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00:00:00And a very special good morning Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world.
00:00:18I'm Marlon Hopkins.
00:00:19And as always, welcome to The Morning Edition.
00:00:21It's Tuesday, July 16th.
00:00:23And thank you very much for joining us this morning.
00:00:26We do appreciate your viewership.
00:00:28I hope that you had a good night and that you're safe and sound with us this morning
00:00:33and that you're going to be with us for the next two hours.
00:00:35We do have a very interesting program for you as always, right?
00:00:41So we invite you to stay with us.
00:00:43I was looking through, but before I get to that, a very special good morning to workers
00:00:49of the Port of Spain City Corporation.
00:00:51I saw them cleaning the drains this morning.
00:00:54Of course, you know what has happened over the past few weeks with the rain and flooding
00:00:58in Port of Spain and so on.
00:01:00So a very special good morning to you all.
00:01:02You know, sometimes we don't appreciate workers such as the workers of various corporations
00:01:10and who are doing a real service for us out there.
00:01:16Because if they don't, well, then that is going to result in all sorts of health problems
00:01:21and so on.
00:01:22So a very special good morning to all of you, a very special good morning to all of the
00:01:25early risers.
00:01:27You all are special people, you know, you early riser people, right?
00:01:31As I say, I'm going to have to start a union so that you all can be given better remuneration
00:01:37and so on, so you can sign up.
00:01:40Studio, I think that you are going to be the first registrants, founding members, right?
00:01:50So a very special good morning to all of you.
00:01:51I was looking at all of the newspapers this morning and it does not really paint a nice
00:02:00scene of what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:02:03And let's not blame the newspapers and let's not blame the media, let's not blame people
00:02:07on radio and so on.
00:02:09Let's not do that, all right?
00:02:11Because as I say, what you are seeing and hearing is what is happening in Trinidad and
00:02:17Tobago.
00:02:19And it really, it really does not look very, very nice.
00:02:24And it tells me, and you remember yesterday morning we were interviewing the criminologist,
00:02:32you remember?
00:02:33And what he was saying is that if we do not deal with this issue of crime in a decisive
00:02:40way, in an analytical way, we are going to have a worse problem sometime in the future.
00:02:50And that has to be dealt with and with the greatest of respect to everyone, you know.
00:02:56Because I remember the last time we, I don't know, did we ever have a time where we had
00:03:00so many murders on one weekend?
00:03:02I remember years ago we had eight murders on a weekend and of course you had a state
00:03:06of emergency, you remember that?
00:03:09But I don't remember in recent times where we had so many murders.
00:03:14And what I will tell you, if you don't know, that we in Trinidad and Tobago, we understand
00:03:21repercussions, right?
00:03:24And if there are, and people feel there are no repercussions for their actions, then they
00:03:31are going to do what they are continuing to do.
00:03:35And that is really to create an environment of fear.
00:03:40You mean if I have to go to the market, or I have to go to the grocery, or if I have
00:03:44to go to the gas station, I have to be looking over my shoulder?
00:03:48That's the sort of country we want to live in.
00:03:50And I don't want to hear about what is happening abroad.
00:03:53Because you know you all, you all are going to say, well look at what happened, look at
00:03:55what happened with Trump on the weekend.
00:03:57I am not concerned about that, I wasn't at that rally, yeah?
00:04:01I'm concerned as to what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:04:06And something has to be done.
00:04:08Don't ask me what has to be done, but I understand repercussions, right?
00:04:14Think about that.
00:04:15All right, let's look at the front page of the Daily Express today.
00:04:21Don't lose hope.
00:04:23President laments killing spree, urges citizens to turn to pan yards as one avenue to bring
00:04:28positive change.
00:04:30So one suggestion there.
00:04:32But I want to say to the goodly President of the Republic, when we're talking about
00:04:38the pan, when we're talking about initiatives such as these, these initiatives are not for
00:04:44those who are already involved in crime, eh?
00:04:49Absolutely not.
00:04:50They are just, you see those people, the young men and women who are on the front page this
00:04:57morning with the President?
00:04:59These initiatives are for these types of people who are not yet involved or are not involved
00:05:07in criminal activities, right?
00:05:10So for the young man who is holding the high-powered weapon now and the handguns and doing the
00:05:17shootings and the killings and so on, I don't know that you could talk to them about pan,
00:05:22you know, or talk to them about prayer, you know.
00:05:25They don't understand that.
00:05:27Repercussions.
00:05:28There have to be repercussions, all right?
00:05:31So sweet notes.
00:05:32President Christine Kangaloo plays a few notes of the national instrument to officially launch
00:05:36the President's Pan Camp at President's Grounds in St. Anne's yesterday, looking on her husband
00:05:41Kirwin Garcia and students of the camp.
00:05:44A beautiful picture on the front page of the Daily Express today.
00:05:50You know, it is a beautiful picture in light as to what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:05:57Business chambers, time for talk done.
00:06:02Time for talk done, long time, yeah?
00:06:04I can tell you that.
00:06:05All right.
00:06:06We're moving on to some sport now.
00:06:09Pleasantly surprised, TNT's Guevara drafted by King's franchise for CPL 2024.
00:06:14The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League held its players draft recently and Mikel
00:06:19Guevara was the only Trinidad and Tobago player acquired in the event.
00:06:23The offspinner joining the St. Lucia King's franchise for the 2024 edition of the biggest
00:06:27party in sports.
00:06:29The selection came as a surprise for the Central Sports All-Rounder, but Guevara said he's
00:06:34ready to take advantage of the opportunity, which he has been working towards since the
00:06:39start of the season.
00:06:41So one of the big stories in sports there.
00:06:44All right.
00:06:45So we're moving on.
00:06:47Yeah.
00:06:48Let's take a look at the Trinbago You're Nice feature, Trinbago You're Nice feature, yeah?
00:06:55And this is the information.
00:06:56If you want to send videos and pictures to us, please do so via that email address.
00:07:05All right.
00:07:06So please make a note of it.
00:07:07We do appreciate all of your photographs and your videos.
00:07:12All right.
00:07:13And remember, put your name so that we can say a very special good morning to you.
00:07:17We have this image for, yeah, for our viewers out there.
00:07:20It's an image from James Solomon, Mr. Solomon.
00:07:23Thank you very much for your picture this morning.
00:07:26Yeah.
00:07:27How has the weather been treating you all?
00:07:31Yeah, it has been very hot and also not forgetting the Saharan dust.
00:07:35All right.
00:07:36So be prepared for that.
00:07:38All right.
00:07:39You have your coffee, your tea, get something to eat.
00:07:41We're coming back, everybody.
00:07:53We used to be everyone, cared for each other, lived like brothers, respected one another.
00:08:06In times gone by, we used to share, together we'd make do.
00:08:12And if I draw a susu, what was mine was yours too.
00:08:19I know them days gone past and gone, and I know that...
00:08:25Frisky's World!
00:08:26Yes!
00:08:27Let's explore it!
00:08:28Wow!
00:08:29It's made with real salmon!
00:08:30Look what I found.
00:08:31Party mix cat snacks.
00:08:32There's the delicious taste of the tuna we love!
00:08:33Mmm!
00:08:34Definitely coming back tomorrow.
00:08:35Frisky's.
00:08:36Always more to explore.
00:08:37What is Biostrath?
00:08:38And what makes Biostrath so effective?
00:08:39Biostrath is a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can be used to make
00:08:40a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can
00:08:41be used to make a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can be used to make
00:08:42a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can be used to make a chemical that can
00:08:43What is Biostrath?
00:08:44And what makes Biostrath so effective?
00:08:45What is Biostrath?
00:08:46And what makes Biostrath so effective?
00:08:47What is Biostrath?
00:08:48And what makes Biostrath so effective?
00:08:49What is Biostrath?
00:08:50What is Biostrath?
00:08:51What is Biostrath?
00:08:52What is Biostrath?
00:08:53What is Biostrath?
00:08:54What is Biostrath?
00:08:55What is Biostrath?
00:08:56What is Biostrath?
00:08:57What is Biostrath?
00:08:58What is Biostrath?
00:08:59What is Biostrath?
00:09:00What is Biostrath?
00:09:01What is Biostrath?
00:09:02What is Biostrath?
00:09:03What is Biostrath?
00:09:04What is Biostrath?
00:09:05What is Biostrath?
00:09:06What is Biostrath?
00:09:07What is Biostrath?
00:09:08What is Biostrath?
00:09:09What is Biostrath?
00:09:10What is Biostrath?
00:09:11What is Biostrath?
00:09:12What is Biostrath?
00:09:13What is Biostrath?
00:09:14What is Biostrath?
00:09:15What is Biostrath?
00:09:16What is Biostrath?
00:09:17What is Biostrath?
00:09:18What is Biostrath?
00:09:19What is Biostrath?
00:09:20What is Biostrath?
00:09:21What is Biostrath?
00:09:22What is Biostrath?
00:09:23What is Biostrath?
00:09:24What is Biostrath?
00:09:25What is Biostrath?
00:09:26What is Biostrath?
00:09:27What is Biostrath?
00:09:28What is Biostrath?
00:09:29What is Biostrath?
00:09:30What is Biostrath?
00:09:31What is Biostrath?
00:09:32What is Biostrath?
00:09:33What is Biostrath?
00:09:34What is Biostrath?
00:09:35What is Biostrath?
00:09:36What is Biostrath?
00:09:37What is Biostrath?
00:09:38What is Biostrath?
00:09:39What is Biostrath?
00:09:40What is Biostrath?
00:09:41What is Biostrath?
00:09:42What is Biostrath?
00:09:43What is Biostrath?
00:09:44What is Biostrath?
00:09:45What is Biostrath?
00:09:46What is Biostrath?
00:09:47What is Biostrath?
00:09:48What is Biostrath?
00:09:49What is Biostrath?
00:09:50What is Biostrath?
00:09:51What is Biostrath?
00:09:52What is Biostrath?
00:09:53What is Biostrath?
00:09:54It's possible.
00:09:55It's possible.
00:09:56It's possible.
00:09:57It's possible.
00:09:58It's possible.
00:09:59It's possible.
00:10:00It's possible.
00:10:01It's possible.
00:10:02It's possible.
00:10:03It's possible.
00:10:04It's possible.
00:10:05It's possible.
00:10:06It's possible.
00:10:07It's possible.
00:10:08It's possible.
00:10:09It's possible.
00:10:10It's possible.
00:10:11It's possible.
00:10:12It's possible.
00:10:13It's possible.
00:10:14It's possible.
00:10:15It's possible.
00:10:16It's possible.
00:10:17It's possible.
00:10:18It's possible.
00:10:19It's possible.
00:10:20It's possible.
00:10:21It's possible.
00:10:22It's possible.
00:10:23It's possible.
00:10:24It's possible.
00:10:25It's possible.
00:10:26It's possible.
00:10:27It's possible.
00:10:28It's possible.
00:10:29It's possible.
00:10:30It's possible.
00:10:31It's possible.
00:10:32It's possible.
00:10:33It's possible.
00:10:34It's possible.
00:10:35It's possible.
00:10:36It's possible.
00:10:37It's possible.
00:10:38It's possible.
00:10:39It's possible.
00:10:40It's possible.
00:10:41It's possible.
00:10:42It's possible.
00:10:43It's possible.
00:10:44It's possible.
00:10:45It's possible.
00:10:46It's possible.
00:10:47It's possible.
00:10:48It's possible.
00:10:49It's possible.
00:10:50It's possible.
00:10:51It's possible.
00:10:53The letter of the day is R for respect.
00:10:57I grew up in a country, small little town called Bougmanatras in Santa Cruz.
00:11:04Very special place to grow up in.
00:11:07And now as an adult, I think of those children in Trinidad and Tobago who do not have a safe place.
00:11:14Who are maybe not even lying in their own beds or a bed.
00:11:19And there's no roof to shade them from the sun, nor to protect them from the rain.
00:11:26When I started looking at Habitat for Humanity Trinidad and Tobago, they answered a call I have deep inside of me.
00:11:34What they were saying to me was that we can make a difference.
00:11:39I'd like to ask you to consider coming on board.
00:11:43Consider helping Habitat for Humanity in whatever way you can.
00:11:49Habitat for Humanity
00:12:20Habitat for Humanity
00:12:30Alright, so welcome back everyone.
00:12:32It's a beautiful day in Porto, Spain.
00:12:34Yeah, Tuesday, July 16th.
00:12:37Thank you very much for joining us this morning.
00:12:40So we do have a lot for you on the program today.
00:12:43But let me just touch on some of the other stories in the newspaper today.
00:12:48Did you all see the TV6 News last evening?
00:12:50There was a story concerning residents in Moruga.
00:12:54And they were complaining about a landslip.
00:12:57Yeah, if you didn't see that story a little later on, you see after the morning edition.
00:13:01Go on to our website and check out that story.
00:13:04Because it shows a number of houses that are being affected by this landslip.
00:13:09It is a horrible sight and it's a situation that has to be dealt with almost immediately.
00:13:16Because of the inclement weather, this is just going to make matters worse for the residents of Fifth Company Road in Moruga.
00:13:25So five homes are being threatened.
00:13:27In tears, Elizabeth Rodriguez stood on the roadway yesterday and called on the authorities to save her home, her husband.
00:13:34And her husband had worked hard to build their home, Rodriguez said.
00:13:39And she could not watch the concrete structure crumble.
00:13:42At least five homes along Fifth Company Branch Road, Moruga, have been affected by a growing landslide in the area.
00:13:49And the families are pleading with the authorities to find a solution before they lose their homes.
00:13:55She said that's according to Ms. Rodriguez.
00:13:58We have been complaining about my house for about ten years.
00:14:02Ten years, you know.
00:14:03I send letters to the government already.
00:14:05They come, measure and look at it and nothing happened.
00:14:09Recently some work started at the site and a tractor came in and started digging.
00:14:13Now all the drains blocked up and the mud caved in under my house.
00:14:19She said the mud and slush had reached the window of the downstairs apartment occupied by her daughter.
00:14:26All right.
00:14:27So we will speak a lot more about these stories later on in the program because we are going to give you the opportunity to call in this morning.
00:14:36We do have a lot to discuss.
00:14:38But first on the agenda this morning, government has reportedly received several proposals for the mothballed petrotrain refinery.
00:14:45We discussed this morning what this could spell for Trinidad and Tobago economically and also the concerns being expressed by the bidders.
00:14:53Economist Dr. Indira Sajiwan joins us now.
00:14:56Doctor, good morning.
00:14:58Good morning, Marlon.
00:14:59Good morning to your viewers.
00:15:01Yes.
00:15:02Doctor, always good to speak with you.
00:15:04Well, let's talk about these latest developments.
00:15:06Of course, we have been speaking a lot about the petrotrain refinery.
00:15:11Of course, we know that the unions in Trinidad and Tobago, they made a bid for it after the refinery was shut down.
00:15:18Government continues to say in spite of criticisms that it was costing billions of dollars per year to run the refinery.
00:15:28Now we are seeing apparently that people are interested.
00:15:32How do you view these latest developments?
00:15:35Well, Marlon, that's the good news.
00:15:38The good news is that in almost seven years after the closure of petrotrain, there are still investors who are interested in buying the refinery.
00:15:51Obviously, it means that, one, the price people will be willing to pay six plus years after the closure of the refinery is going to be a lot less than they would have been prepared to pay immediately following the closure.
00:16:09So it means that from that perspective, we can expect that what country will receive in terms of a price is going to be much lower.
00:16:21That's obviously not good.
00:16:23Then the second issue is the issue of bringing the refinery back up and running.
00:16:31The thing about infrastructure like this, the longer it remains closed, the more expensive it is to bring it back into operation.
00:16:44And even whether it is possible is also another story.
00:16:48I read that some of the bidders are complaining that they are not being allowed to do the proper due diligence.
00:16:56They're not being allowed to actually view the infrastructure on the plant in order to be able to make a proper determination as to what it is going to take in order to operationalize it.
00:17:08The figure that I'm seeing bandied about is about $1 billion compared to potentially about half of that if the refinery was sold a long time ago.
00:17:21I think that the government has really dragged its foot on this.
00:17:25But then that seems to be a pattern.
00:17:28Whether you're talking about crime, or you're talking about economic diversification, or you see a perpetual trend, it would appear that the government doesn't seem to have a sense of urgency to get these things done.
00:17:41You can't ignore the fact that the trend hired a significant number of persons directly, in addition to which it provided significant indirect employment and economic activity.
00:17:55So that one would have expected that if government itself could not operate an entity of this magnitude, and it was obviously a green energy treasury, then it would have thought in very quick time to have brought on a private investor to bring it back up to allow the kind of economic activity that was associated with such a trend to continue.
00:18:22So those are some of my views on this.
00:18:52But he describes certain allegations being made against Mr. Jindal as stupid talk.
00:19:07According to the report in The Express yesterday, he slams stupid talk over a Jindal scandal.
00:19:16Have you been monitoring and looking at this controversy concerning Mr. Jindal and the government and the refinery?
00:19:25Well, the thing is, Marlon, you know, I mean, no, I don't know enough about the gentleman or his or his business activities, but I would expect that the government would do its due diligence in terms of ensuring that any potential investor satisfies basic, basic conditions to be able to be worthy of consideration.
00:19:52I would expect that it has a proper team of individuals with the requisite skill set to be able to determine, you know, which proposal is the best.
00:20:04And while I heard, I certainly heard the prime minister talk, compare this with, I think, the makers of Boeing and suggest that, you know, if they have some court case and if that means that Powell shouldn't be doing business with them.
00:20:22And I mean, at the end of the day, I think the only response the prime minister should give is that there is no, there will be no favoritism, there will be no soul selection in terms of the investor.
00:20:37That's a proper mechanism that systems will be put in place in order to determine who the preferred, you know, investor is. I think that is the kind of expectations that the country should have and should be able to get from government.
00:20:58But, you know, Marlon, I remember I was in the parliament at the time when we privatized BWIA. And I don't know if you would recall the kind of controversy that was involved in terms of the, I think it was ACCA was the name of the investor.
00:21:14And those of us in the parliament, I was in the opposition. I mean, we did, we've had research to show that this was a company that had really, you know, bought into companies elsewhere and had really just milked it dry and cautioned the government of the different version of the PNM not to move ahead with that particular privatization.
00:21:38But, needless to say, they had the requisite numbers to be able to vote it in and it was done and it was a mess. So that we, it is, there is precedence to say that governments are not always the ones who does the right thing.
00:21:55And, you know, what is the guarantee that this is going to be different? And as taxpayers, we have a right. I mean, the opposition is acting in the country's interest in raising it and insisting that, you know, proper due diligence is done on questions that should be answered.
00:22:15According to the Prime Minister, well, the Prime Minister said on the weekend that the refinery itself remains available and can be operational in short order. He said that the country does not have enough oil to re-enter the business. Should it have remained open, he said the country would have been losing at least $2 billion per year in addition to $15 billion already lost through Petrotrin.
00:22:36Doctor, the question is, let's say government does find a good bidder and the refinery becomes operational again, what sort of economic impact would it have on the economy of Trinidad and Tobago?
00:22:52I want to answer that in two ways, Marlon. Firstly, I want to say that I repeat that the government has dragged its foot on the issue of getting a private investor to take over Petrotrin. Because the reality is, again, when you allow infrastructure, and you know, Kevin Ramnarayan, I think, said it just before the privatization, significant money was spent on the upgrade of that refinery.
00:23:17And we have lost the benefit, we have lost the potential to monetize that and help the country to get the best price. And that is the first instance. We are six years down the road now selling this refinery, we are really going to be getting cents on the dollar. And it is, that's the first economic loss that the country is going to realize.
00:23:43Secondly, we are, we are all cognizant of the fact that we, Trinidad and Tobago didn't have, even then, the oil in itself to keep refining. So we were importing oil in order to operationalize the refinery. It was lot-making.
00:23:59But there was a perspective in play that the government could have not necessarily shut it down, but sought to rationalize the enterprise, even as a private entity will do if it comes on board. Whether the government had no choice, I think it's still up to date, but let us leave that as it is. We did, it was soon. I'm sorry, it was shut down.
00:24:26But it should have been sold almost immediately. And this is now the third attempt that the government is making to privatize that. You know, what's going to be the magic number? And how much more is going to go by before the government makes a decision on it? There were options available to it and the government simply sought not to.
00:24:45There will be, obviously, an entity of this size coming back into operation. Let us not forget, in fact, that Trinidad and Tobago, we have deep skillset in the operation of a petrochemical plant, sorry, of an oil refinery. A lot of the skills may have left the country because they have, people have, six years down the road, people have to earn a living.
00:25:09And if there is some jobs available locally, then many persons would probably have migrated to other greener pastures. So whether we have sufficient skills at this point in time will be left to see, but certainly it's going to generate direct employment, which obviously would also welcome the economy of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:25:30There is the indirect employment that will be generated through the services that will be provided by linked industries, by linked firms that will be supplying petrochrome. So there is that kind of benefit that will come.
00:25:48It should be bringing, and again, we don't know all the facts, it should be bringing a significant amount of foreign direct investment, U.S. dollars, into the economy. That obviously is another good thing. Hopefully, it will be bringing cutting-edge know-how in terms of the operationalizing of an oil refinery, allow for transfer of knowledge, you know, all of these things are certainly what we need at this point in time.
00:26:18Whether it will impact on the price of gas or the availability of gas to the town's self-individuals is left to be seen because, you know, it might be that the investor is looking simply to export, to produce and export the entire offtake from the plant, and therefore, we may continue to be importing the gas that we use in our vehicles as we now have been doing.
00:26:46You know, doctor, you know, when I have discussions about oil and gas and the industry and so on, I always ask the question, how are we in Trinidad and Tobago expected to compete, let's say, regionally, internationally, when we do have a situation, we do have falling gas reserves, and you have a situation where things are booming in Suriname,
00:27:15things are booming in Guyana, and how do we compete in such an environment?
00:27:23We can't compete, Marlon. The reality is our energy sector, whether we're talking oil or we're talking gas, it's a mature industry. It's very, very mature. In fact, if you look at the recent central bank report, you will see that the energy sector continues to contract in 2024.
00:27:42Even though there was a projection for positive growth in the energy sector, it is actually contracting, both from an oil and a gas perspective, even petrochemicals, because if you don't have the supply of gas, then petrochemical production obviously also falls.
00:27:59So that this is where we are, which is why the Dragon Deal is so, so critical, and this is why the government is so aggressive in terms of pursuing it. This is the lifeline. If this does not happen, you know, the negative impact on the economy of Trinidad and Tobago is going to be beyond significant,
00:28:23especially given the fact that diversifying the oil and gas does not seem to be a priority for the government. But let us remember that we have a deep capacity in terms of the skill set for the energy sector, in terms of the services industry that developed as a consequence of having the oil and gas sector.
00:28:46And we need to be able to leverage these areas and benefit from it. I mean, already many of the services companies that operate in Trinidad have gone to Getty Diana and have gone to Suriname and are looking to explore the opportunities there. This is simply the nature of business.
00:29:06Private entity is about maximizing profits. And if they can't do that in Trinidad and Tobago, they're obviously going to go and do it, you know, where it's available. Diana, Suriname, these are now virgin territories when it comes to the energy sector. They have years and years to go and you can look at the kind of resources that they have.
00:29:25These are the new places. How we position ourselves to be able to leverage what is happening there is what will, it's a defining moment for Trinidad and Tobago. And from a government to government perspective, we don't seem to have done very well in terms of positioning ourselves to be really taking advantage of the opportunities that we could have.
00:29:56You know, Doctor, there have been people in the industry who view this situation, this arrangement with Venezuela concerning the Dragon Gas Deal. They have seen it as us in Trinidad and Tobago really putting our eggs in one basket.
00:30:14And I think that there is always a concern because of how volatile the political arrangements are between the U.S. and Venezuela. There's always a concern as to what we should do as Trinidad and Tobago in light of such a situation.
00:30:33Of course, the Prime Minister has said, well, he doesn't believe that this relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela is going to affect the Dragon Gas Deal at all. Is it your view that we are putting too much of our eggs in this basket?
00:30:55Well, Marlon, I think we have no choice. Certainly, if we want to continue the life of the energy sector, we have no choice. The issue of the volatility of the situation, I mean, I am one of those who have repeated this concern.
00:31:10And even as we continue to attempt to make that real, we have to be realistic to the fact that we are negotiating with an administration that could change its mind at any point in time.
00:31:25So even outside of what is happening with the U.S. and Venezuela, the very nature of the Venezuelan economy and its politics is serious. It's caused a serious concern for any country that is attempting to negotiate a long-term arrangement that you need for your very survival.
00:31:47But, you know, I keep making the point that it is for the survival of the energy sector, which the overall economy continues to rely on heavily. It's our major source of foreign exchange, major source of revenue to the government. It is what the government uses in order to be able to maintain its social spend, its economic spend, etc.
00:32:09But that is because, Marlon, successive governments have continued to fail the citizens of this country by refusing to diversify the economic base of the country.
00:32:22You know, there are any sensible country and even countries like Saudi Arabia have been looking aggressively and have been making significant strides in the area of economic diversification, understanding that you cannot continue indefinitely to put your, to render your economy vulnerable to a single sector.
00:32:52That is non-renewable in nature. And when you add the challenges with respect to climate change and the issues with respect to the rate at which the world is moving towards non-renewable sources of energy, you know, that continues to be very naive in terms of how we are focusing.
00:33:15I've heard the Minister of Energy boast that, you know, we are looking to have the largest solar plant in the region. I mean, I look forward to that with bated breath for that to become a reality. But what does that really mean?
00:33:32We are holding our breath even for an anticipated electricity increase because government says it can no longer afford the subsidy. That is going to really eat away at the pockets of the average person in an economy where, for years and years, the idea of wage increase is something that is unheard of.
00:33:56So on the one hand, we are operating in an economy where the expectations of being able to move up in your job, get regular increases in your wage bill is not there. But then on the other hand, inflation continues to eat away at your spending power.
00:34:18The removal of subsidies that we have grown up on are being removed. And it is not a tenable situation. We need to grow the economy of Trinidad and Tobago, Mara. And in order to do that, we need to aggressively look at alternative sectors. I mean, I feel like a broken record, you know, speaking about areas in agriculture, both primary and value-added production areas.
00:34:48And marine services like yachting. I mean, the Minister of Trade has been the Minister of Trade in this incarnation with PNM for now 10, almost 10 years. She has been the Minister of Trade in previous incarnations of the PNM administration.
00:35:05And over the entire period, we have seen the yachting industry move from a situation where we had 2,500 boats coming into Trinidad and Tobago to now where we have about 400. We have seen the emaciation of this particular industry.
00:35:24And today, in 2024, I hear the Minister talking about the need for online clearing of yachts. I mean, this is something that as far back as 2016 and even further than that, people like myself have been talking about.
00:35:40We need to have one harmonized form that all over the region are using when we are still asking the yachts to fill out 16 forms. I mean, the industry has been, you know, lobbying hard for changes to be made.
00:35:53And in the meantime, the industry that can be a significant generator of climate change, of employment opportunities, has been allowed by government to simply decline.
00:36:07You know, in 2016, I interviewed the last firm that was involved in sail making. We used to be a hub, a global hub where people came here because of our capacity to build sails for yachts.
00:36:22But the last company closed its doors in 2016 because government policy meant it simply could not compete. The cost of importing materials to build sails was simply prohibited because of the duties to import the material.
00:36:39And they could not compete with imported sails coming out of Africa. And they simply had to close up shop. So, in many areas, we have had comparative advantage.
00:36:51Government policy has stifled and has caused it to be led to its demise.
00:37:01And here, they're talking about the potential of the yachting sector. While ours has been declining all over the region, they have been booming.
00:37:12I mean, it is simply unfortunate that these economies are so vulnerable to natural disasters. Because if you remove the natural disasters, your tourism industry is simply booming.
00:37:21In Trinidad, we can't even use the word tourism because tourists can't come here. We can't get a handle on crime.
00:37:28And if you have an economy that is riddled with crime, countries like the US, which are our major market, are going to continue to put out advice saying, do not go to these countries.
00:37:40We need to get these things right, Marlon. So, oil and gas is not the only game in town.
00:37:45Governments simply seem to believe that it is, but it is not the only game in town.
00:37:53There are many, many low-hanging fruits.
00:37:55You know, I feel about this economy, Marlon, that it is, you know, when you have a race, and it's at the start of the race, and the jockey actually has to pull it back, because if it simply allows it, it's going to simply race forward.
00:38:12To me, this economy is where we are there, where we are simply being held back by government policy, by poor government policy, by poor government decisions for the economy of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:38:26And if the government were simply to do the right things, in my view, this economy would take off in an amazing way.
00:38:33Doctor, I suspect we just maybe – I have about one minute again, Doctor, but I suspect we're just a few months away from the Minister of Finance's budget presentation.
00:38:46Of course, we did hear a little bit as to what may come in the budget during the mid-year review.
00:38:53They spoke about the non-energy sector and some developments there and so on.
00:38:59As we look forward to this presentation, which is going to happen, as I said, in the next few months, what do you see?
00:39:08What do you forecast, Doctor?
00:39:11Well, I forecast a much larger deficit that even the Minister spoke to us about in his mid-year review because of the fact that his rationale for the increased budget deficit mid-year was because of the continued decline of the energy sector.
00:39:27It has continued to decline even further and is doing so, so that it is my expectation that his projection for revenue is going to fall short significantly and therefore we're going to see a larger deficit there.
00:39:41So, we're going to have a budget – and we are going into an election year, so I expect that it is going to be a bumper budget, which would mean a significant increase in borrowing in order to make that happen.
00:39:55So, we see significantly larger allocations from ministries such as local government, social development, Ministry of Work, because the roadworks are going to simply take off as per normal.
00:40:07So, I don't expect anything diametrically different, and this is unfortunate, Marlon, because we really need to do things different if we are to get a better outcome in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:40:21But it is a budget season, and it is election season rather, and therefore this budget is going to be that tool that the government is going to be using in order to, you know, to buy its way back into government.
00:40:36Yeah. Doctor, it's always a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you very much for spending some time with us this morning. We do appreciate it. Bye for now.
00:40:43Bye, Marlon. Thank you for having me.
00:40:45All right, so it's time for a quick break, but first we have this image for you, yeah? Let's see it. Yeah, we're coming back, everybody.
00:41:16Three, two, one.
00:41:28I have this pain here, and going up the step, it was awful. And since I've been taking the product, it has eased up. It's helped her a lot with her joints and so. Live long and stay strong with the Xcel.
00:41:41Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.
00:41:52Inspiration through dance is fueled by the Spirit.
00:41:57Inspiration is found in the diversity of nature.
00:42:03Inspired word of God, direct and positive.
00:42:07Join us every Monday morning at 8.30 a.m. right here on TV6 for our many moments of inspiration.
00:42:15I grew up in a country, small little town called Bougmanatras in Santa Cruz. Very special place to grow up in.
00:42:25And now as an adult, I think of those children in Trinidad and Tobago who do not have a safe place, who are maybe not even lying in their own beds or a bed.
00:42:38And there's no roof to shade them from the sun, nor to protect them from the rain.
00:42:45When I started looking at Habitat for Humanity Trinidad and Tobago, they answered a call I have deep inside of me.
00:42:54What they were saying to me was that we can make a difference.
00:42:59I'd like to ask you to consider coming on board. Consider helping Habitat for Humanity in whatever way you can.
00:43:25Habitat for Humanity
00:43:43Welcome back everyone. Sergeant Ansel Ford is here with us this morning. Sergeant, it's always good to see you.
00:43:49Pleasure morning, Marlon. Likewise, always good to see you.
00:43:51And it's better to see you today judging what transpired on the weekend.
00:43:57So hopefully this morning we can in some way give members of the population some further assurances.
00:44:03I know that the police service, they would have had a news conference on the weekend.
00:44:07The police commissioner would have spoken and other senior officers.
00:44:11But I think it is safe to say there is a level of affair in the country right now as to what transpired on the weekend.
00:44:18As I was saying this morning, I don't know that, I can't remember that we have had so many killings during one weekend.
00:44:28I can't remember. But it's a large number.
00:44:32It is, Marlon. Fourteen persons more or less would have been killed over this weekend, Friday to Sunday.
00:44:41And the commissioner and the executive did speak on the issue.
00:44:46Why is it that we understand the concern that members of the public would have?
00:44:53Because understanding how these persons would have been killed, Marlon, it was more or less double, triple, even quadruple.
00:45:04And it speaks to a certain type of behavior from persons who are involved in criminal activity.
00:45:13In that they are, let us say, they are unconcerned as to who they kill in the process of probably going behind a particular person.
00:45:25And this is where the concern would come from yourself or the persons of the public.
00:45:31Because you are not too sure if someone next to you might be somebody who is targeted.
00:45:37So understanding that, Marlon, we have to look at what do we do as individuals to safeguard ourselves.
00:45:50Now, situational awareness, Marlon, is very, very important in this situation here.
00:45:55You may ask the question, but I wouldn't know if somebody right next to me is targeted.
00:46:02You want to know that, and that's a fact, Marlon.
00:46:05But there are certain places that you may tell yourself the risk is more.
00:46:11For instance, to be linemen by a bar outside on the street.
00:46:19You may find that place to be risky because you don't know who are the persons also linemen at the bar.
00:46:26But what you do not have, you do not have any sort of cover, any place to run and hide in the event that you realize that, you know, some shooting is taking place.
00:46:38So you may refrain.
00:46:40But beside that, Marlon, we want to bring the issue more in relation to not just what I do in terms of taking myself out of the situation, but what do I do as a member of the public who knows of criminal activity, right, Marlon?
00:47:01So, Marlon, we spoke previously about if you see something, say something.
00:47:06And I can remember you did raise the concerns in terms of the trust for the police and these things, right, Marlon?
00:47:14And that would not go away in terms of those issues.
00:47:17But what we need to look at is our communities are becoming more unsafe as the day goes by because of the proliferation of illegal firearms that we oftentimes see.
00:47:34And when I say we oftentimes see, I'm speaking to the ordinary person who lives within the community and would know that this particular person has a gun, right?
00:47:50And because of that same, let us say, belief that if I remain silent on that, that person is not necessarily going to come at me.
00:48:01But the fact of the matter is you are at risk because that person who lives next door to you, who lives opposite you puts your life in danger, right?
00:48:12Because why do they have a gun in the first instance?
00:48:15It is because they are involved in one thing or the other, right?
00:48:21And they attract the wrong set of people.
00:48:26So, when it is you say, I am fearful and I would not say anything, this is one of the, let us say, the risks that you expose yourself to, right?
00:48:38So, as an individual, as a community, we need to look at how we can assist the police to take back our community.
00:48:54And one sure way to do that, Marlon, is to assist the police by way of information.
00:49:02All right. So, stop there.
00:49:04Sure.
00:49:05Because there has been a criticism in the past from members of the public that sometimes when they give the police the information, the information, in fact, the argument has been they feel that they are the criminal.
00:49:24Because the police are asking them all sorts of questions that they believe that are irrelevant and sometimes they feel that they are being attacked.
00:49:37Marlon, I understand that.
00:49:40And we, in terms of, let us say, have various avenues through which you can communicate information.
00:49:52And we would have spoken time and time about 800 Tips, talking about Crime Stoppers.
00:50:01We spoke about 555, the anti-crime hotline.
00:50:04And these two, let us say, bodies, they are not staffed with police officers, right?
00:50:12And they don't ask you questions about yourself.
00:50:18What they want is simply the information and they in turn pass it on to the police, right?
00:50:25Now, based on that, that is one way by which we can take away that concern that you raised, right?
00:50:35But important, Marlon, is not whether it is you interact with the police in that regard, but once you relay the information.
00:50:44You see, we have the resources, Marlon, and often times the resources kick into gear to respond to situations immediately, right?
00:50:57Whereas there are some situations that we need to do a little more work on, right?
00:51:03So the information, though you may communicate it, we have to build on it through investigation, right?
00:51:11And understanding that, let that not be a bar to you passing on that information, right?
00:51:20Because, Marlon, just to speak on the note of firearms, right?
00:51:24Last year, Marlon, nearing the end of December, we would have recovered 600 and something firearms, almost 700, right?
00:51:34And with that would have been in excess of 10,000 rounds of ammunition, in excess, way in excess.
00:51:41For this time of the year, we would have recovered in excess of 260 firearms off of the street, together with upwards of 4,000 rounds of assorted ammunition.
00:51:56Understanding, Marlon, that these firearms, they are not just pistols, they are high-powered rifles, right?
00:52:05Automatic firearms. And by one squeeze of the trigger, you discharge, let us say, almost hundreds of rounds.
00:52:17So pity that in the hands of somebody, Marlon, who doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.
00:52:26And this is what we are witnessing, right?
00:52:28So although we identify that it would have had, let us say, 14 murders between Friday to Sunday, Marlon, those 14 murders would have arisen out of about five incidents, right?
00:52:43So it speaks to, it would have been double or triple murders based on one incident.
00:52:50But had, let us say, the police had information about this particular person or these particular persons, we would have had the opportunity to intercept that and prevent that murder from taking place, right?
00:53:07So it comes back to saying that we need the support, we need persons to think about their safety, but not just think about it in the sense of let me say nothing and keep myself out of it.
00:53:23I think what you're saying too is that really, that the people have the power in their hands.
00:53:29Marlon, definitely we do, right?
00:53:32Because every so-called bad boy in whatever community feels very comfortable to brandish his firearm and to behave in a particular way in the absence of the police, right?
00:53:46But from the time they see the police, they know is to run and hide as the case may be.
00:53:52But if, Marlon, we have that ready information coming from persons who know, know a couple things, Marlon.
00:54:01One, Marlon, they know who the person is.
00:54:04They know that that person has a firearm.
00:54:08They know that that person hides that firearm in a particular place, right?
00:54:13They know that that person drives a particular vehicle, right?
00:54:16They know that that person leaves at a certain hour in the night, right?
00:54:22Marlon, these sorts of information, it helps us, right?
00:54:29In addition to that, the person who knows of these persons, they help themselves by one, knowing who you are, knowing who your children are, knowing who, let us say, your spouse is, right?
00:54:44And knowing that my interaction with you all or my children's interaction with you all would be very little, right?
00:54:56So, you are also safeguarding your children, right?
00:54:59Because the person who is in your immediate community, oftentimes they are looking for young men and even young women, right?
00:55:12Young girls to be a part of their activity.
00:55:18They may quicker give your son a gun, right?
00:55:24Give your son narcotics to push for them, right?
00:55:31And your child turns out to be a mere pawn in the whole scheme of things because that person may be well secured wherever they are, right?
00:55:43As opposed to being outside.
00:55:45So, if it is we really want to take charge and we want to, let us say, reduce the number of murders that is taking place, I'm saying, without a doubt, that we the police need members of the public to come forward and just give us the information.
00:56:08All right. So, let me give you another argument that people have been making.
00:56:13And the argument is that everyone in the community knows who the troublemakers are in the community.
00:56:21How come the police don't know?
00:56:23All right. So, Marlon, why is it that that is what persons may see?
00:56:30And in fact, it may be like that at times that the police is aware.
00:56:33Now, the police who lives immediately in the community, Marlon, he or she may not generally be around, you know, at the point in time, right?
00:56:45Police officers, we, let us say, caught up in duties. We are.
00:56:50And yet still, although some things may take place, we still rely on the persons who would have been around to communicate that, right?
00:57:00And oftentimes, Marlon, I can say that within my community, an incident may take place.
00:57:08And not too long after the incident took place, I would get certain information, right?
00:57:16And I would pass on the information to the investigators in relation to that particular report, right?
00:57:22So, don't even rest on that point, that because you have a police officer who may live within the district, that he or she knows ahead.
00:57:35They may have information and definitely what we do as police officers within our community, if it is that we identify that a crime is taking place or somebody is involved, we deal with it in a particular way.
00:57:48Right, Marlon? So, I don't want members of the public to, let us say, stand back and say, well, alright, there are two police here, so let them go deal with that.
00:57:57No. It doesn't necessarily mean that the police officers are aware that Marlon is engaged in X, Y, and Z.
00:58:04Okay? Because Marlon will never walk with a gun in his waist, right? Or walk with a rifle in the road for the police who are wrong to see.
00:58:13Right? So, that is the reality of the situation, Marlon.
00:58:16So, if it is that we want to be successful, now the Commissioner spoke about this relentless approach, right?
00:58:27And that we would not let up. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Benjamin, also spoke about a different type of policing, right?
00:58:37And basically spoke about certain activities, without saying much, that is going to unfold as we seek to engage this increase in murders, right?
00:58:51Now, I can say without a doubt, I bear responsibility for a specialist section.
00:58:57And over the weekend, Marlon, my officers were out.
00:59:02Were out dealing with particular aspects of, let us say, investigation surrounding some of these murders that took place.
00:59:13And with a certain level of success.
00:59:16And we continued yesterday and continuing today, right?
00:59:21So, that is the sort of relentless approach that you can expect, right?
00:59:28And the Commissioner has called it out, that we are going to be pursuing these persons with vigor, right?
00:59:35So, whilst it is we, Marlon, do our part to be proactive, we need that support from yourself and everybody else.
00:59:50Who lives within communities. We need the support for us to be proactive and not just respond.
00:59:57Not just respond. Because when we respond, it already happened.
01:00:02Sergeant, we just have about a minute again.
01:00:04Yeah, sure. So, whilst it is Marlon, we want persons to understand the situation that they are in.
01:00:13Understand the risk that they may expose themselves to.
01:00:16And change the way in which they do things to reduce the risk.
01:00:21Be aware of your environment. Be aware of the persons you interact with.
01:00:26Because you are not too sure what that person is doing behind closed doors, right?
01:00:33So, Marlon, whilst it is that we, the ATTPS, respond to the increasing murders.
01:00:39We believe that we will continue with the success that we would have had.
01:00:45And before too long, the numbers will go down with some of the strategies that you will see unfolding, Marlon.
01:00:55All right. Sergeant, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.
01:00:58You're welcome.
01:01:00All right. Okay. So, we do have this for you. It's an image sent to us by Sita Lochan Singh.
01:01:06Yeah, boy. Look, some Zabuka, boy.
01:01:09Yeah, for you all out there. Avocados.
01:01:12Yeah. We're coming back, everybody.
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01:05:00The TV6 Daily Health Tip is brought to you by OmegaXL.
01:05:08Ever wondered why Vitamin D3 holds such a pivotal role in maintaining our health?
01:05:12It's a vitamin that's often overlooked but profoundly influences our well-being, especially
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01:05:18Fondly referred to as the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D3 is a fat-soluble vitamin primarily
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01:09:17Don't expect your child to think and feel the same way you do about everything.
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01:10:00The letter of the day is U for understanding.
01:10:15Even though the road is long, no matter what come, I know I'm going to make it.
01:10:20Yes, I'm going to make it.
01:10:22Alright, so welcome back everyone.
01:10:24A reported rise in dengue cases in Taberkeet.
01:10:26Member of Parliament for the area, Anita Haynes-Allain joins us now.
01:10:31MP, good morning.
01:10:32Good morning, and how are you this morning?
01:10:34I'm good, I'm good, MP.
01:10:36MP, well tell us, what is the situation concerning dengue in Taberkeet?
01:10:41Well, we've been getting a significant number of reports, requests for spraying of areas.
01:10:47On Friday last week, the councillor for the Taberkeet area, Mr. Henry Awong,
01:10:53and vice-chairman of the Taberkeet Tampara Regional Corporation,
01:10:57started a dengue awareness spraying effort in the community of Taberkeet.
01:11:06We have been hoping to roll that out across the constituency areas like the Guarka region.
01:11:13We've been inundated with requests for spraying.
01:11:16We've been trying to get them out as quickly as possible.
01:11:19But what we're seeing, I think, is just a response from citizens
01:11:24because they have seen the increases in the mosquito population.
01:11:29There is also a type of fear that if we do not get this under control,
01:11:35we will really become inundated further.
01:11:37So we've been doing a combination of community awareness,
01:11:42which is to clean up our communities, getting rid of any receptacles,
01:11:47things that can breed mosquitoes where we can within our community.
01:11:51But we're also heavily dependent on central government for a certain number of resources.
01:11:58By way of the spraying issue, we've gotten word that the fog machine,
01:12:05the fogging machine, we only have one in the Kareni district.
01:12:09So the constituency of Taberkeet covers both the Kareni district
01:12:13and the Victoria Health District.
01:12:15And so there is no fog machine on the Victoria Health District,
01:12:18which disadvantages some of my communities.
01:12:23So literally just borrow one from another region at this point in time.
01:12:27And so that is what we have been looking at as a constituency.
01:12:31We are taking it community by community.
01:12:33The issue is that it has been a slower rollout than we would have liked to see.
01:12:39And mind you, we've been putting in our requests as early as the beginning of the year,
01:12:47especially in terms of clearing overgrown bushes.
01:12:52We've been in conversation with the Ministry of Works to clear areas
01:12:57within the Grand Hoover area, to clear areas within the Tortuga area.
01:13:01Because, you know, there is what we can do as individuals.
01:13:05There's what we can do as a community.
01:13:07And then there's really what the government ought to be doing
01:13:10to ensure the public good.
01:13:12And that is the part of the puzzle that we've been missing
01:13:14in the constituency of Taberkeet.
01:13:16MP, when we talk about an increase in dengue cases,
01:13:19do you have any data at all?
01:13:21Yeah, and that's the other issue.
01:13:23Anybody that knows me knows that I, you know,
01:13:25rarely advocate for data-driven solutions or issues.
01:13:29And what we have is really just anecdotal.
01:13:33Anecdotal and driven by a sense of fear.
01:13:37And so there is an increase in the mosquito population.
01:13:40There's also the flu.
01:13:42And that combination gives us a rise in the fear of dengue as well.
01:13:48The data coming from the ministry has been slow.
01:13:52What we do have, though, is from those persons who've done
01:13:56private testing and private testing spaces,
01:14:00reporting to us that they have been, in fact,
01:14:02that they've tested positive for dengue.
01:14:05And so until we have, and we raised that in our correspondence
01:14:09with the ministry as well, that if we have data coming
01:14:14from the centralized sources of where there may be concentrated
01:14:18or higher numbers of dengue cases,
01:14:21then as we work with local government,
01:14:24as we work with insect vector control,
01:14:27we can then be more targeted in our response.
01:14:30But in the absence of data,
01:14:32we are now trying to blanket a large constituency.
01:14:35And it's not really the best use of resources,
01:14:39but it's just all we can do at this point in time.
01:14:41Yeah.
01:14:42Now, earlier you mentioned the clearing of overgrown bushes and so on.
01:14:48And I'm sure that the corporation in the area would have been in touch
01:14:51with local government and also the Ministry of Works and Transport.
01:14:55Has there been any response from both ministries at all?
01:15:00Yeah, you know, the thing is, in my years as a member of parliament,
01:15:04the one thing that I can tell you that I have faced
01:15:08is an insane level of bureaucracy in that thing that you and I,
01:15:15those of us who are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,
01:15:18would consider easy fixes.
01:15:20That there's a drain that needs to be cleaned
01:15:22or a roadway that needs to be cleared.
01:15:24The level of bureaucracy we face as members of parliament,
01:15:27those of us who have to advocate throughout the system,
01:15:29it's incredible.
01:15:31And I want to in no way put the blame on the technocrats
01:15:35or the persons who are tasked with executing the duty.
01:15:38But, you know, I mean, I had a drain that required cleaning.
01:15:43We sent the information up.
01:15:45And Ministry of Works is disputing whether it is Ministry of Works
01:15:48or Ministry of Rural Development.
01:15:50And, I mean, as a member of parliament, that's a frustrating experience.
01:15:54But as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago,
01:15:56it's simply a matter of getting the job done.
01:15:58And had we gotten that job done,
01:16:00it wouldn't be something that we would be rushing to do right now.
01:16:04And if we have our roadway clearing,
01:16:07our drain cleaning as a matter of rotation,
01:16:11because this is not rocket science,
01:16:13this doesn't require any PhD-level thought process.
01:16:20It is really a matter that, you know, grass will grow.
01:16:24The drains will require cleaning.
01:16:26Put it on a proper schedule.
01:16:28Allow communities to have their schedules
01:16:30so that persons don't have to come to their member of parliament
01:16:33or go to their local representative
01:16:35and request that the drain be cleaned,
01:16:37because it's not really something that is unparalleled,
01:16:41you know, unprecedented occurrence.
01:16:45It is drain cleaning and grass cutting.
01:16:48And so we have had some response,
01:16:51but the fact that it had to be a response
01:16:54rather than a proactive measure,
01:16:55I think is really disappointing in 2024.
01:16:58Yeah.
01:16:59So the vice chairman, Henry Awong,
01:17:03he has described Tabukit as a hot spot area.
01:17:07And again, he has confirmed that Tabukit has a lot of reported
01:17:10and confirmed dengue cases.
01:17:12He also says, and according to Councillor Balmetego's sign,
01:17:16Tabukit is just the start as the team,
01:17:19and that is the IVCD team,
01:17:22intends to visit other parts of the region.
01:17:25Do you know if that exercise has begun?
01:17:27Where officials of the corporation have started visiting
01:17:31various areas in Tabukit?
01:17:33Yeah.
01:17:34So I want to take this opportunity to really commend
01:17:37vice chairman Henry Awong.
01:17:39And as soon as the report started coming in,
01:17:42the program was rolled out in the community of Tabukit.
01:17:46That rollout will continue.
01:17:48One of the challenges we're facing,
01:17:50the Kuba-Tabukit-Talpara region,
01:17:52the two Kuba-Tabukit-Talpara region is quite large.
01:17:57It is a really impossibly big space
01:18:00for the local government to manage.
01:18:03And so yes, the rollout has started,
01:18:06but because of the size, the geographic size of the region,
01:18:10by the time you get to, you know, as you cover half,
01:18:14you almost have to double back.
01:18:16And so the Tabukit region has been covered.
01:18:19The rollout will continue,
01:18:21but we are really hopeful for some additional resources,
01:18:24given the size, the geographic size,
01:18:27the nature of the communities involved,
01:18:30the nature of the areas.
01:18:33It really requires some extra thought.
01:18:36It requires some targeted intervention,
01:18:38and it really requires some data from central government
01:18:41so that the local government bodies can know
01:18:44what is the best way to target these responsive measures.
01:18:49Again, if we get the data from central government,
01:18:52from the Ministry of Health,
01:18:54as to where the majority of cases are being reported,
01:18:58you then know, okay, this is priority one,
01:19:01and then you move down,
01:19:02and you can create some sort of sensible list.
01:19:05But right now, we have to just go area by area
01:19:08and hope that we are treating with the problem
01:19:11in the best possible way.
01:19:13Yeah, we did speak about the Ministry of Local Government
01:19:15and also the Ministry of Works,
01:19:17but what about, has there been any assistance
01:19:20from the Ministry of Health?
01:19:22No, not for us as yet.
01:19:25We are also trying to get in touch with our health centres,
01:19:30primary health facilities,
01:19:32to see if they are able to treat with any increased
01:19:36influx of people because of the dengue situation.
01:19:40Once we do have that information,
01:19:42the Office of the Member of Parliament
01:19:44will send correspondence to the Ministry of Health.
01:19:46So we are trying our best to assist,
01:19:49especially in terms of the data gathering.
01:19:51From the local government level,
01:19:53I am in touch with the councillors
01:19:55to the central government level
01:19:57so that we can really, again,
01:19:59provide some targets, some areas of priorities.
01:20:03And I will say this, though,
01:20:05I mean, if something like the mosquito
01:20:10is what is stomping this government at this time,
01:20:14I shudder to think about how we are going to solve
01:20:17major socio-economic problems.
01:20:20Because, again, this does not require rocket science.
01:20:24It just requires proactive, sensible measures
01:20:28done in a timely fashion and executed quickly.
01:20:32Once we have that done, we will be OK.
01:20:35Trinidad and Tobago will be OK.
01:20:37But when we are being reactive and slow
01:20:40and we are withholding the data from the public,
01:20:43what you will get is panic.
01:20:45And so you will get calls.
01:20:46Every member of parliament, I am sure,
01:20:48is being called constantly for requests for spraying, etc.
01:20:52And that response is understandable
01:20:55because it comes from a state of panic
01:20:57because we are not given the information
01:20:59in a timely fashion.
01:21:00And I think if we correct that,
01:21:02we will correct the course on this dengue crisis.
01:21:05What's the next step by you as MP
01:21:08and also by officials at the corporation?
01:21:11Right, so my next step is to stay in close contact
01:21:13with our local government representatives
01:21:15because we get a certain amount of information
01:21:17at the MP's office.
01:21:18They get a certain amount of information
01:21:20at local government bodies.
01:21:22My intention is to continue to send information
01:21:26through to the Ministry of Health
01:21:28and hope that they use that in their data mapping
01:21:31and that we can see a more proactive,
01:21:34targeted, solution-oriented approach
01:21:37to treating this dengue problem.
01:21:39Yeah, MP, it's always a pleasure to see you
01:21:42and speak with you.
01:21:43Thank you very much for the update this morning.
01:21:45It is appreciated.
01:21:46Thank you so much for having me.
01:21:47Thank you for giving me the opportunity
01:21:49to speak on our community and what we're facing.
01:21:52So I wish everybody a safe week and a very good day.
01:21:56All right, bye for now, MP.
01:21:57All right, so it's time for a quick break.
01:21:58We are coming back, everybody.
01:22:12You're my day, you're my night.
01:22:13You're my sun, you're my rain.
01:22:15You're my world now.
01:22:16I've got to have you, eh, eh.
01:22:18Got to own you, oh, oh.
01:22:20I've got to squeeze you.
01:22:22I'm longing for your love, girl.
01:22:25I've got to have you, eh, eh.
01:22:27Got to own you, oh, oh.
01:22:32I'm really excited to be here.
01:22:34I'm really excited to be here.
01:22:36It's great to be here.
01:22:37It's great to be here.
01:22:38It's great to be here.
01:22:39It's great to be here.
01:22:40You've noticed the process today.
01:22:43That was great.
01:22:45So there you go.
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01:23:11Extreme weather is only getting worse.
01:23:16If you feel it, chase it!
01:23:20We don't need PhDs and fancy gadgets to do what we do.
01:23:26He's insane.
01:23:29You don't face your fears.
01:23:33You ride them.
01:23:40I have a right to free primary school education.
01:23:49I have a right to be protected.
01:23:52I have a right to a name.
01:23:54I have a right to know my rights.
01:23:57I have a right to privacy.
01:24:00I have the right to express myself.
01:24:03I have a right to access information.
01:24:10I have a right to freedom.
01:24:13I have a right to freedom.
01:24:17Children have rights.
01:24:19You should look how you feelin' Pour some rum right now in my cup
01:24:46I can see how you're feelin' Tell the DJ to play my show
01:24:53Don't wanna see my yard no time soon Cause I feel like find a closer
01:25:01I don't want to go so far Find a floor
01:25:09I see a material beyond I just feelin' good, I feelin' good, I feelin' good
01:25:15How will I end that mood?
01:25:45Next time you come here, I'll pay for that
01:26:16We take in animals on a temporary basis
01:26:19So they come in, they're either rescued, given up
01:26:22Perhaps some of them are cruelty cases
01:26:25And we take them in and we rehabilitate them
01:26:28We get them healthy, we spay or neuter, we vaccinate
01:26:31And then we try and find homes for them
01:26:33So it's a constant flow of animals that come into our shelter
01:26:37In the Port of Spain shelter as well as the Tobago shelter
01:26:40We have two
01:26:41Yeah, Joshua, come in here
01:26:44Talk to me
01:26:45Yeah, tell us about your participation here this morning
01:26:49So the Love Company, I mean you would know me from other NPO's that I've been here representing
01:26:55The Love Company is a new organization that we've started
01:26:58It's an amalgamation of the leadership of all of the NPO's that we used to work with
01:27:03Sort of like a super NPO, if you know what I mean
01:27:08And it's designed that we could champion multiple issues
01:27:12With the resources, the structure and the framework that all of these organizations had
01:27:18Pooling our resources to be able to more effectively operate
01:27:23Now, the TSPCA is an entity that we've worked with for a long time
01:27:28And after seeing their most recent call, we did mobilize, we managed
01:27:34They put out a call before this one for barrel relief items a few weeks before
01:27:39We mobilized, we brought in 36,800 pounds of aid
01:27:43Which was about 16 and a half tons, courtesy flour mills and Vemco
01:27:47We distributed that through TSPCA to the barrel relief victims
01:27:52And then the next week we realized that they were under pressure themselves locally
01:27:56So we went back to our sponsors and we asked them, you know
01:27:59What can we do here? We ended up doing an additional 14,500 pounds
01:28:04Which is close to 7 tons here
01:28:07But this is not solving the problem that is ongoing, TSPCA
01:28:12And to be fair, all of the other animal rescuers and shelters
01:28:18Are all under the same pressure constantly
01:28:21Because there is no national framework for funding
01:28:24So what we're trying to do, the Love Company, our involvement in this
01:28:28Sarah and Sita and the whole team have been amazing
01:28:31For all years we've worked with them
01:28:33What we want to do now is we want to bring everyone together
01:28:36We're going to host a meeting of all the stakeholders in this animal rescue society
01:28:42This community that we have
01:28:44And we're going to try to start to speak with one voice
01:28:47Proposed budgets, proposed plans that the government can now bite into
01:28:51And say okay cool, we're going to provide logistical support
01:28:54Manpower support, financial support here
01:28:56And then private Trinidad and Tobago can pilot for them
01:29:00Yeah, Sarah, well from what I'm seeing and hearing
01:29:04About what is happening at the organization
01:29:07It's really a dire situation right now
01:29:10Yeah, we've been, well the current council took over in 2019, September 2019
01:29:18The coffers weren't good at that point
01:29:21And it became worse, we obviously went straight into COVID from that period
01:29:25And then post-COVID we've been struggling
01:29:28We had a huge amount of animals given up after post-COVID
01:29:32And also price increases were off the charts
01:29:37We have a small spay clinic that we operate, a low-cost spay clinic
01:29:42Some of our normal things like disinfectants, chow
01:29:45Everything like that has gone up exponentially
01:29:48So it's caused a severe strain and of course donations have gone down
01:29:52And this is internationally, it doesn't just affect Trinidad and Tobago
01:29:55It's internationally, we see the trend
01:29:58But we've realized that the amount of animals that we're seeing now
01:30:02That are being dumped, it's caused a strain on our shelter
01:30:07On the TTSPC because what we're doing and we're tending to do
01:30:10Is we're doing the job that is mandated by government
01:30:13We're doing the pickup of animals on the street
01:30:16We're doing the cruelty investigations
01:30:18And it's gotten to the point that when council sat down at the last meeting
01:30:24We looked at our finances and we said
01:30:26Well we have enough running funds to last us until September
01:30:30If we do not get government intervention, if we do not get a subvention
01:30:34And what we're hoping for is a subvention that every year we can rely on
01:30:39To take up that shortfall
01:30:41Because we do things like we do fundraising
01:30:43It's not like we rely on government to give us a handout
01:30:46We do our own fundraising, we have small charges for services that we offer
01:30:51And we also rely on donations as well
01:30:54So we do make it to a certain extent but there is that shortfall
01:30:58And that is what we need
01:31:00Because as I said we're the only open admission shelter in Trinidad and Tobago
01:31:04So if we close, where are people taking their animals?
01:31:07Is that a possibility, closure?
01:31:09It is a huge possibility
01:31:11We just don't put that out there lightly
01:31:14Because obviously we have staff to think about
01:31:16We have the animals that are currently under our care
01:31:18And I mean honestly I've been involved in TSPCA for a number of years
01:31:23As well as Animal Welfare Network
01:31:25And it's devastating to me on a personal level
01:31:28To think that an organization that's been around as I said for over 120 years
01:31:32Is facing this at the moment because of funding
01:31:36It's not a huge amount of funding when you look at it
01:31:39But the operation of TTSPCA which people don't realize
01:31:42It's about $70,000 a month in order to operate
01:31:48That is what it takes
01:31:49We have processes and protocols and different things
01:31:52That have to be put in place for the humane care
01:31:56And also making sure that our shelter is disease free
01:32:00But with porous borders
01:32:03And there are concerns here with animal welfare and health in general
01:32:08And population health as well
01:32:09Because you have porous borders, there's a risk of rabies
01:32:13There's many other factors
01:32:14We're seeing diseases that we never saw before
01:32:17Coming to Trinidad and Tobago in the animal population
01:32:20So with nothing and you have stray animals
01:32:23The corporations at this point aren't functioning as they should
01:32:26They're not really functioning
01:32:27Two corporations are functioning as far as animal control
01:32:31And then there's a pound in San Fernando which is not functioning as it should
01:32:36There's no veterinary oversight there
01:32:39In fact the TTSPCA for the last few months
01:32:41Has been helping them with chow for the animals under their care
01:32:45So we do do a lot of work
01:32:47We help a lot of people
01:32:48I think people have an idea that oh it's just animals
01:32:52But it's not, we help people
01:32:53We help people
01:32:54We help people
01:32:55Yes, it's animals related
01:32:56But we help people as well
01:32:58Yeah
01:32:59Joshua, what can
01:33:00Well, here's what
01:33:01Before I ask Joshua that question
01:33:03Let's go to a very short break
01:33:04We'll be right back
01:33:05I want to plug your
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01:33:41Hey love, are you excited for date night tonight?
01:33:43I'm seeing you at 5 right?
01:33:45Of course babe, I'll see you at 5
01:33:52Bye
01:33:54Wow
01:34:19What you can see from this image
01:34:21Is a man lying in a pool of blood
01:34:23In his living room
01:34:25He was shot dead a short while ago
01:34:27As two bandits tried to rob him and his family
01:34:31What you can't hear
01:34:32Is his wife crying inconsolably
01:34:35What you don't know
01:34:36Is that his 4-year-old daughter
01:34:38Is standing looking at her father
01:34:40Confused, begging him to wake up
01:34:42Can you imagine what this wife and child are going through?
01:34:45And what they will have to go through?
01:34:47They try to process what has happened
01:34:49How can we begin to help?
01:34:51We can start right here
01:34:52At the Victim and Witness Support Unit
01:34:54From investigation to counseling
01:34:57To helping families find justice
01:35:00To helping families find peace
01:35:03This unit gives victims and witnesses hope to cope
01:35:08We are the Victim and Witness Support Unit
01:35:10Bridging the service gap between the victims, witnesses and the police
01:35:19Victim and Witness Support Unit
01:35:23What's going on?
01:35:29What's going on?
01:35:30What's going on?
01:35:31Alright, so welcome back
01:35:33So we are continuing our discussion of the challenges
01:35:35Being faced by the Trinidad and Tobago Society
01:35:38For the prevention of cruelty to animals
01:35:42We are joined and we are still joined by Joshua Hussain
01:35:45And we also have Sarah Maynard of the TTSPCA
01:35:51Joshua, what can members of the public do?
01:35:54If I could just give a national sort of synopsis of the situation
01:35:59We, as collaborative organizations, non-profit organizations
01:36:04We understand that the government is overwhelmed by the challenges
01:36:09Faced in Trinidad and Tobago
01:36:11We are a very young society
01:36:13Still developing and learning as we go along
01:36:16The situation as it relates to animals at this time
01:36:21Has been unregulated, it's been unstructured
01:36:26The response and the framework that we use
01:36:30To treat with street animals and delinquent owners
01:36:35Has never been properly formalized and funded
01:36:40So you have a situation where you have
01:36:42TSPCA South recently closed
01:36:45When was that?
01:36:46TSPCA South closed a while ago, a few years ago
01:36:49About 10 years ago when the highway was built
01:36:52Due to flooding, due to severe flooding on the land
01:36:55And this is a private run organization
01:36:58So you have TSPCA, you have Animals Alive
01:37:01You have Animal Defense Society
01:37:03And you have a large cross section of small rescuers
01:37:06That do their best, but nobody is pulling from a pool
01:37:09Nobody is running the communication between each organization
01:37:14To say, okay cool, you have the most sophisticated veterinary services
01:37:18So we're all going to send our veterinary resources to you
01:37:20And try to operate through you
01:37:22So everybody is in their own little silos
01:37:24And what this is causing is
01:37:26At some point you have leakages in resources
01:37:29You have multiple people responding to the same issues
01:37:33And then you have other issues going unresponded to
01:37:36So where we are right now as a society, as a community
01:37:39We want to bring everyone together
01:37:42Streamline
01:37:43And have a meeting
01:37:44And the idea of this meeting is
01:37:46We want to pull in the vets
01:37:48The people who are in charge of the veterinary council in Trinidad and Tobago
01:37:51We want to pull in all of our suppliers
01:37:53Vemco, Flower Mills, the main suppliers of animal feed in Trinidad and Tobago
01:37:57We want to find a way to bring the public sector with the government
01:38:01And the private sector with all of these organizations together
01:38:05And say look, to run a proper program
01:38:09We have the manpower
01:38:11When you see somebody is dedicated to this
01:38:14They're dedicated
01:38:15I know people who have dedicated their entire lives
01:38:19Their entire salary
01:38:20To just going and finding stray animals and street animals
01:38:23And trying to feed them and home them
01:38:25And rehabilitate them
01:38:26But we have a critical point now in Trinidad
01:38:29We have more street animals than we have willing homes
01:38:33And something that Sarah was touching on
01:38:35Was the protocols that they have to go through are difficult
01:38:38And one of those protocols is you have to do things like home checks
01:38:41Because somebody can come and say that they want to adopt a dog
01:38:44But they have people out there that want to adopt an animal for nefarious purposes
01:38:48And you have to be sure that when you give this dog up for adoption
01:38:52You're not sending it into hell
01:38:54And there are a lot of other things that require proper structure
01:38:58Proper framework
01:38:59We want all animals to be microchipped
01:39:01If you see a dog in the road
01:39:04You are supposed to be able to scan that dog
01:39:06And know whose pet this was
01:39:08If somebody is bitten by a dog
01:39:10You're supposed to be able to scan this dog and know whose dog this is
01:39:13If your pet is missing
01:39:15And police or corporation find your animal and they scan it
01:39:19They're supposed to be able to see your phone number
01:39:21And call you and say hello
01:39:22Are you missing your companion?
01:39:24And these are all things that will be put into place in a structure
01:39:29And it's about time, we're a maturing society now
01:39:33That we can put these things into structure
01:39:35We can have a national budget for these things
01:39:37We can have all these societies working together
01:39:39And then you will start to see less and less animals on the streets
01:39:42You will start to see less animal attacks
01:39:45You will start to see less cases of abandonment
01:39:47And it's all going to come from us working together
01:39:50Rather than in little silos
01:39:52Sarah, what do you need right now?
01:39:54Well, I agree with everything that Josh is saying
01:39:56Actually, what we need right now is money
01:39:59That is the bottom line
01:40:01We need money
01:40:02We need people to say
01:40:04Okay, I'm going to commit
01:40:05No matter how small, every dollar counts
01:40:07Fifty dollars a day
01:40:09Will feed a few animals
01:40:11We're hoping that people will say
01:40:14I'm going to take a standing order
01:40:16For X amount
01:40:18And every month, that will go in to help the TTSPC
01:40:22We're very lucky
01:40:24We do have Vemco that help us with Chow
01:40:28And also events
01:40:29We have Angostura that help us
01:40:30We have Massey
01:40:31There's a few companies that are really out there
01:40:33And supporting us
01:40:34Flower Mills is also one of them
01:40:36But the bottom line is
01:40:38We do need government to say, right
01:40:40Every year, we're going to put you on our books
01:40:43And you are going to get this amount
01:40:45Every year that you can rely on
01:40:47And after that, we will then find our way
01:40:49And find the resources to make up the difference
01:40:51And run the shelters under our care
01:40:54Alright, so we spoke about the big companies
01:40:57But what can individuals do?
01:40:59They can share our message
01:41:02They can adopt
01:41:03They can, as I said, take out a standing order
01:41:06And pledge to donate to the shelters
01:41:10To TTSPC every month
01:41:13And they bring things like disinfectant
01:41:16They can bring in disinfectant
01:41:18Which we always need
01:41:19We have people that are very good
01:41:20We would not be around
01:41:22If it wasn't for the kindness of the public
01:41:25We would not be around at this point in time
01:41:27Whenever we put out an appeal
01:41:29We have an overwhelming response from the public
01:41:32And also from the love company
01:41:34As Joshua just said
01:41:35Gave us a huge amount of Chow
01:41:37So much so we were able to give to
01:41:39What is it?
01:41:4038 other rescue groups as well
01:41:43So I would say supporting us
01:41:46By sharing the message
01:41:47Supporting our fundraising events
01:41:49We are always having fundraising events
01:41:51Support us
01:41:52Even if you don't want to turn up
01:41:53Buy a ticket, give it to someone else
01:41:55But the bottom line is
01:41:57We do need a commitment from government
01:41:59To say, okay, this is what we're going to do
01:42:01This is how we're going to support you
01:42:03Joshua
01:42:04Just to put this into perspective
01:42:06For the people who are watching
01:42:07In the grand scheme of things
01:42:10Roughly 5 million TT dollars a year
01:42:12Would solve the plight of the street animals
01:42:15Almost completely
01:42:17There would be a one-off large expenditure
01:42:19I would say of an additional
01:42:20Probably 5 million dollars
01:42:22To roll out a campaign
01:42:24To register every dog in Trinidad and Tobago
01:42:27And make it law
01:42:29But if that was done
01:42:31You would end up overnight
01:42:34With no more stray animals
01:42:36Because your dog is your responsibility
01:42:40If your dog attacks somebody
01:42:41It gets scanned as your dog
01:42:42You get in charge
01:42:44If your dog is abandoned
01:42:45You get in charge
01:42:46People are going to stop abusing animals
01:42:47Because they're going to realize now
01:42:49That there is consequences
01:42:52But another thing that we are facing
01:42:53At the moment
01:42:54Trinidad and Tobago
01:42:56Is one of the premier bird watching destinations
01:42:59On this side of the planet
01:43:01Because we have one of the most diverse
01:43:04Species of birds here
01:43:06And you have an incredible
01:43:08Stray cat population
01:43:10Which is considered a pest
01:43:12Or an invasive species
01:43:14And they are natural hunters
01:43:16So we are losing our ecological diversity
01:43:20At this time
01:43:22Because of our lack of
01:43:23And this is an industry that can bring in
01:43:25Foreign exchange to Trinidad and Tobago
01:43:26Which we know is an issue
01:43:27You have a very large population
01:43:30Of people on this planet
01:43:31That would happily come and travel to Trinidad and Tobago
01:43:33To come and sit down on this
01:43:34With our binoculars
01:43:35Look for birds
01:43:36And all the various species that we have
01:43:38If we started to treat with our animals
01:43:43These are part of our animal stock
01:43:45It would benefit the society at large
01:43:50How many animals do you have at this time?
01:43:53We currently have 130 dogs
01:43:56And we have about 46 cats in at the moment
01:43:59But going to that
01:44:00And going to what you were saying
01:44:01As far as tourism is concerned
01:44:03We hear it all the time
01:44:05A lot of tourists come
01:44:06And they call us
01:44:07And they're like
01:44:08I'm here at the beach
01:44:09And I'm seeing this dog
01:44:10With X, Y, and Z case
01:44:11With a maggot wound
01:44:12And it's extremely distressing
01:44:13Because a lot of tourists come from countries
01:44:15Where you just don't have that
01:44:17Stray animal population
01:44:19They don't see that
01:44:20So it's a shock for them
01:44:21We become almost desensitized
01:44:23To the dead dog on the highway
01:44:25Or the stray animal we walk past
01:44:28Obviously not the people in animal welfare
01:44:30I can't go to certain places
01:44:33Without thinking
01:44:34Am I prepared?
01:44:35Do I have X, Y, and Z in the car?
01:44:36Because I'm going to see something
01:44:38That I don't want to see
01:44:39And I'm going to have to take this animal
01:44:41So it is very distressing
01:44:43And if you want to encourage tourism
01:44:44You have to deal with that
01:44:46For so long
01:44:47We talk about animal welfare
01:44:49Being on the back burner
01:44:50But unfortunately
01:44:51It's not even on any burner
01:44:53I think sometimes
01:44:54It's just not thought about
01:44:57And I get it
01:44:58People say
01:44:59Oh, you know
01:45:00It's animals
01:45:01They're more important things with people
01:45:02Well, animals affect our health
01:45:05Animals affect what we do
01:45:07Animals will affect finances
01:45:09We've seen it with COVID
01:45:10We've seen it with COVID
01:45:11The devastation that that caused
01:45:14From bats
01:45:15You know
01:45:16I mean, obviously
01:45:17There are theories other than that
01:45:18But you have to look at animal welfare
01:45:21In a holistic view
01:45:22And I think
01:45:23Doing what the love company wants to do
01:45:25Getting all of the animal rescue groups
01:45:27And individuals together
01:45:29Will make that difference
01:45:30And hopefully getting the support that we need
01:45:32In order to go forward
01:45:34With a holistic view
01:45:36As far as animal welfare is concerned
01:45:38In Trinidad
01:45:39Are you in a position right now
01:45:40To take more animals at all?
01:45:42We are extremely full, no
01:45:44We do try and provide alternatives
01:45:46We offer advertising for free
01:45:48We do other things
01:45:49We offer sometimes free spay and neuter
01:45:52I mean, we have very small charges
01:45:54And people will come into the shelter
01:45:55Because they feel we're government run
01:45:56Which we're not
01:45:57And they call us the pound
01:45:59Again, which we're not
01:46:00We're a shelter
01:46:01And they don't even want to pay $10
01:46:04To relinquish an animal
01:46:06An animal in our system per month
01:46:08Will cost us
01:46:09I don't know, $700, $900
01:46:11Depending because they're spayed
01:46:12They're vaccinated
01:46:13They're neutered
01:46:14We have to have a certain amount of staff
01:46:16To care for these animals
01:46:18So it costs us
01:46:19It costs us
01:46:20But at this point in time
01:46:21We're very full
01:46:23Obviously, if someone is desperate
01:46:25And they have to give in a dog
01:46:26We take them in
01:46:27Being an open admission shelter
01:46:28We're not going to turn you away
01:46:30Joshua, what's the next step?
01:46:33If I could just step in
01:46:35With one quick thing
01:46:36I don't want the public to think
01:46:39That we're sitting down here
01:46:40Complaining
01:46:41Oh, the government should do this
01:46:42The government should do that
01:46:43At the end of the day
01:46:45Everybody who is part of the animal rescue society
01:46:48And the community at large
01:46:50We are willing to do the work
01:46:51The private sector
01:46:52We are willing to do the work
01:46:53What we are asking for
01:46:54Is we're asking to collaborate
01:46:56This government has proven
01:46:57That it is a government that cares
01:46:59And that once there is something
01:47:00That is reasonable
01:47:01That they can jump on board with
01:47:02I have been watching them with other things
01:47:04And they've jumped on board
01:47:05We are encouraging them to come and work with us
01:47:08And really set in place a framework
01:47:10That would benefit us for generations
01:47:11Because another issue that we're facing
01:47:14Is a lack of education
01:47:16Animals are indeed
01:47:18A great comfort
01:47:20A lot of people would have
01:47:22Had their mental health
01:47:24Really safeguarded by their pets
01:47:26During COVID
01:47:27Because you would have been locked down
01:47:28And the only thing that you had access to
01:47:30Was your dog
01:47:31Or your cat
01:47:32So we want to encourage
01:47:34Education of children
01:47:36To the importance of caring for animals
01:47:38And it will foster
01:47:40A deeper sense of your own humanity
01:47:43And encourage people to meet themselves
01:47:45At an internal level
01:47:47Which will then reflect
01:47:48In a much more gentle
01:47:50And caring society
01:47:52That would even help with the crime rate
01:47:53That we're seeing now
01:47:54Because you have a very desensitized
01:47:56And angry society
01:47:57And I think they're taking some time
01:47:59To care for
01:48:00And to volunteer
01:48:02Particularly with things
01:48:03That can't give you any
01:48:05When you do rescue work
01:48:08Or you do volunteer work for animals
01:48:10Particularly with the TSPC
01:48:11Which is actually the first place
01:48:12In my life I ever volunteered
01:48:13When I was 12
01:48:15You get a sense of
01:48:20I don't know how to say it
01:48:21But you feel a certain
01:48:23Sense of pride in yourself
01:48:25That you have helped something
01:48:27Which can't do anything for you
01:48:29Necessarily
01:48:30But it makes you a better person
01:48:32And I think that it is important
01:48:33That we foster this sort of
01:48:35Spirit and this sort of thinking
01:48:37With our young people
01:48:38Because it will benefit us as a society
01:48:40Yeah, sorry
01:48:41I agree
01:48:42Well, I agree
01:48:43I echo that thought
01:48:44Animal Welfare Network
01:48:45Who I'm also part of a group
01:48:47We go into schools
01:48:49And we educate children
01:48:50In the primary school level
01:48:52Under our program
01:48:53And so far in the last six months
01:48:55We've educated
01:48:56And we've facilitated talks
01:48:57For 9,000 students
01:48:59And that's exactly it
01:49:00You want to see the change
01:49:01You have to take it to the children
01:49:02You have to educate the children
01:49:04And the fact that animals
01:49:05Are sentient beings
01:49:06And create empathy
01:49:08If you create empathy in a society
01:49:10You're going to see the benefits of that
01:49:12So I 100% agree
01:49:14With what Joshua's saying
01:49:16You have to
01:49:18You have to put the work in
01:49:20And as he said
01:49:21We are always willing to collaborate
01:49:23And we are actually sitting
01:49:25On a local government committee
01:49:26Looking at dog control
01:49:28And looking at education
01:49:29And looking at spay-neuter
01:49:31So I have to say that
01:49:32They are actively looking
01:49:34At ways in which
01:49:36We can address the situation
01:49:38Of animals and animal welfare
01:49:39In Trinidad and Tobago
01:49:40With this committee
01:49:42So I have to say that
01:49:43This is your contact information
01:49:45That we have put up here
01:49:46People can
01:49:47Contact you all
01:49:48At what time every day?
01:49:49Every day?
01:49:50Every day we're open
01:49:51Well we're open six days a week
01:49:53To the public
01:49:54We're open in the weekday
01:49:55Eight to four
01:49:57And nine to one on a Saturday
01:49:59And I get calls at three in the morning
01:50:03On my personal phone
01:50:05But that's fine
01:50:06I'm okay with it
01:50:07He says it's fine
01:50:08Four o'clock in the morning
01:50:10That shows the commitment
01:50:12And what I was saying earlier
01:50:14That if the government
01:50:15Really does lend a hand
01:50:16With the resources
01:50:17That the people are committed
01:50:19Sarah and her team
01:50:20And Sita and everybody else
01:50:22That is part of this
01:50:23There's a young lady, Rene
01:50:25From Mustafa Project
01:50:26Who I need to shout out
01:50:28I don't know how she does it
01:50:31But I think that she has
01:50:34Committed her entire existence
01:50:36To this
01:50:37And you have a lot of beautiful people
01:50:39In Trinidad and Tobago
01:50:40Who really do show you
01:50:41The best of us
01:50:42And have given themselves
01:50:45Wholly
01:50:46And we're at a great place right now
01:50:49I think with the way
01:50:51That the emotion of the country is
01:50:53And the feeling
01:50:54I mean TSPC has been viral now
01:50:56For a few weeks
01:50:57And I think that we're at a great place
01:50:59Where there is benefit
01:51:01Both to the government
01:51:02And the public
01:51:03And we can all come together
01:51:04And actually solve this
01:51:05There's the will
01:51:06There's the energy
01:51:08And it's a great time
01:51:09And I am very optimistic
01:51:11About where this can go
01:51:13So we're looking forward
01:51:14To great things
01:51:15All right, Sarah
01:51:16I'll give you the final word
01:51:17Well, again, you know
01:51:19I agree with what's been said today
01:51:21And we hope that we will see
01:51:23The support coming from
01:51:25Both the private sector
01:51:27Public sector
01:51:28And we know that we get it
01:51:29From members of the public
01:51:30I mean, we are incredibly grateful
01:51:32As I've said before
01:51:33And we want to see change
01:51:34We want to see spay, neuter
01:51:36We want to see education
01:51:37We want to see these programs
01:51:38Put in place
01:51:39So that we can move forward
01:51:41In the world of animal welfare
01:51:43Because it can be
01:51:44A very frustrating world
01:51:45For some of us
01:51:46You know, seeing no change
01:51:48Over the years
01:51:49There are a lot of people
01:51:50Who have put
01:51:51As Josh said
01:51:52Dedicated their lives
01:51:53To this over the years
01:51:54And I think now is the time
01:51:56To make a change
01:51:57I think now is the time
01:51:58To make a change
01:51:59And see what will happen
01:52:01With our next generation
01:52:02Because of the changes
01:52:03We make today
01:52:04We have to commit to it
01:52:05Yeah
01:52:06You all, thank you very much
01:52:07For coming this morning
01:52:08We do have your contact information
01:52:10And we're sure that you all
01:52:12Are going to get the help
01:52:13That you need
01:52:14It's going to be unfortunate
01:52:17If the center closes
01:52:19And we do not want that
01:52:20We're going to work hard
01:52:21To not make that happen
01:52:22We are keeping those doors open
01:52:25All right
01:52:26Thank you very much
01:52:27For the contribution over the years
01:52:28And we wish you all the best
01:52:29In your future endeavors
01:52:30Thanks a lot
01:52:31Chairman of the Love Company
01:52:32Everybody, look at him
01:52:33We're coming back everybody
01:52:34We're coming back
01:52:35We're coming back
01:52:36We're coming back
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01:57:53Thank you very much
01:57:54That's going to do it for our calls for today
01:57:55We have to go to a break
01:57:56We're coming back everybody
01:57:57She from I don't know
01:57:59She wears Hangul
01:58:01We play Snackadojo
01:58:06Ready
01:58:08Set
01:58:09Go
01:58:18Are you diabetic, pre-diabetic or at risk for diabetes?
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01:58:48Pick up a bottle today at Pennywise and all leading pharmacies nationwide
01:58:56Alright, that's going to be it for our program for today
01:58:58Thank you to all of our callers
01:59:00Thank you very much to all of our viewers
01:59:03Have a good day everybody
01:59:05See you tomorrow
01:59:06Bye for now
01:59:18Who does pray at night?
01:59:20How are living?
01:59:22Better than them
01:59:24How are looking?
01:59:26Better than them
01:59:28How are feeling?
01:59:30Better than them
01:59:32Better than them
01:59:34No problem
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