the ability of the Northern Range to regulate
01:36:59that flow of water.
01:37:01So I think we're all becoming more and more aware of the impacts and dependencies that
01:37:07we have.
01:37:08And again, companies are made up of people.
01:37:10And I think that's being translated upwards into that type of decision making and awareness.
01:37:17Is there an opportunity, Keisha, for people to read this report?
01:37:21There is, yes.
01:37:22And so we have the report now available on our website.
01:37:26Let me say up front that because this is a natural capital report and we're very cognizant
01:37:31about the use of paper and other things like that, we've decided not to go the route of
01:37:36printing any hard copies of this report.
01:37:39So what we've done, we've made it available on our website.
01:37:42If you go to Ansem Merchant Bank, natural capital, you put that into your engine search,
01:37:47it will pop up almost immediately.
01:37:49And Omar, the Cropper Foundation, our partner on social media platforms, will also tell
01:37:54us a little bit about how you can find out through social media.
01:37:58Yeah.
01:37:59So you can visit Cropper Foundation across every single social media platform.
01:38:04And I believe Ansem Merchant Bank as well.
01:38:06We will have links to the downloadable file for the natural capital report and we'll also
01:38:11have links for persons to join the natural capital hub, which again is this virtual space
01:38:16where we're bringing people together.
01:38:18We have close to 180 members from across the region, from individuals all the way up to
01:38:23large multi-country conglomerates.
01:38:25And it's a space where we're providing training, awareness building, some funding opportunities
01:38:31through different grand challenges that we're offering.
01:38:34So we're really putting that message out there that this is a collaborative exercise.
01:38:39It's not non-profits, it's not just companies, it's an all or nothing exercise to ensure
01:38:45that we were able to get to that nature positive region that we all need to be resilient.
01:38:52Keisha, I'm going to steal 10 seconds.
01:38:55You have 10 seconds to tell us any information or anything additionally that we didn't touch
01:39:01on this morning.
01:39:02What I would like to emphasize is that this report is the beginning of our natural capital
01:39:07reporting journey.
01:39:09This is a journey.
01:39:10It takes very long for us to totally understand what our impacts and risks are and then how
01:39:14we can use that within the bank to improve decision making.
01:39:18So it's only the start.
01:39:19And what we want to do as Omar has pointed out is to use this learning to work with others
01:39:24because us doing it on our own, it's not going to make any difference.
01:39:28So we want to work with others to share that knowledge, share that information and understand
01:39:33that this is a core.
01:39:34We don't know everything.
01:39:35It's a core learning process.
01:39:37We welcome people into the Caribbean natural capital hub or otherwise.
01:39:42Please come on board.
01:39:43Join us in this journey and let's learn together about natural capital reporting and taking
01:39:49action.
01:39:50We are all about impact.
01:39:51Taking action as Omar has said to turn a needle.
01:39:56Kesha, Omar, it was a pleasure speaking with you all this morning.
01:39:59Thank you very much.
01:40:00Thank you, Marlon.
01:40:01Thank you.
01:40:02All right.
01:40:03So we are going to a very short break.
01:40:04We do have this for you.
01:40:05A sunrise from Sham.
01:40:06We're coming back, everybody.
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01:43:12♪♪♪
01:43:43Alright, so welcome back everyone.
01:43:45So we do have one more interview for you.
01:43:48But in the meantime, we can take some of your calls.
01:43:50We just have room for maybe about two or three calls.
01:43:53So if you have the opportunity and you wish to speak with me, you can call us now on 623-1711,
01:43:59the extension, it's 1995.
01:44:02Of course, we do have a lot, always a lot of things in Trinidad and Tobago we can speak about.
01:44:07And I know that you're very much concerned about and have views about.
01:44:11Alright, so you're calling us on 623-1711, the extension, it's 1995.
01:44:16So you can please call us now.
01:44:18We just have about maybe 10 minutes and we're taking a few minutes just to speak with you this morning.
01:44:23So UNC, bring in observers.
01:44:26Party meets EBC, voices concerns.
01:44:29The opposition United National Congress has called on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley
01:44:33to commit to bringing independent observers for the next general election following a meeting yesterday
01:44:39between party executives and Elections and Boundaries Commission officials.
01:44:45Alright, we do have a call, a first call.
01:44:47Good morning, caller.
01:44:48Marlon, good morning.
01:44:50Morning.
01:44:51Well, I've always watched your program.
01:44:53Thank you.
01:44:54I want to commend you for the good job you have been doing all the while.
01:44:58Thank you, sir.
01:44:59What you see this morning, I want to give a special commendation for having Obika and Dr. Sumia.
01:45:08Alright.
01:45:09Speaking about reparation, because this conversation has been taking place all over Europe.
01:45:16The apologies from Belgium, the families who came down to Grenada and Barbados and these places, you understand?
01:45:28And offering to pay reparation for the injustice that was done to the African people.
01:45:34And we hear nothing about it, you understand, on the local media.
01:45:39And to hear you this morning, having these two great people on this station, speaking of reparation,
01:45:46because there's an ignorance where our workers are concerned, where reparation is concerned.
01:45:51You have to be educated to understand what it's all about.
01:45:55500 years of destruction of our people, Marlon, it's nothing.
01:45:59So I want to commend you for a wonderful job this morning, having these two beautiful people discussing reparation.
01:46:05You know what?
01:46:06I heard that $102 trillion, you know how long I heard that on the news?
01:46:12And that California pays more than the budget of California.
01:46:16You understand?
01:46:17We heard nothing here.
01:46:18The Chevrolet family that went to Grenada, we heard nothing.
01:46:21The 10th of last month.
01:46:25That was on the media in England.
01:46:29The Anglican Church in England apologized for reparation for putting slavery on the African people.
01:46:35The United Church in England, and we hear nothing on the local media.
01:46:39So thank you this morning, Marlon.
01:46:41Yes, thank you, sir.
01:46:42For bringing this information to us.
01:46:43Thank you.
01:46:44And I think, as I said to our guests earlier, I think it's an issue that we need to have further conversation on.
01:46:53We always hear about reparations, reparations, reparations.
01:46:56And we always think about money.
01:46:58Maybe we want money.
01:47:00But it's also monetary reward and it's other things that people are asking for.
01:47:08I don't know that the conversation, it has been a consistent conversation, an intense conversation, a real conversation.
01:47:16Where everything has been put on the table so that we do have a holistic view and a holistic understanding as to what we are asking for.
01:47:26When I say we, people in the Caribbean, as we speak about reparations.
01:47:32Yeah.
01:47:33They're calling us on 623-1711.
01:47:35The extension, it's 1995.
01:47:37We do have another call.
01:47:38Good morning, caller.
01:47:40Yes, please.
01:47:41Good morning, Marlon.
01:47:42Like the previous caller, I'd like to commend you on the program that you normally have.
01:47:47Thank you.
01:47:48I, however, would like to commend you on having Senator Lutz-Midial give her side of the story.
01:47:54And saying her side, I'm not saying it is untrue.
01:47:57But to give her perspective of this matter involving the Attorney General and the Auditor General.
01:48:03Yeah.
01:48:04But there are two points I wish to make.
01:48:06One, that she was very, very vocal on the question of the matter, the present financial matter.
01:48:13But she was the one who brought up this matter with regard to the allegedly involvement of Minister Cummings in the credit union fiasco, I think.
01:48:27But I understand that there is a manager or at least an inspector of financial institutions and banks and insurance companies and credit unions.
01:48:37What I have not heard at all was whether she had brought this to their attention.
01:48:43Or did she just pull it out of the hat?
01:48:46Said what she had to say very much in what she said with regards to the Auditor General and the Minister of Finance.
01:48:51And just left it hanging.
01:48:53I think that there are too many issues where we have public figures giving us their side of the story and just leave these things hanging in the air.
01:49:03Yes. Thank you.
01:49:04Well, from what I can tell you is that this discussion is far from over concerning this controversy between the Finance Ministry and the Auditor General.
01:49:13All right?
01:49:14We have room for more calls?
01:49:16We are?
01:49:17All right.
01:49:18So we're moving on now.
01:49:19So remember that interview I promised you?
01:49:21So we're going to that now.
01:49:22We're talking about cricket.
01:49:23Right.
01:49:24So more specifically, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
01:49:29Joining us live and well.
01:49:31Joining us online.
01:49:32We do have Damon Leon, Head of PR Communications, ICC Men's T20 World Cup to tell us more.
01:49:41Mr. Leon, good morning and thank you very much for joining us.
01:49:46Good morning and hoping everyone has a wonderful day on your team and to all the viewers.
01:49:52Of course, Mr. Leon.
01:49:53Well, the floor is yours, you know.
01:49:55Let's talk about the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
01:50:02Well, if the fans aren't already aware, there's a massive World Cup that's heading to the West Indies and the USA from the 29th of June.
01:50:12And just be prepared.
01:50:13This one is going to be out of this world.
01:50:16For the first time, it's going to be a record-breaking 20 international teams competing for the trophy across 55 matches.
01:50:24And right now, from everything that we're seeing for matches in the USA and across the West Indies, the hype is certainly building.
01:50:32Because today marks 30 days to the opening ball of the tournament.
01:50:36So it's all hands on deck.
01:50:39The teams are prepping themselves to come down next month and we're ready to put on a show.
01:50:44Yeah.
01:50:45For those, and I'm sure maybe a little bit of people, but who are not familiar with the T20 cricket, tell us a little bit about that.
01:50:59Because I want to generate a level of excitement about the event.
01:51:04So some people who may not be au courant as to what we are speaking about this morning.
01:51:09I want you to sell it to them, Mr. Leon.
01:51:14Well, let me put it to everyone this way.
01:51:18If you've never been to a T20 match, either at the Oval, at the Brown or Cricket Academy or anywhere.
01:51:26You are certainly missing out on what is truly, for most people, a bucket list experience.
01:51:33When we first put tickets online through our ballot system back in February, people knowing that the match is going to be held in the West Indies.
01:51:41We received over 3 million applications from around the world for people who wanted tickets.
01:51:46That just sort of gives you a sense of the global appeal and attractiveness of the sport.
01:51:53And even for those fans who are not particularly cricket fans, just being part of that excitement.
01:52:02It's basically two hours of nonstop action.
01:52:05There's little moments to breathe, catch your breath.
01:52:09Simply go online, check out anything and you will actually see what the hype is all about.
01:52:14Yeah. It's fast paced. It's entertaining. It's a party atmosphere.
01:52:19Yeah. It's yeah. And it has the Caribbean flavor in it, too. Right.
01:52:28Oh, that's certainly correct. And unlike, for example, where like in a football match or where there can be a draw.
01:52:36There are no draws. There's always a winner on the day.
01:52:40So this isn't unless it's in an extreme circumstance where weather interrupts the game, but it's all out.
01:52:47And because this is through your competing for a major World Cup title, every game is almost like a small final in itself.
01:52:56So this is going to be 29 to 30 days of nonstop pumping cricket.
01:53:01And fans are just clamoring for tickets at the moment.
01:53:05Today, we've launched the official anthem for the tournament, which is a collaboration between Sean Paul and our very own Kess.
01:53:12And box offices are now open across Trinidad and Tobago at two locations where fans can get their tickets in person.
01:53:19If that's their preference or they can visit our website. Yeah. Yeah.
01:53:23And I think that's so is it that is it that people can visit the website and they can get all of the information, ticket information?
01:53:30What's going to be in store at the World Cup and so on?
01:53:34Yes. So at the website, tickets.t20worldcup.com, you will be able to go through each venue across the West Indies and USA.
01:53:42You'll be able to see what matches are available. You will have different ticket categories.
01:53:48So if you prefer to go to the party stand or you want something a bit more premium or you want to be on the grounds, you can choose and you can make your purchase.
01:53:57And just a note to all fans, you can purchase up to six tickets per match for every person.
01:54:03And and that's just to ensure that we don't have any individual recording tickets and to give everyone an equal opportunity to access tickets matches that they want to see.
01:54:13Yeah. So, Leon, if you'll be going to the party stand.
01:54:16But any additional information you like to give us this morning?
01:54:20We just have about 10 seconds before the program ends.
01:54:25Sure. Just a close up by seeing Trinidad and Tobago.
01:54:28The West Indies is not likely to see a World Cup in this part of the region for probably decades to come.
01:54:35This is going to be a once in a lifetime event. Just to be part of it is a memorable experience.
01:54:41Make sure and be there. All right. Mr. Leon, it was a pleasure speaking with you this morning.
01:54:45Thank you very much. Bye for now. Thank you.
01:54:48All right. So that's going to do it for our program for today. But we leave you with this image captioned time to fly away.
01:54:55We are all flying away today. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.
01:54:59This picture is from Anjali Paris Ramsey. Yeah.
01:55:05See you tomorrow, everybody.
01:55:35Yeah.
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