Morning Edition: 17th July 2024

CCNTV6

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Transcript

00:00:00a very special good morning Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world. I'm Marlon Hopkins

00:00:19as always. Welcome to the Morning Edition. It's Wednesday, July 17th and thank you very

00:00:23much for joining us. I hope that you had a safe and peaceful night. Yeah, we got some

00:00:28rains overnight. Yeah, I was, you know, I like the rain, you know, so I was pleasantly surprised

00:00:33when I got up this morning and I saw outside a little wet, you know, but my mind runs to the

00:00:39residents in what era it was that I was speaking about yesterday with the landslip.

00:00:44So I just hope that there was not so much rain that it made matters worse for you all. All right,

00:00:48but I'm thinking about you all this morning and I hope that things improve for you all very,

00:00:53very soon and to the drivers of the nation's roads, slow down, slow down, slow down. Yesterday

00:01:00I again wanted to know if there was a race going on on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway and

00:01:07these two vehicles, they're swerving in and out, in and out, right? And the speeding happened this

00:01:13morning again. All right, so take it easy, take it easy. All right, so again, I'm very happy that

00:01:19you're joining us this morning. We do have a lot for you on the program today, a lot of

00:01:24interesting segments we do have for you. All right, but let's check out to see what's happening

00:01:27on the front page of the Daily Express. All right, so tax boss charged, BIR assistant

00:01:33commissioner faces 20 charges of fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, and religious

00:01:39leader calls for curfew. All right, and to the picture to the left there, resourceful recipient,

00:01:46National Entrepreneurship Development Company Limited chairman, Clary Ben Wright, looks on as

00:01:51Minister of Youth Development and National Service, Foster Cummings, congratulates differently abled

00:01:55grant recipient, Nikolai Salandi, on receiving his micro and small business grant from NEDCO. All

00:02:03right, let's touch a little bit on this story concerning the religious leader who is calling

00:02:07for a curfew. All right, so religious heads worry over murders, group effort needed, there is need

00:02:14for a curfew in some areas, says El Socorro Nur-e-Islam Imam Shiraz Ali, speaking to the Express

00:02:20yesterday on the crime crisis. Ali said we are approaching a period of time where we must look

00:02:26closely at limiting the times people are allowed to move freely to commit heinous crimes. He says

00:02:33in some areas there is a need for a curfew. All right, so we're moving on to some sport now.

00:02:40Jereme Golden in Luzern. Jereme, the dream, Richard's continued his preparations for the

00:02:45Olympics with victory in Switzerland yesterday. All right, so that's good news there for Jereme,

00:02:54and you know, I just hope that we come home with some medals from the Olympics. You know,

00:02:59I hear people talking about, and this is true, just something I just don't believe it, you know,

00:03:06some people say, well, we're going to the Olympics to compete. All right, but it also tells me where

00:03:12your mind is. To me, if I'm going to the Olympics, I'm going to win some medals and bring back some

00:03:16medals home. You think that Usain Bolt went to the Olympics to compete? It is to bring back medals

00:03:23home. All right, so let's have that sort of thinking, yeah? Okay, so it's time to remind

00:03:30you about Trinbago, your nice feature. Remember to participate. You can email your videos and

00:03:36images to this address here. See that, yeah, at the bottom there? Yeah, so that's what you can do,

00:03:42and we do appreciate all of the pictures that you continue to send to us. So we do have some

00:03:49palm trees there this morning, and we do have some croton, yeah? You see, I know my plants,

00:03:55yeah? Now, these plants here, they do well in the rainy season and dry season, you know.

00:04:07The era which I was born here. You don't even have to water these plants sometimes, you know,

00:04:13you know, so they look well throughout the year. All right, so thank you to the person who would

00:04:19have sent that to us. We do appreciate it, all right? So we do have a lot, and we do have a lot

00:04:23for you in the program this morning. You have your coffee, your tea. You see, I have my tea. I

00:04:28have to drink some of that, yeah? And you have something to eat. We're coming back, everybody.

00:04:53This is not a credit.

00:05:236524438 for an estimate. Are you diabetic, pre-diabetic, or at risk for diabetes?

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00:05:46to improve glucose metabolism, enhance insulin sensitivity, and slows glucose absorption in the

00:05:52gut. Berberine Plus, providing a natural path to a healthier you. Pick up a bottle today at Pennywise

00:05:58and all leading pharmacies nationwide. Hola, amigos! Minute Maid and KFC proudly present the biggest circus

00:06:06from Mexico, the Suarez Brothers Circus, returning after six years in a brand new and exciting show.

00:06:12Due to slight delays with recent adverse weather conditions, the circus will now open on Friday,

00:06:1719th July at the Queen's Park, Savannah. Showtimes Monday to Saturday, 5 and 8 p.m.

00:06:22Sundays, 2, 5 and 8 p.m. Powered by NCash. Advanced tickets on sale at all extra food

00:06:28supermarkets, leading France's fashion shoe locker outlets, and online at islandetickets.com.

00:06:32Over 30 international artists from five continents come and enjoy our spectacular

00:06:37attractions. The Fantastic Pendulum, jugglers, acrobats, the always funny clowns in collaboration

00:06:43with Dairy Dairy, Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola, Dasani, extra food supermarkets, Molta, Kaleidoscope Paint,

00:06:49Carib Molta, and media partner, Guardian Media Limited. Suarez Brothers Circus will now open

00:06:55on Friday, 19th July at the Queen's Park, Savannah. ¡Hala, nos vemos!

00:07:13🎶

00:07:37Skill online here with this weirdo named Larry. I'm getting rid of him now.

00:07:53Let's take a selfie.

00:07:57It looking good boy. I'm putting it online.

00:08:02Hey, I thought you said you went to the beach with your parents.

00:08:06Who's you? It's me, Larry, from online.

00:08:36I have a right to free primary school education.

00:09:02I have a right to be protected. I have a right to a name.

00:09:08I have a right to know my rights. I have a right to privacy.

00:09:13I have the right to express myself. I have a right to access information.

00:09:31Children have rights.

00:09:49You ever tried talking to your child and there's a total and complete misunderstanding

00:09:54and it turns out into a shouting match? Be mindful of what you say and more importantly,

00:09:59how you say what you say.

00:10:04Today, I want to share with you just a few thoughts on communication.

00:10:07To build healthy parent-child relations, communication is not an option.

00:10:13Effective communication is the lifeblood of good relationship between parents and children.

00:10:19Please listen attentively to your child. Everyone hears, but not everybody listens.

00:10:24Listen actively. Use language they can understand. Use language that is appropriate for their age

00:10:32and make sure that when you're speaking, be very clear and be very, very specific.

00:10:37So what does behave good means? What does stop behaving badly means?

00:10:41Be very clear and be very specific. Please do not use any derogatory words to them at all,

00:10:47at all, at all. Use kind language because that helps to set a positive tone in the house.

00:10:54Express your feelings and your satisfaction to the situation and of course, please encourage

00:10:59your children to do so as well. Remember, the conversation should be children, we love you,

00:11:07we love you and we respect you. Do the best you can. It's all that you can do.

00:11:12Be mindful of what you say and how you say it.

00:11:15If you found this useful, please share and like and follow our profile for more parenting tips.

00:11:21The letter for today is C for communication.

00:11:41All right, so welcome back everyone. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

00:11:45So we want to raise an issue with you this morning that you may have missed over the

00:11:49past few days because of the crime situation and so on. So the Central Bank has reportedly stated

00:11:55that due to the non-availability of foreign exchange because of a decrease in energy revenues,

00:12:00customers are now willing to borrow foreign exchange via loans. But the question is being

00:12:06asked, where will the customers get the foreign exchange to repay the Forex loan?

00:12:11So we do have on the line this morning, former Planning Minister Dr. Bo Tiwari.

00:12:16Dr. Tiwari, as always, thank you very much and good morning to you.

00:12:22Dr. Tiwari?

00:12:26All right, let's try again. Dr. Tiwari, are you hearing me?

00:12:30All right, he is not hearing me as yet. But the information that I just relayed to you,

00:12:36it's contained in the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Report for May 2024,

00:12:43and it speaks about a stranger demand for foreign exchange, which resulted in growth of foreign

00:12:50currency borrowings and a decline in foreign currency deposits. Now, the report speaks about

00:12:56many, many things. So let's get back to Dr. Bo Tiwari. Let's see if he's hearing us now.

00:13:01Dr. Tiwari, good morning.

00:13:03All right, we'll try to link with Dr. Tiwari again. So in its Monetary Policy Report for May

00:13:092024, the Central Bank said the sale of foreign exchange from the public, including energy

00:13:14companies, to authorized dealers amounted to U.S. $1.83 billion over January to May 2024,

00:13:22a decrease of 8.5 percent relative to the same period a year earlier.

00:13:28Now, TNT's Monetary Authority and the banker to the government said the decline in sale of foreign

00:13:33exchange to the authorized dealers for the first five months of 2024 followed a 13.1 percent

00:13:39decrease for the period January to May 2023. All right, can we try with Dr. Tiwari again?

00:13:45Dr. Tiwari, good morning. All right, so here's what studio. Can we go to a very short break,

00:13:52and we'll be back in a minute.

00:13:58All right, they're coming back, everybody.

00:13:59Friskies world. Yes, let's explore it. Wow, it's made with real salmon. Look what I found.

00:14:17Party mix cat snacks. There's the delicious taste of the tuna we love.

00:14:22Definitely coming back tomorrow. Friskies, always more to explore.

00:14:27As a former Miss World, I have spent many hours walking in high heels

00:14:31and constantly on the move. So I understand the importance of joint health.

00:14:35That's why I trust Omega XL. As you know, beauty works from the inside out.

00:14:41The sun is about to break for you. I was in Gethsemane. He dragged that tire called Salvation

00:14:53for Man. Lift my eyes up to the hills. We only have one place to go for help. Hallelujah.

00:15:04So I celebrate in Jesus.

00:15:08I have a right to free primary school education. I have a right to be protected.

00:15:34I have a right to a name. I have a right to know my rights. I have a right to privacy.

00:15:42I have the right to express myself. I have a right to access information.

00:15:55Children have rights.

00:16:19So CTA say that they're doing the ABC of parenting. So I say I have to get in that.

00:16:26You know anything with the ABCs, I like to get in that. I started with A for accountability.

00:16:35So you does mash up thing from a side when you get vixxed and then you surprise when

00:16:41you get called into the school for your child doing the same thing.

00:16:46Recognize that as a parent, you are one of the biggest influencers on your child's life.

00:16:53You have to acknowledge that your actions and choices can impact your child's development and

00:16:59growth. Take time to account for any consequences your actions may have on your child and always

00:17:06acknowledge that responsibility before saying or doing anything. Your actions speak louder

00:17:14than your words. But at the end of the day, do your best. Share if you found this useful and

00:17:23like and follow CTA's profile for more parenting tips as we go through the ABCs of parenting.

00:17:35This is Mary. Mary has bills to pay and takes a chance parking in front of the building at the

00:17:43no parking sign. Mary returns to her car and this is what happens.

00:17:55Mary decides to call when she's five minutes away to let her daughter know

00:18:00that she is close by. But Mary forgot one thing.

00:18:04After two tickets, Mary just isn't paying attention to her speed.

00:18:28Don't be like Mary. Obey the laws of the road.

00:18:34A message from the T.T.P.S.

00:19:04So, welcome back everyone. So, we are going to try to reconnect with Dr. Tiwari. Dr. Tiwari,

00:19:21if you're looking at us, we're trying to call you on the phone. So, we cannot do the zoom anymore,

00:19:27but so we'll try to do the interview via the phone. All right. So, Dr. Tiwari, I hope that

00:19:32you get that message. All right. So, that's what we're doing right now. So, we'll continue with

00:19:38that conversation as long as we make that connection with Dr. Tiwari. Now, let me just

00:19:42tell you about this meeting that occurred yesterday. Of course, you remember the Prime

00:19:45Minister would have had a national security meeting yesterday, National Security Council

00:19:49meeting, and it involved members or heads of the law enforcement in Trinidad and Tobago. So,

00:19:58Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has again expressed his serious concerns over violent

00:20:02crime and the continued use of illegal high-powered assault weapons. Now, a release from the office of

00:20:10the Prime Minister yesterday stated that the Prime Minister met with the heads of the state

00:20:14security apparatus at the diplomatic center. Now, the Prime Minister also made it clear that the

00:20:20government supported the services and in particular, the T.T.P.S. in its carrying out of its duties

00:20:27and responsibilities, provided that they are always done within the legal parameters. Now,

00:20:34according to this statement, there was agreement among the services present that coming out of

00:20:40the meeting, there would be the deployment in a coordinated and collaborative manner of sustained

00:20:47joint operations, particularly in areas where there is known concentration of criminal

00:20:54activities. All right. So, that's the latest coming out of yesterday's meeting with the Prime

00:21:00Minister and the various heads of law enforcement yesterday. I know that a few days ago, I believe

00:21:06it was on the weekend, it was on Sunday, that the police service had announced that they intended to

00:21:12put measures in place to clamp down, in an attempt to clamp down on the type of criminal activities

00:21:19we have been seeing across the country. All right. So, let's hope that we do get some benefits from

00:21:26these meetings and these initiatives sometime very, very soon. And a problem that we have had

00:21:34for years, and I'm speaking now about maxi taxi drivers, well, they are under attack again. All

00:21:41right. So, following robberies at CityGate, following robberies, you know, at CityGate,

00:21:46plans to ramp up security on Route 2. Four robberies in two weeks have prompted Route 2

00:21:52maxi taxi drivers at CityGate to seek ways to ramp up security at the loading bay. So, President of

00:21:58the Route 2 Maxi Taxi Association, Brenton Knights, told the Express yesterday that in one of the

00:22:04robberies, the drivers and passengers were held at gunpoint by the robber. He said while he was able

00:22:11to report that there were four robberies over the past two weeks, there is a possibility that the

00:22:16figure could be higher. He said while safety is a countrywide concern, given the uptick in crime,

00:22:24maxi taxi drivers who provide a 24-hour service to the public become vulnerable to attacks during

00:22:30the dark hours. He added sometimes when we have activities in the country, like concerts,

00:22:37and coming down to Christmas, and when school closes, sometimes you see a spike in criminal

00:22:43elements focusing on maxis, and sometimes some of them are just misguided youths looking for a quick

00:22:50little hustle, all right? So, I know it has been a problem over the years that they're dealing with

00:22:57on the priority bus route. I know that there's a constant patrol of that route, yeah, but I

00:23:03will say, and there has been a problem of consistency in Trinidad and Tobago. So, usually

00:23:09when something happens, all of the resources are put into that area, and when things cool down a

00:23:17little bit, the resources are removed. So, it has to be a more consistent effort, as it were, all right?

00:23:24And remember earlier, I was telling you about religious heads worrying over murders in Trinidad

00:23:30and Tobago, and group effort needed. So, Anglican Bishop Claude Berkeley said it was mandatory to

00:23:37come together to push back the criminal element. He said he was concerned the criminal element was

00:23:44gaining ground, adding that people were already grappling with daily stresses, and crime, murder,

00:23:50and mayhem were compounding it. He also speaks about the crime situation on Tobago, reflecting

00:23:57on the rise of crime in his beloved Tobago. Berkeley said it's really disconcerting.

00:24:03The dramatic increase of a death rate is quite alarming, and outside of the traditional way of

00:24:09Tobago life. I want to make reference to a quote ascribed to Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S.

00:24:17president, who said, the price of our freedom is eternal vigilance. We in Tobago have boasted about

00:24:24being clean, green, and serene. Within that boast, a certain laid-back posture has crept in, and it's

00:24:32wanting to take hold. When these things happen, it's a reminder that our freedom has to be won at

00:24:40the altar of eternal vigilance. He urged citizens to be careful where you are going. It's sad that

00:24:48people have no decency when it comes to murder. They are even going to wakes where people are

00:24:54mourning the dead and killing other people. We have to watch and pray. So, the words there of

00:25:01Anglican Bishop Claude Berkeley. All right. All right. So, we're still trying to get on to Dr.

00:25:07Tewari. You know, Dr. Tewari, if you're looking at us, we've been trying to contact you. So,

00:25:13all right. So, I understand that there's a conversation happening right now. All right. So,

00:25:18yesterday, remember, we also spoke to you about dengue in Taberkeet. So, dengue cases surge in

00:25:25Taberkeet community. More than 20 households in a Taberkeet community have reported confirmed

00:25:30cases of dengue. They say while both adults and children have been infected, most cases that

00:25:36require hospitalization are children. Speaking to the Express yesterday, residents said the area

00:25:43continues to see a surge in dengue cases as they continue to hear daily reports of residents

00:25:50falling sick. I know that a few weeks ago, you remember the health minister was here and he was

00:25:56speaking about the first death as it relates to dengue and was speaking about the initiatives

00:26:02that the health ministry that they were going to put in place to deal with the problem of dengue.

00:26:08Well, it would seem that the cases are rising more and more and more. It may be of benefit that we

00:26:14need to speak to the health minister again as to find out, you know, how its plans to deal with

00:26:22dengue have been going. All right, so let's let's put that on the on the table here. Freeport home

00:26:29owner set to get 3.3 million dollars from WASA. A home owner from Freeport whose house was deemed a

00:26:37hazard after it sustained extensive restructure or structural damage because of a leaking

00:26:44underground water main is set to receive 3.3 million dollars from the water and sewage

00:26:51authority. Now on Monday, Master Shirlan Pair ordered the authority to compensate Balchan Gopi

00:26:58for the damage to his home. In April 2018, Gopi of Chickland Village had emerged victorious in his

00:27:04lawsuit against the authority for negligence. All right, so some of the stories in the Daily Express

00:27:14today. Another story that should be of concern to everyone. Police officer held over rape of niece.

00:27:21A police officer suspected of the rape of his niece has been arrested. A suspect who is attached

00:27:28to the Eastern Police Division was taken into custody at police station in the Arima Police

00:27:33District on Monday. Yeah, have you all been monitoring what has been going on in the U.S.

00:27:40Also, Donald Trump, well, he appeared at the convention last night to a hero's welcome.

00:27:48Really, there was a plaster on his ear and he came into blaring rap music. So it was very,

00:27:59very interesting. I'm sure that you are going to see a little more about that in the news

00:28:05this evening, but he's back, right? And you had people in the audience, of course, remember when

00:28:11he got shot and his ear was nipped. He was punching his fist in the air and promising to fight. And you

00:28:25had a number of people at the convention last evening, you know, chanting and giving all of

00:28:33this praise to Donald Trump. So the campaign has begun for the election in the United States,

00:28:41which it's going to be. It's heating up and it's going to be very, very interesting. All right.

00:28:48So we do have a lot for you on the program, as I said. We are going to be focusing a little more

00:28:55on the crime situation in our program today. We are going to give you a lot of information

00:29:04as to what you can do to help yourself and even help the community, because I know that

00:29:13ad nauseam, the police service and senior police officers within the police service,

00:29:18they have been calling on members of the public to give information. If you see something,

00:29:23say something. And many of you are very still skeptical about it. You just don't trust the

00:29:29system, right? You just don't trust the police and things like that. So what we are going to do

00:29:35is to provide a discussion for you this morning where you can be given the relevant information.

00:29:42So if you want to give information to the police and other law enforcement agencies, I suspect,

00:29:49we'll provide all of that information to you. All right. Okay. So we're still moving on.

00:29:58Farris looks into helping cash-strapped TTSPCA. You remember yesterday morning we had officials

00:30:04of the TTSPCA here and they were speaking about the financial problems being faced at this time.

00:30:10And also, if things do not improve, if they do not get donations, then the TTSPCA faces closure.

00:30:21All right. So local government minister Farris Al-Rawi said he is waiting on advice from his

00:30:25permanent secretary as to a way forward to provide financial support to the Trinidad and Tobago

00:30:31Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. All right. So on Monday, Sarah Maynard, operations

00:30:38manager, told the Express the non-governmental organization was facing major financial challenges

00:30:44in keeping its operations going to care for more than 100 dogs and cats at its Mucarapa

00:30:50Road St. James shelter and also offer support to other entities such as the San Fernando compound.

00:30:59You know, I was shocked a bit yesterday by the amount of money that is needed per month to

00:31:08operate the shelter. We're speaking about $70,000 a month to operate the shelter. And of course,

00:31:17they also give assistance to other shelters in Trinidad and Tobago. So yesterday,

00:31:24Ms. Maynard was here to really speak about if the government can do something to help

00:31:30her shelter and other shelters in Trinidad and Tobago with the problem financially,

00:31:36because there is so much of a strain on the shelters to provide assistance. All right.

00:31:44OK. So we just have a few more minutes again before we take a break and we do

00:31:59start with our first interview after our break. All right. So you also have, I don't know if you

00:32:06would have seen this. Yeah. A gentleman there who was killed. So there's a GoFundMe campaign

00:32:16for Shaquem's kids, and it has already raised U.S. $4,300 so far. So when the news of slain

00:32:25ride sharing services driver Shaquem Child spread across social media, the family received numerous

00:32:31calls and messages from relatives and strangers around the world asking how they could assist

00:32:37his children. So there's a GoFundMe campaign at this time. Of course, the gentleman has two

00:32:42children and money is needed. So as it relates to their education and their future and so on.

00:32:50So the relatives are asking people to provide some assistance so that while the father is dead,

00:32:59that his children could have a bright future. All right.

00:33:03So we are going to a very short break, everybody. We're coming back.

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00:36:18All right, so welcome back everyone. So, members of the public are again being told to help the

00:36:28police combat crime. But the call has met some skepticism as some people just do not feel safe

00:36:34and don't trust the system. Well, President of Crime Stoppers TT, Darren Carmichael is here

00:36:39with us this morning. Mr. Carmichael, thank you very much for coming. Yeah, we do appreciate it.

00:36:45Well, Mr. Carmichael, a lot of people know about Crime Stoppers, a lot of people just don't know

00:36:51still about Crime Stoppers. How does Crime Stoppers operate? Right, so first of all,

00:36:57Crime Stoppers is really a hotline. Yes. Right, it's a conduit that was established in 1999. In

00:37:02fact, I just want to put that in here that we are celebrating 25 years this year in existence.

00:37:09And Crime Stoppers is really a hotline designed really for the public to feel safe calling

00:37:17in with information that they may have about a crime that would have been committed or one that

00:37:22is about to be committed, basically. It is definitely not an emergency line for like real

00:37:29time, you know, crimes and so on, although it has been used for that on occasion. What we really do

00:37:35is we encourage the public, if you have information, to contact Crime Stoppers

00:37:40on three very simple platforms. One is the 800 number, which is 800-8477 or 800-TIPS. We also

00:37:48have an online platform at CrimeStoppersTT.com and there's a web tip portal you can click on.

00:37:54And we have recently, not recently, within the last year or two, we've pushed an app called P3,

00:38:01you know, P as in the letter P and the number three. All of those have been, I would say,

00:38:07engineered with public safety in mind, with confidentiality in mind, with anonymity in mind,

00:38:13in that we, it's a one-way communication mechanism. You call us, we have no way of conducting you or

00:38:19returning a call. We don't take caller ID, you know, we don't have any sort of things like that

00:38:24called tracing anything on the lines. So therefore, we keep that on, I mean, really and truly, that's

00:38:29one of our stock in trade, if you want to call it that, because the people trust the program.

00:38:35Not everybody is confident, like you rightfully started of the program saying,

00:38:38contacting the police. Although over the years, I mean, I'll put a side plug with Neighborhood

00:38:44Watch and all the things that we've been doing and, you know, the station councils and all that,

00:38:48the police have been making a lot of headway in terms of building public trust and confidence,

00:38:53right, that is going up in my mind. But certainly, there are some people who still are apprehensive

00:38:58and sometimes given the nature and the severity of what they need to report,

00:39:03so they use the Crime Stopper program to do that. All right, let's go through the process a little

00:39:08bit, all right, and you mentioned a short while ago, what should be people reporting to Crime Stoppers?

00:39:17Right, so the process is simple. You, whichever medium you use, you are then able to get a,

00:39:25once you give the information, the call takers are pretty well trained. They're not, they're not

00:39:30police and we're not the police, there's a private body. The call takers are properly well trained

00:39:35in terms of how to get information, so depending on the type of crime, they know what questions to

00:39:40ask. They extract as much pertinent information and they extract everything except who you are,

00:39:45how to contact you, where, what address you're at. All right, so everything pertaining to the crime,

00:39:50we get that and then at the end of giving that information, you're given a tip number,

00:39:56all right, a unique number that would identify your tip in the system. Your tool as well to contact

00:40:04the program again, because we can't contact you, contact the program in 21 days. We use 21 days as

00:40:09a measure. It sounds like a long time, but really if you give information about drugs or some activity

00:40:14or something taking place, we have to pass that to the police to investigate, all right, and they

00:40:20will, of course, investigation might mean surveillance, search warrants, whatever, whatever, whatever,

00:40:25given the nature of the report, and then they, if it's an actionable tip as we call it, it, they

00:40:32then go, you know, make a raid, make arrest, whatever it might be. We will then have to wait

00:40:37until information comes back in, because you could well imagine an arrest has been made, people are,

00:40:44you know, interviewed and so on, ballistics are being tested, this has been, you know, so things

00:40:50take a little while for them to say, okay, Mr. Carmichael, or not Carmichael, but the center,

00:40:55they will say, okay, the tip is successful, we've recovered two firearms, those two firearms are

00:41:00linked to three murders, so on, so on, you know, and that type of thing, so once you get that kind

00:41:05of data coming back, we have apportioned value to firearms and ammunition and, you know, murders,

00:41:12murders being solved, you know, that type of thing, so then we get that figure, whatever it is,

00:41:18and we, when the tipster calls back, and you'd be surprised, sometimes they call back the day after,

00:41:23right, because depending on where they are sitting, they can observe that a raid is taking place

00:41:28down the road, or across the street, or they see it on the news, so they know that their tip has

00:41:33been acted upon, and of course, they will call back immediately, okay, well, I see the man get

00:41:37arrested, how much is it, you know, kind of thing, of course, we would have that information,

00:41:42so they are told to call back, you know, a few days later, and when they do, we basically tell

00:41:48them, the tip is successful, you're entitled to ten thousand dollars reward, all right, and of

00:41:53course, but that's not in all cases, not in all cases, ten thousand dollars reward, yeah, so it's

00:41:58really a portion based on the value, like I said, everything has a value, right, and we sum up that

00:42:05value of what the tip meant to us, and of course, you, you're told that amount, and you ask which

00:42:10branch of Scotiabank would you like to collect it, we let you choose, all right, so if you say, you

00:42:16know, you may be living in Port of Spain, and you have a fare, you know, still, which you shouldn't,

00:42:21but you know, okay, I'll collect it at Scotiabank in Maribela, all right, and that way, we arrange

00:42:26with Scotiabank operations manager in Maribela, that if tip TJ144 comes in, that value is

00:42:35five thousand dollars in it, no questions asked, no names required, no information is given at that

00:42:41point in time, and we know it works, because we've done certain, you know, we call mystery shopper

00:42:46kind of tests, to make sure that that system works, so that the caller who does that, and is entitled

00:42:52to reward, it's seamless in terms of, you know, the way it should work. I want to get back to the tips

00:42:58again, so is it that you all would want tips concerning serious crimes? Well, just to put it

00:43:09out here, we take tips on anything, all right, like I said, there's some oil and gas may have a

00:43:16particular kind of issue, where damage is being done to pipelines, or some sort of, you know, some

00:43:21sort of thing is taking place, and they may encourage, you know, whatever we put out in the

00:43:26media, tips come in based on that. There may be certain other types of pilferage taking place

00:43:31elsewhere, fraud, certain other activities, you know, so we take tips on any type of crime, white

00:43:37collar crime, anything, and therefore, we are able to extract the information. The beauty in what we

00:43:42do is that we have a senior superintendent or superintendent assigned to the program,

00:43:48right, so the commissioner of police assigns a liaison with the program to make it easy for us

00:43:54to make contact with stations, and divisions, and units, and, you know, and get it the information

00:43:59there. That person is also responsible. One of the major things that we do, you know, I'm trying to

00:44:05picture how to come, how to this, we are not into crime fighting. Yes. At the end of the day, we are

00:44:10no different from ICO, or TSTT call center, or any other call center out there, right. What we do on

00:44:15the back end, though, is we manage the tip, so information comes in, it's streamlined through

00:44:22a point of contact to be dispersed, to be investigated. That contact has a mandate to

00:44:28make sure that when tips come in the crime stoppers, it's not somebody necessarily being mischievous,

00:44:33or anything like that. This is real information that come in from the bowels of the community

00:44:37that the police would not otherwise have, had it not been for a tipster, and that way, we're able

00:44:42to now take that information, and really, I would say, milk it for what it's worth, because that is

00:44:47what we do. We ensure that it's investigated. The police have some mechanisms in place to follow up

00:44:52at the ComStat meetings, and so on, to see which divisions have tips outstanding, and why it's not

00:44:56investigated, because we have a window, 21 days, within which to do something with that information,

00:45:02and get a result, all right. So, that often takes place, or there's a management of it,

00:45:06then it comes back to us that it's been successfully called a cause, and we make sure that we have that

00:45:10process at the end, in terms of if a reward is required, we give that reward. It's a tip for

00:45:16reward program, but at the end of the day, our program is managed as a call center, more than

00:45:21anything else. Yeah. Have been people using the system? Of course, definitely. I mean, we've

00:45:28thousands upon thousands of tips over the last 25 years.

00:45:33You may know that close to 300 million dollars worth of narcotics have been recovered over that

00:45:38period of time. When you break that down, you know, the kind of daily sum that is, if you were

00:45:43to break it down to 22,000, you know, dollars, 22,000 or so value worth of drugs, take north of

00:45:48the streets, and again, I go back to the point, which is important, this is information that the

00:45:53police would not otherwise have. If someone on the other end didn't pick up the phone and do the right

00:45:58thing, okay, and you have something like 27 million dollars worth of stolen property recovered,

00:46:04I mean, when hand grenades was around, hand grenades, maybe Jeremiah in the hospital,

00:46:09you remember all of those incidents, those are crime stopper tips. A lot of the kidnappings

00:46:13are to foil information about vehicles, and stolen cars, and dumping sites, and you name it,

00:46:18every day those things come in, all right, and of course, the police, we depend on them because,

00:46:23you know, there's a partnership in crime stoppers, right? TV6 this morning is a partner because the

00:46:29media is critical in getting the message about crime stoppers out there to who needs to hear it.

00:46:34The police is important in investigating and going after the information and making sure there's some,

00:46:40it comes to some, you know, some successful conclusion, and of course, the public, you out

00:46:45there, if it's, you know, you're the public, we depend on you to make sure that they give us that

00:46:49information, and that we get all, you know, as much as we can so that we can successfully go after it.

00:46:54They have the information. The public, you know, they know where they passed, they know who's driving

00:46:59the vehicle, who's stolen, whose activity around a particular place is heightened, which

00:47:04suggests there's some kind of kidnapping or something taking place. People sometimes talk

00:47:09about the crimes that they do, right? Somewhere out there, some girlfriend of a criminal was killed,

00:47:15and then the other guys who escaped, you know, they're still out there, and that person is

00:47:20aggrieved. They lost a loved one, right? And, you know, people calling all sort of information, drug

00:47:25blocks, you know, calling against each other. Is it a 24-hour line? Yes, it is 24 hours, and we've

00:47:31tested it. One of the things as well, like I say, is a call center, so we need to make sure that

00:47:36everything we put in place works, right? The hotline works. People are up and about and taking the

00:47:42calls whenever somebody calls in, and so on. So, all of those things are in place. Yeah. Let's talk a

00:47:47little bit about the traffic that the call center, as you put it, receives on a daily basis. Yes.

00:47:56Well, it's a lot. Unfortunately, like any other call center or any other line like that, we have prank

00:48:02calls coming in. I don't want to say it because it might prompt them, you know, like when somebody says,

00:48:07do not loot, right? So, you know, at the end of the day, it's August vacation, and you know what happens

00:48:13when we get, well, school vacation. You know what happens? People are idle and so on. So, we have

00:48:18prank calls coming into the line. We have other type of calls coming as well, like I said, the

00:48:24emergency calls that come in. So, the line is pretty much 24-7 in use, such that it has to be manned by

00:48:30two or three call takers on a 24-hour basis. Yeah. Right. But yeah, there's a lot of traffic coming in,

00:48:36and unfortunately, not everything pans out, you know. So, yes, we get information, but sometimes it's not

00:48:42enough to build a case, or it may be transient activity that was identified, and they're no

00:48:47longer there, that type of thing. So, the relationship with the media, like I said, is really designed that

00:48:53we keep things top of mind. You know, there was a robbery, and a vehicle escaped, you know, a black

00:49:00vehicle, blue vehicle, whatever it is, and it was speeding south along Charlotte Street, and while

00:49:06the activity may have happened up Upper Park, by Park Street, the point is somebody may have seen

00:49:11that speeding vehicle at Prince Street corner, you know, taking a left, and somebody else may

00:49:16have seen it around the bridge. So, the public, being aware that something occurred at Park Street,

00:49:22seeing the same color vehicle on, you know, on Observatory Street, will kind of connect the dots

00:49:27and say, that speeding vehicle, it really looked odd, I saw it go up the hill, or so, you know, that

00:49:32type of thing. So, that is the kind of information and intelligence, or we see the vehicle pull up, and

00:49:36park up, and they switch into another vehicle, and, you know, we're able to now piece together the dots

00:49:41because of information that the public may share, or the media, or in this case, TV6, and somebody is

00:49:47able to say, but I was there, I recall seeing this activity, found it strange, but I couldn't connect

00:49:52it to the murder on Prince Street, on Park Street, and that is the kind of thing that the rationale

00:49:58that is put into the, we like to call it reenactment, because really, that's how crime

00:50:04suppers started in 1976, you know, a detective, Greg McAleese, was investigating the murder of a,

00:50:12you know, a university student that was working in a gas station to make extra, you know, to

00:50:18make ends meet, so to speak, and one night, there was a robbery, and he was killed. Greg McAleese was

00:50:25the detective who came on the scene, and he was stumped, no leads, nowhere to go, and so on,

00:50:30and he took money out of his own pocket, went to a radio station, and made the announcement, made an

00:50:37appeal, basically giving, you know, all information about what transpired, and so on, and sure enough,

00:50:43within 24 hours, there were calls coming in with information about the suspects, and the vehicle,

00:50:49and that type of thing, which led to an arrest, and the solving of many other cases like that,

00:50:54and that is how crime suppers really was born. What is the criteria, because I'm sure that people

00:50:59would want to know, what is the criteria that people would have to satisfy in order to qualify

00:51:05for this payout? Right, so some people would want to think that we have to solve the crime,

00:51:11make an arrest, and the person gets jail time, and it's only if they get jail time, and it's

00:51:16successful, and as you know, the court system goes, that could be five, ten years later, so we don't put

00:51:22the caller through that. Once you give information, and the gun is where you said it is, the person

00:51:29who you said, you know, in terms of the suspects are arrested, taken into custody, and so on,

00:51:35that is what we work on, the value of the information that you would have provided.

00:51:39There is also a context in terms of who it comes in, it comes, who brings it in first, because we

00:51:46get several persons sometimes with the same information. It's really based on a time stamp,

00:51:51whose information was in first, in the completeness that was able to reaction. And I suspect whose

00:51:57information is more accurate, more valuable, more potent than I saw it, you know, yeah,

00:52:01right, and yeah, that is how it works. Sometimes you may have two people qualifying based on,

00:52:06you give me a good piece, and you give me the second half kind of thing, and we weigh that to

00:52:10see the value of it, right, but those are the kind of things that take place behind the scenes.

00:52:14Yeah, I know that sometimes when incidents happen, sometimes crime stoppers, they would put out this,

00:52:21these rewards. How successful have those exercises been when it comes to arrests,

00:52:32and people being taken before the courts, and so on? But you realize that, so the basic

00:52:37amount that we work on is $10,000. Of course, they will, whether it's 10,000 US, 10,000 pounds,

00:52:4310,000 is that number, yes, that we work with in terms of up to $10,000. But you realize that

00:52:50there have been occasions where you hear 100,000, half a million, that type of thing, and wherever

00:52:55you see variations from the 10,000, it would have been a member of the family, you know, you feel

00:53:00aggrieved enough that your daughter, somebody's missing, or whatever, and you put up that reward,

00:53:06right, because remember, we are a program that is supported by the government in terms of funding,

00:53:11yes, all right, and of course, we have to, of course, be consistent, so everything is 10,

00:53:17but if you have a special interest, and so on, and you want to raise that amount,

00:53:21and you know, we are able to accept that, and publicize that amount. In terms of the success,

00:53:26you know, surprisingly, the value amount sometimes doesn't necessarily mean that it's successful,

00:53:35and I'll tell you why. There are some people out there who are civic-minded, who are law-abiding,

00:53:39who mean well, and they sometimes, they do it and don't even want a reward, not that they don't feel

00:53:44comfortable collecting it, but they know in their heart, it's the right thing to do, yes, right,

00:53:48so a lot of people like that, who have done that, and that reward money sits in there forever,

00:53:53all right, but at the same time, there are some who, you know, they probably need the, you know,

00:53:57the funds, and for whatever other social needs, and so on, and therefore, that works, but to say

00:54:02that there's a correlation between the value, per se, it's an incentive, and yes, it will spark more

00:54:10interest, you get more calls, and so on, coming in, but it doesn't really correlate, because like

00:54:15I say, Barnard, Trinidad, still have some, Trinidad and Tobago, still have some pretty

00:54:19people out here, yeah, right, Mr. Carmichael, I just have about one minute again, anything else

00:54:24you'd like to tell us, before you leave us this morning, what we want is, I mean, we've been

00:54:28seeing where the murders, a lot of serious crimes have increased, and really, the fear of crime,

00:54:33generally, across the public, is increasing, we want to let the public know that crime suppress

00:54:39is a safe mechanism to make that call, we want the public to realize that, you know, your information

00:54:46is confidential, we do not know who you are, we do not want to know who you are, but we need the

00:54:50information, crime support is safe, it works, it's a trusted partner, in terms of this relationship

00:54:56that we have, and we want to encourage whether, whoever has the information, please call us, let

00:55:02us know, we, you know, if everybody has a role to play, I made this point, you know, that the TV

00:55:08station, TV6, as in the case of this morning, is carrying their baton, they're doing what they're

00:55:14supposed to do, the police is waiting to make their leg of the race, and we depend on you, the public, now,

00:55:20to run yours, come with us with the information, we cannot sit and talk about crime, and do nothing

00:55:25about it, we address two issues, fear, that you may have to come forward in place of being victimized,

00:55:32and so on, so we address that in the confidentiality of the line, and we also address the apathy, in

00:55:37terms of people feel that nothing is happening, what can I do, but we're telling you what you can

00:55:41do, you can pick up the phone, the strength is in your numbers, dial that number, 800-8477, go to the

00:55:48website, crimesupportstt.com, or use the P3 app, and tell us what you know, so we can make a difference,

00:55:54thank you. So, it was a pleasure speaking with you this morning, thank you very much for the tips,

00:55:59and it's a, it's a long marathon, you know, it is, it is, it is, Carmichael, and we expect that you'll continue

00:56:04to do all that, of course, I mean, you've been very good to the program, yes, in terms of highlighting

00:56:09what we do, and that's very important, we're always here to serve, yes, Carmichael, thank you very much again,

00:56:13all right, so we do have some news for you, we're coming back, everybody.

00:56:23Good morning, I am Anselm Gibbs, with a news update, a man whose job is to catch tax evaders, is accused

00:56:31of being a tax evader himself, acting assistant commissioner of the board of inland revenue,

00:56:37Finber Boland, has been hit with 20 charges of fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering.

00:56:44He's accused of committing the offenses between 2014 and 2018. Boland appeared before the court

00:56:52on Monday, and bail was set at $200,000.

00:56:59Over 100 housing subsidies have been distributed in Tobago this year,

00:57:05that's according to the minister of housing. This program is a testament to this government's

00:57:10unwavering dedication to people, with 3.19 million dollars

00:57:20as recommended in this program, 1.85 million for home construction subsidies,

00:57:28and 1.36 million for home improvement subsidies. We are not today distributing

00:57:36many subsidies, but we are sowing seeds of empowerment.

00:57:42And in the weather forecast, partly cloudy to cloudy skies can be expected,

00:57:48with occasional showers and rain in different areas. There is also a medium chance of a few

00:57:53heavy showers or isolated thunderstorms, which may be accompanied by gusty winds,

00:57:59street flooding, and possible landslips, favoring northeastern areas of Tobago.

00:58:04Smooth to moderate seas are expected in open waters, with swells ranging from

00:58:10one to one and a half meters and increasing.

00:58:12The TV6 Daily Health Tip is brought to you by Omega XL.

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01:00:41Lifestyle changes such as adopting a balanced diet, engaging in regular exercise,

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01:01:23By understanding this connection and taking steps to manage inflammation,

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01:01:32The TV6 Daily Health Tip was brought to you by OmegaXL.

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01:03:54All right, so welcome back, everyone.

01:04:07So we do still have a lot for you on the program today.

01:04:13So in the next few minutes,

01:04:15we are going to be continuing our discussion

01:04:17on the crime situation.

01:04:19Of course, earlier today,

01:04:21I spoke about this National Security Council meeting

01:04:24that the prime minister had yesterday,

01:04:26and a number of agreements were reached at that meeting.

01:04:29So we are going to be speaking about that very, very soon.

01:04:35U.S. teen sexually assaulted.

01:04:38Police are investigating a report

01:04:39in which a 16-year-old United States citizen

01:04:42was sexually assaulted.

01:04:44The incident occurred between July 8th and July 13th

01:04:47in the Santa Cruz district.

01:04:49You know, when I hear these types of incidents,

01:04:53I always wonder,

01:04:56why is it you can't see people, children,

01:04:58and leave them alone?

01:05:00You know, it is one thing to say that,

01:05:04hey, that's a handsome-looking man

01:05:06or that's a pretty-looking girl,

01:05:09but to take steps to interfere with that individual,

01:05:14sometimes I wonder, and when things happen,

01:05:18do we think about the mental state of individuals?

01:05:22Because I think sometimes we just look at it as,

01:05:26yes, it's a crime and we have to deal with that,

01:05:29with that sort of crime,

01:05:30but do we think about what type of individual is doing that

01:05:35and why they are doing that?

01:05:38So I think that we have to think about this,

01:05:41the mental state of people in Trinidad and Tobago

01:05:45and their use of drugs.

01:05:47You know, sometimes I think that we,

01:05:50sometimes we are very one-minded

01:05:52in when we think about matters in Trinidad and Tobago,

01:05:56and I think that we have to look at other areas

01:05:58in trying to explain and understand

01:06:02as to what is happening, all right?

01:06:06So just my thought on that.

01:06:10All right, so I believe

01:06:11that we do have our next interview, yeah?

01:06:14So just to tell you that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley

01:06:17has expressed serious concerns

01:06:19over the incidence of violent crime, as I told you,

01:06:24speaking about that meeting of yesterday, all right?

01:06:27So we're trying to line up the next interview for you.

01:06:30I know we're having some difficulties this morning.

01:06:32We do having some major technical difficulties, right?

01:06:36So that's why you're seeing so much of me, right?

01:06:39And not enough of our interviews this morning.

01:06:43So please bear with us, all right?

01:06:45So we have our entire team down here this morning

01:06:48trying to work on that situation.

01:06:49You know how they say sometimes it's the water in the line?

01:06:52I feel we having some water in the line this morning, yeah?

01:06:56I don't know if that's a real thing.

01:06:59Someone says no, all right?

01:07:02So that's what is happening this morning.

01:07:05So we are trying to work on that right now, all right?

01:07:10So you're seeing, we're getting the feedback and so on.

01:07:16So we're working on it, all right?

01:07:18Can I continue, studio?

01:07:20All right, so, okay, so good.

01:07:22So we do have on the line this morning,

01:07:26we do have Mr. Paul Nahus,

01:07:29security law enforcement expert.

01:07:31Of course, it's to discuss the meeting

01:07:37that the Prime Minister would have had

01:07:39with various heads of law enforcement yesterday.

01:07:43So an agreement was made to deploy

01:07:46in a coordinated and collaborative manner

01:07:49sustained joint operations,

01:07:51particularly in areas where there is a known concentration

01:07:55of criminal activity.

01:07:56Mr. Nahus, are you there?

01:07:58Good morning.

01:08:04All right, I think that we have lost him.

01:08:07I suspect we have lost him, yeah?

01:08:10So you see what is happening?

01:08:12We are trying, as I said,

01:08:15we are having some great difficulty this morning

01:08:19in trying to contact the persons

01:08:24that we do have to do some interviews with, all right?

01:08:27So let's get back to what is happening in the news, all right?

01:08:33Fraud, tax evasion, money laundering.

01:08:35You did see it in the TV6 News last evening,

01:08:38and we did have it in the news a little earlier.

01:08:41Fraud, tax evasion, money laundering,

01:08:43tax boss on 20 charges.

01:08:46So 20 charges of fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering

01:08:49have been laid against Acting Assistant Commissioner

01:08:52of the Board of Inland Revenue, Finn Bob Boland.

01:08:55So last Friday, police went to the Inland Revenue Division,

01:08:59government campus in Port of Spain,

01:09:01where they arrested Boland

01:09:02and took him to the Beso Street Police Station

01:09:04in connection with the offenses

01:09:07he allegedly committed between 2014 and 2018.

01:09:13All right, so let's try to see

01:09:15if we can make connection with Mr. Nahus.

01:09:18Mr. Nahus, good morning.

01:09:20Good morning.

01:09:21All right, so we're hearing you now.

01:09:22So Mr. Nahus, well, yesterday,

01:09:26the Prime Minister called

01:09:28a National Security Council meeting.

01:09:31A number of things would have been discussed

01:09:33at that meeting.

01:09:35He expressed concern over the use

01:09:37of illegal high-powered assault weapons in this country,

01:09:41and an agreement was reached to deploy

01:09:43in a coordinated and collaborative manner,

01:09:46sustain joint operations, particularly in areas

01:09:49where there is a known concentration of criminal activity.

01:09:54Mr. Nahus, anything else jumps out to you

01:09:57as to what the Prime Minister would have said yesterday?

01:10:01Well, nothing really.

01:10:02I wouldn't say anything jumps out to me,

01:10:04except that this is the tactic

01:10:07that has been used over and over,

01:10:09and it does not yield any real results.

01:10:12Yes, you have to heighten policing at times of crisis.

01:10:16At unexpected times of crisis,

01:10:18you need to heighten policing especially.

01:10:21However, it seems that we are forced this cycle

01:10:23where there'll be a murder-free example of this weekend

01:10:26where we had 15 people killed in one weekend,

01:10:29and okay, all hands on deck,

01:10:31but that effort can't be sustained indefinitely,

01:10:35and that acts as a crime suppression method.

01:10:38But if you don't strike at the heart of these gangs,

01:10:40and you don't actually deal with the crime situation itself,

01:10:44this is just putting a band-aid on a solar set stringer.

01:10:47It's going to get worse.

01:10:48You're going to, they're going to have to pull back

01:10:51on the troops, as in you can only call out for so long.

01:10:56I noticed that there were some senior officers there

01:10:59who weren't pre-retirement that I assume now

01:11:01will call back out to duty because of this crisis,

01:11:04but it just seems that we are going from heightened security.

01:11:08It can't be sustained forever, obviously.

01:11:10Then it spikes back up, gets even worse,

01:11:13and it just keeps repeating,

01:11:14and we're kind of going downhill from here.

01:11:16Yeah.

01:11:18Mr. Nahus, I don't know if you would have seen

01:11:20the newspaper this morning,

01:11:23but there were a number of interviews done

01:11:26with religious leaders,

01:11:28and at least one of them is calling for a curfew.

01:11:32Now, just for information's sake,

01:11:36Mr. Nahus would have worked

01:11:37with former police commissioner Gary Griffith

01:11:41extensively in the past.

01:11:43I just want to put that on the table

01:11:44so that you know the sort of work

01:11:47that he would have done in the past.

01:11:49But how do you feel about a curfew, Mr. Nahus?

01:11:53So, Griffith, it doesn't make sense.

01:11:55And you see, you know, you're calling a religious leader

01:11:58who will call for this,

01:11:58and this person will call for that.

01:12:01You have to look at the persons

01:12:02who are actually experts in the field.

01:12:04I'm not even talking about police,

01:12:06and I mean subject matter experts in different areas,

01:12:09which is what the former commissioner would have done,

01:12:11hired persons, including myself,

01:12:12were subject matter experts in different areas,

01:12:15which they do in the NYPD, which they do, LAPD,

01:12:18they do it, I mean, different parts of the world,

01:12:20they do it.

01:12:21You need to have persons on board

01:12:23with that type of specialized expertise

01:12:25to add and supplement the law enforcement system.

01:12:28So, a curfew doesn't make sense, for what?

01:12:32Because the criminals are not going to abide by it.

01:12:34What are you going to do?

01:12:35Stop every single vehicle that is out of certain hours

01:12:39and distress the public?

01:12:41Because remember, this is not a traditional war or something,

01:12:45you know, this is law enforcement.

01:12:46The people get military and law enforcement

01:12:48mixed up all the time.

01:12:51The police have a job to do,

01:12:52but in the execution of that job,

01:12:54they need to mitigate the impact of the system

01:12:56as much as possible.

01:12:58One thing I would point out is that a big piece

01:13:02that is coming from, in terms of the slope we're going down,

01:13:06is that the public trust and confidence in the police

01:13:10is incredibly important.

01:13:12That's tied into my point there

01:13:13that the police are not a military force,

01:13:15in that they need to gain that trust

01:13:17and gain that confidence of the public,

01:13:19and locking down here and locking down there

01:13:22is not going to do that.

01:13:23I'm not saying it's not necessary at times,

01:13:24but it's really not going to do that.

01:13:26For example, we would have worked very extensively

01:13:28to get the, under the former Commissioner Griffith,

01:13:31to get the public trust and confidence,

01:13:33I believe it was at 59%, somewhere around that,

01:13:37and that meant that you turned every law-abiding citizen

01:13:41into, if you want to say a deputized officer,

01:13:43every citizen who was law-abiding became,

01:13:47almost everyone became an informant in that sense.

01:13:49You've got people to be police officers

01:13:51who are feeding information.

01:13:53Now that this is down to what?

01:13:568%, I believe, public trust and confidence in the DPS,

01:13:59that means that people are not going to come for the reports.

01:14:01The app has been shut down, I believe.

01:14:04They're going with suggestion boxes now.

01:14:07You know, we're really just going backwards.

01:14:08The information is not being fed into the police,

01:14:11and we are no longer, I would say,

01:14:12using proper intelligence-based policing

01:14:15and predictive policing.

01:14:18You think that, because I know that there has been,

01:14:23or there was a level of success by Mr. Griffith

01:14:29and members of his team, including you, in the past,

01:14:34but, you know, when you have these spikes in crimes

01:14:39in Trinidad and Tobago, a number of terms come up.

01:14:44Man, the state of emergency,

01:14:46a limited state of emergency, gun amnesty.

01:14:50You mentioned a little earlier

01:14:53that this is a different type of war.

01:14:57So then, Mr. Nahus, what is needed?

01:15:01So, first of all, there's no such thing

01:15:03as a limited state of emergency.

01:15:05You have a state of emergency, and that's it.

01:15:08As in, when you call a state of emergency,

01:15:10you limit all the rights of the citizens,

01:15:12and you can't just pick out one provision

01:15:14of a state of emergency.

01:15:16You call a full state of emergency,

01:15:17and that is not something that,

01:15:20I mean, that talk has dissipated now.

01:15:22Maybe people have PTSD after COVID,

01:15:25but that is not what we use to fight this right now.

01:15:28We were using it through intelligence-based policing,

01:15:31through predictive policing.

01:15:33In terms of, you said, in terms of, okay,

01:15:37gun amnesty is on school.

01:15:38You see, the problem is that the former commissioner,

01:15:42acting commissioner, sorry, Stephen Williams,

01:15:44has said, well, you know, the amnesty,

01:15:46what's the threat to amnesty?

01:15:47It means that you're coming down,

01:15:48and you're gonna get them

01:15:49if you don't abide by the amnesty.

01:15:51And it was very telling

01:15:52that a sitting acting commissioner at the time

01:15:54would say that, in that it indicated

01:15:56that he had no capability,

01:15:57or he was not able to actually enforce the law,

01:16:02which, to me, is crazy.

01:16:04But in any case, let me go away from that.

01:16:06You hear a lot of things tossed out.

01:16:08There were things that the former commissioner

01:16:10said, Gary Griffith, that,

01:16:11and I was on that team, that we would have,

01:16:14we would have really done a lot of,

01:16:17as I said, if it wasn't intelligence-based policing,

01:16:19we needed the intel, and we needed the citizens to assist.

01:16:22So I do agree with the prime minister, the minister,

01:16:25when they say they need people to assist,

01:16:26they need people to assist, people have to come forward.

01:16:28You have to do things to get people to come forward.

01:16:31People aren't just gonna come forward,

01:16:32especially in this environment,

01:16:34when you have below 10% trust and public confidence

01:16:37in the police from the public.

01:16:39What happens now is people are afraid,

01:16:41that, you know, and there are,

01:16:43there's no shortage of officers working with criminals.

01:16:47They are mostly good officers,

01:16:49but the couple, one or two here and there,

01:16:50that are working with criminals,

01:16:51and that are not affording you any real protection.

01:16:54Those are the ones people are worried about.

01:16:56And unless you deal with that,

01:16:58and you deal with policing from a PR standpoint,

01:17:02and from a PR operational standpoint,

01:17:04people are not going to have that trust to come forward.

01:17:07And if you don't have intel, you have lines.

01:17:10Is there a light at the end of this dark tunnel?

01:17:15I don't want to get political

01:17:16on Citizen Lecture next year,

01:17:18but aside from that,

01:17:19if it's not to the point where it can't be pulled back,

01:17:22because the former commissioner would have put in

01:17:25over a hundred policies that ruled in,

01:17:27would have had staff that were capable of giving,

01:17:30creating this command support system, or TTCS,

01:17:33and implementing these measures

01:17:35that the former commissioner had,

01:17:36and one implemented, re-implemented,

01:17:38but managing those systems,

01:17:40and properly managing the police service

01:17:42in that manner, a manner conducive to strike,

01:17:46and really strike any hearty gangs,

01:17:47not just police service,

01:17:49in terms of talking about,

01:17:50well, the gangs are panicking,

01:17:51and this and that, without any,

01:17:53I mean, I have no proof the gangs are panicking.

01:17:55They're having a time, as far as I'm concerned.

01:17:57But the unfortunate thing is that the further,

01:18:00the further gone we get with this situation,

01:18:03the more aggressive we have to get at fighting it,

01:18:07and the more resources will have to be tossed out.

01:18:10It's not just for the sake of tossing resources,

01:18:12but also that you're gonna have to expand a lot of things,

01:18:15and you're gonna have to really rethink,

01:18:17the more longer this goes on,

01:18:19the more you're going to have to rethink current policing.

01:18:22The police commissioner would have said earlier this week

01:18:24that the police service has not lost a handle

01:18:29on the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago,

01:18:32and another senior officer has said,

01:18:35what we can expect very, very soon,

01:18:37I suspect maybe it is already in train,

01:18:40but a sort of in-your-face type of policing.

01:18:45In-your-face, what does that mean?

01:18:47That we are going in-your-face policing,

01:18:48meaning that what?

01:18:50That sounds to me like police are gonna be stopping

01:18:52every car, or they're going to be aggressive.

01:18:55Over this, you have to be very careful

01:18:56in how you even name these initiatives,

01:18:58and how you even portray them,

01:18:59because you could encourage young,

01:19:01maybe overly-zealous officers

01:19:03into being very aggressive towards citizens,

01:19:06and towards law-abiding citizens,

01:19:08and I don't like that in-your-face policing,

01:19:10it sounds aggressive to the public, not to criminals.

01:19:14Yeah, Paul Nahus, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.

01:19:17But I just want to add in as well,

01:19:19if you think that they have not lost a handle on the situation,

01:19:2215 murders in one weekend,

01:19:24and that doesn't seem to be unusual nowadays,

01:19:25so you can, I'm just throwing that out there,

01:19:27you can judge yourself.

01:19:28Yeah, Paul Nahus, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.

01:19:31Thank you for taking the time this morning.

01:19:33We do appreciate it, bye for now.

01:19:35All right, so we must go to a very short break.

01:19:37We're coming back, everybody.

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01:21:24Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:27Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:30Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:33Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:36Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:39Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:42Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:45Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:48Inspiration through song makes our souls rejoice.

01:21:52Inspired Word of Bond. Direct from a parcel.

01:21:56Join us every Monday morning at 8.30am

01:22:00right here on TV6 for our many moments of inspiration.

01:22:05Your word is your bond.

01:22:08If you say it, mean it.

01:22:11How would us feel when people promise something

01:22:13and then bail out?

01:22:14Especially with money.

01:22:15Not nice, right?

01:22:17So why would us do it till we turn?

01:22:22Keeping your word is an essential aspect of parenting.

01:22:26Make sure that what you say lines up with your actions.

01:22:31If you promise your child something,

01:22:33follow through on that promise.

01:22:36This consistency shows your child

01:22:39that they can rely on you and trust your word.

01:22:44At the end of the day, do your best.

01:22:48Share if you found this useful.

01:22:50Like and follow CTA's profiles for more parenting tips.

01:22:54The letter of the day is W.

01:22:57W is for Word.

01:23:04This is Mary.

01:23:06Mary has bills to pay

01:23:08and takes a chance parking in front of the building

01:23:11at the no parking sign.

01:23:13Mary returns to her car

01:23:15and this is what happens.

01:23:21Mary decides to call when she's five minutes away

01:23:25to let her daughter know that she is close by.

01:23:28But Mary forgot one thing.

01:23:36After two tickets,

01:23:38Mary just isn't paying attention to her speed.

01:23:51Don't be like Mary.

01:23:53Obey the laws of the road.

01:23:55A message from the TTPS.

01:24:21Let's take a selfie.

01:24:24It looking good, boy.

01:24:26I'm putting it online.

01:24:29Hey, I thought you said you went to the beach with your parents.

01:24:34Who's you?

01:24:36It's me, Larry, from online.

01:24:41Larry, from online.

01:24:58So CTA say that they doing the ABC of parenting,

01:25:01so I say I have to get in that.

01:25:05You know anything with the ABCs?

01:25:07I like to get in that.

01:25:10I started with A for accountability.

01:25:14So you does mash up things on my side

01:25:17when you get vexed

01:25:19and then you surprised when you get called into the school

01:25:22for your child doing the same thing?

01:25:25Recognize that as a parent,

01:25:28you are one of the biggest influencers on your child's life.

01:25:32You have to acknowledge that your actions and choices

01:25:36can impact your child's development and growth.

01:25:39Take time to account for any consequences

01:25:42your actions may have on your child

01:25:45and always acknowledge that responsibility

01:25:47before saying or doing anything.

01:25:50Your actions speak louder than your words.

01:25:54But at the end of the day,

01:25:57do your best.

01:25:59Share if you found this useful

01:26:02and like and follow CTA's profile

01:26:05for more parenting tips

01:26:07as we go through the ABCs of parenting.

01:26:29We invite you to stay tuned and be in.

01:26:59I have a right to free primary school education.

01:27:20I have a right to be protected.

01:27:23I have a right to a name.

01:27:25I have a right to know my rights.

01:27:28I have a right to privacy.

01:27:30I have the right to express myself.

01:27:33I have a right to access information.

01:27:48Children have rights.

01:28:07Kousona, I come in.

01:28:10I don't give me no attitude here.

01:28:12You have she and her manners boy.

01:28:14I wish I had your touch boy.

01:28:17You have to groom them.

01:28:19First you have to target them.

01:28:21Scope them out.

01:28:23See if they have low self-esteem.

01:28:25Family problems, you know.

01:28:27Then you move in and gain their trust.

01:28:30After that, you fill a need.

01:28:33Some of them like nice things like fancy phones,

01:28:35hairdos, clothes, food.

01:28:38You have ones who only looking for somebody

01:28:40to care and listen to their problems.

01:28:42You feel me?

01:28:44What's important though,

01:28:46is to get them from the people.

01:28:48Let them believe it's all about you and them.

01:28:53Then you'll get through.

01:28:55Nice, nice.

01:28:57Look one righty.

01:28:58Try ting now.

01:29:08A message from the Counter-Trafficking Unit

01:29:10of the Ministry of National Security.

01:29:40If you know of or suspect human trafficking activity,

01:30:07call 800-4CTU-800-4288.

01:30:10Human trafficking is a serious crime.

01:30:13Identify it.

01:30:14Report it.

01:30:15Stop it.

01:30:16A message from the Counter-Trafficking Unit

01:30:18of the Ministry of National Security.

01:30:31Alright, so welcome back everyone

01:30:33and thank you very much for staying on board, right?

01:30:35So here's what.

01:30:36We just have a few more minutes before our next interview.

01:30:39Alright, so here's what.

01:30:40Let's take some calls.

01:30:41You're calling us on 623-1711.

01:30:43The extension, it's 1995.

01:30:45So you can please call us now.

01:30:46As I always say,

01:30:47a lot of things happening in Trinidad and Tobago

01:30:49and I'm sure that you want to get a lot of things

01:30:52off your chest.

01:30:53So you can call us now on 623-1711.

01:30:56The extension, it's 1995.

01:30:57We just have room for a few calls

01:31:00and a few minutes for your calls.

01:31:02Alright, so Spanish speaking students

01:31:04to attend school.

01:31:05Mahasabha enrolls 30.

01:31:08The Mahasabha has enrolled 30 Spanish speaking

01:31:11first year students in schools.

01:31:13It manages.

01:31:14At the beginning of the new school term in September,

01:31:16said Secretary General Vijay Maharaj.

01:31:19So he told the Express on a phone interview yesterday

01:31:22that one of the Mahasabha's main requirements

01:31:25for the students they take in

01:31:28is that at least one of the parents

01:31:30should be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

01:31:33Now he noted that for all of the students,

01:31:36their mothers are Venezuelan nationals

01:31:38while their fathers are TNT nationals.

01:31:41Tabakit, good morning.

01:31:43A pleasant morning to you, Mr. Hopkinson.

01:31:46Always good to hear from you, Tabakit.

01:31:47Go ahead.

01:31:49And welcome back, let me say, to the morning program.

01:31:53Thank you.

01:31:54Mr. Hopkinson, short and sweet.

01:31:57Our main problem in Trinidad and Tobago

01:32:01via the National Security Council,

01:32:04the police service, is surveillance and detection.

01:32:09And Mr. Hopkinson, as long as that remains at all time low,

01:32:15we cannot solve crime.

01:32:18That is the main problem.

01:32:20Over the weekend, we had approximately 17 murders

01:32:24and up to now, they have not apprehended anyone.

01:32:29When we solve that, then we could say we will solve crime.

01:32:33Tabakit, don't go as yet, don't go as yet.

01:32:35What's happening with the Dengue situation?

01:32:38Well, it's bad enough because knowing when you talk Tabakit,

01:32:44you're talking country, rural community.

01:32:47So I expect the Minister of Local Government,

01:32:50the Honorable Farris Alwari, will do what he has to do.

01:32:55Disperse the money, get the various stuff

01:32:58that they need to spread the area

01:33:00because these are areas that you know rural community

01:33:04is a lot of drain, is a lot of neglect in this community.

01:33:08When you talk rural community,

01:33:11what you're talking is neglect any way you have UNC representative.

01:33:17So I make a clarion call to the government,

01:33:20to the Minister of Local Government,

01:33:23to do what he has to do so we can help the people there

01:33:27so that they wouldn't fall prey to the Dengue.

01:33:30I thank you.

01:33:31All right, Tabakit.

01:33:32Always good to hear from you

01:33:34and you all need to really protect yourselves

01:33:36from that Dengue situation down there.

01:33:39Sudio, are we taking one more call?

01:33:41Please give me some guidance here.

01:33:43The Met Office warns of flooding, landslides.

01:33:45Expect 15 days of heavy rainfall.

01:33:49So parts of Trinidad and Tobago have been alerted

01:33:51to the possibility of flooding and landslides

01:33:54as increased rainfall is expected until this Friday

01:33:57on already saturated soils.

01:34:01So make sure that your roof and everything is fixed

01:34:06and get your parasols in place and so on.

01:34:09And talking about a person who always has his parasol,

01:34:12we do have Business Editor Joel Julian.

01:34:16You see that introduction, Joel?

01:34:20Joel, it's good to always see you.

01:34:23It's good to see you.

01:34:24What do you have for us this morning?

01:34:25We're talking about the Express Business.

01:34:27Yeah, so Express Business Magazine.

01:34:29Welcome back, Marlon.

01:34:30Thank you, thank you.

01:34:31So Express Business Magazine Wednesdays,

01:34:33our flagship publication.

01:34:36So one of the things that we have taking place today,

01:34:38our cover story, there's a company called Solis.

01:34:41Now Solis has been involved in office equipment,

01:34:45like commercial office equipment, printers and so on.

01:34:49And it was a family-formed company.

01:34:51They have been around for over 50 years.

01:34:54And what they have decided to do is launch

01:34:57an initial public offering.

01:34:59So they decided to make their company go public.

01:35:01So it was a family company and they now decided

01:35:04to try to raise capital to help the company progress.

01:35:10And they're trying to raise $11 million.

01:35:12So yesterday they launched their initial public offering.

01:35:17They have, I believe, it's about like 2.75 billion shares available,

01:35:23$4 a share.

01:35:24So they're inviting, they're seeking investors.

01:35:26And they're inviting the public to come and participate

01:35:29in their company.

01:35:31And one of the things they're saying is that, you know,

01:35:33they provide commercial printers and so on.

01:35:36And these things are expensive.

01:35:38So smaller companies may not necessarily be able

01:35:40to purchase a printer with this exorbitant cost.

01:35:44So sometimes they lease the product and so on.

01:35:47So Solis, what they're trying to do is they're trying to expand.

01:35:50They're trying to grow the company.

01:35:54And the way that they're offering to do that is

01:35:57invite investors to the company.

01:35:59So if you are interested in purchasing shares,

01:36:02this is a company that is listed on the small and medium enterprises

01:36:05of the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange.

01:36:08So you could become a part owner of a company like Solis

01:36:11that has been around for some time.

01:36:13Do you feel that more and more locally based companies

01:36:16are heading in this direction?

01:36:18I think it's one of the things that the stock exchange is trying to do.

01:36:21They're trying to show the smaller companies that this is a way

01:36:25to raise money.

01:36:26You want to get funding in order to, you have these visions,

01:36:29you have these goals for your company.

01:36:31How do you go about that?

01:36:33Now, the regular course of business, sometimes people,

01:36:35you might go in the bank.

01:36:37Go in the bank, try to get a commercial loan,

01:36:39or you might go to like NEDCO or some of the state agencies

01:36:43to see if you can get some sort of funding.

01:36:45This is just another avenue that people could pursue

01:36:49in terms of raising funding.

01:36:51Now, what it means is that when you go public,

01:36:54you have to ensure that your things are in order,

01:36:57all your docs lined up properly,

01:36:59that your documents are able to face public scrutiny.

01:37:04So it's just an avenue.

01:37:06One of the things that the stock exchange is trying to do

01:37:08through their CEO, Miss Eva Mitchell,

01:37:11is try to get some of these small, medium enterprises

01:37:14to become part of the stock exchange.

01:37:16And that by itself will also help the stock exchange grow

01:37:19because you'll get more people interested.

01:37:21So it's an avenue.

01:37:22We see Solace taking up the charge.

01:37:25They're the first company in like five years to be listed

01:37:28on these small and medium enterprises on the stock exchange.

01:37:32So we'll see how it goes.

01:37:33If other companies will also follow that role

01:37:36because we know that it's here at the Chamber of Industry,

01:37:39they are also trying to push that sort of initiative

01:37:42in terms of letting companies know that this is a viable option.

01:37:47It's an option they could probably try.

01:37:48But what about the concept of people investing?

01:37:51Do you think that more and more people are coming along?

01:37:53I think...

01:37:55So Trinidadians, we tend to be a little risk-averse

01:37:58in terms of investment.

01:38:00But I think people, all these things,

01:38:03you get to cross these hurdles by education.

01:38:06I think that's the process.

01:38:08So I think Trinidadians, there's money out there

01:38:11because we saw when NIF did their additional public offering

01:38:15that there was a set of money.

01:38:18It was beyond the target that they were trying to get.

01:38:21So I guess this is an option that people could probably pursue

01:38:25if you see that this is something that, right,

01:38:27I want to make money, I want to make money.

01:38:29This is not overnight, you know.

01:38:31This is something that you want to invest in.

01:38:33Yeah, I think it's an option you can look at.

01:38:35Yeah, yeah.

01:38:36I like things like that.

01:38:37I like pyramid scheme and things.

01:38:38Yeah, that's what I like.

01:38:39Lose all the money.

01:38:40Pyramid scheme.

01:38:41Go ahead, Joel.

01:38:42All right, so one of the things that I'm kind of proud of

01:38:45in experts' business,

01:38:47we try to...

01:38:50We know the climate of the country.

01:38:53Your caller would have spoken just now

01:38:55about the crime rate over the past weekend.

01:38:58I think it's like about 17 murders.

01:39:00We know what the country is facing.

01:39:02We know some of the challenges.

01:39:03We know that gun crime is impacting us.

01:39:07And we also know that there are persons in our society

01:39:10that are in positions of influence and power.

01:39:14And sometimes we tend to believe,

01:39:17looking from the outside, looking in,

01:39:19sometimes things feel as a silver spoon,

01:39:21that, you know, people just reach a position and that's it.

01:39:24But we know that there are challenges.

01:39:26We know that people reach where they are through perseverance,

01:39:31through determination, and so on.

01:39:33So what we decided to do as Express

01:39:35is we decided to have this feature in our business section

01:39:40called Behind the Suit.

01:39:42Now, what Behind the Suit basically is

01:39:44is we know CEOs, we know presidents of companies,

01:39:47managing directors.

01:39:48You might see them looking sharp.

01:39:49You might see them looking like Marlon Hopkins.

01:39:51Sharp.

01:39:52You know?

01:39:53But you do not necessarily know the story behind them.

01:39:56Yes.

01:39:57And we felt as though if we could tell these stories

01:40:00of some of these influential persons,

01:40:03it could also help.

01:40:04Like a young man in secondary school,

01:40:07now you think that, like, this is it.

01:40:10You are in a position where your family might be struggling.

01:40:14You might be from a community

01:40:15that people consider a hotspot community.

01:40:18And you might be thinking to yourself,

01:40:20I have nowhere to go.

01:40:22What we wanted to do is show that some of the persons

01:40:25that are in positions of influence and power in the society now,

01:40:29they may have also gone through those similar circumstances

01:40:32that you're facing.

01:40:34And in this edition of Behind the Suit,

01:40:37we look at none other than Nigel Edwards.

01:40:40Now, Nigel Edwards is the current executive director

01:40:43of the Unitrust Corporation.

01:40:45Unitrust is not a small company.

01:40:48Yes.

01:40:49And apart from that, he's also the chairman

01:40:51of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority.

01:40:54So this is somebody who is of influence and power.

01:40:58So we decided to focus on Nigel for this edition of Behind the Suit

01:41:03just to tell his story.

01:41:04And his story, to me, is a very fascinating story.

01:41:07Now, full disclosure, I had an editor's note

01:41:11to kind of explain what is the concept of Behind the Suit

01:41:14and also to talk a little bit about Nigel.

01:41:16Now, my mom, as I see in the editor's note,

01:41:19she entered the University of the West Indies

01:41:21as a mature student.

01:41:23She was like in her 40s, decided to go back to school, get educated.

01:41:27And one of the core courses, one of the foundation courses,

01:41:30they had to do statistics.

01:41:32Now, her undergrad was in government, politics.

01:41:36Yes.

01:41:37But she had to do statistics.

01:41:39Now, she's not a fan of statistics and stuff like that,

01:41:41but you had to pass it in order to get your degree.

01:41:44Now, during that process,

01:41:46she met this young man named Nigel Edwards.

01:41:49It was like about 30 years ago.

01:41:51And she came home one day, and it stuck in my head.

01:41:54You know, she came home one day, and she said,

01:41:56hey, there's this boy.

01:41:58She called him a boy because she's a mature student.

01:42:00He's a young man, right?

01:42:02In UWE, named Nigel Edwards.

01:42:04And he really helped her with the statistics.

01:42:06And my mom ended up getting an A in statistics.

01:42:08And she was telling us the story of this young man who just,

01:42:12he just wanted to be kind.

01:42:14You know, he knew she was struggling with the course.

01:42:16Right.

01:42:17So he used to stay back and try to assist her.

01:42:19And this is not an anomaly.

01:42:22It was, this is the kind of person he was.

01:42:24You know, he's the kind of person that would try to help other students

01:42:27that were facing difficulties.

01:42:29So that's the genesis of it.

01:42:30So we got the opportunity to sit down with Nigel

01:42:32at the Unitrust headquarters in their gym.

01:42:34They have a gym at the top of the building.

01:42:36And just have a little sit down with him

01:42:38and have a discussion with him.

01:42:40And his story is an interesting story.

01:42:42Because one of the things,

01:42:44now I'm just going to give a snippet, right?

01:42:46One of the things that happened,

01:42:48Common Insurance, SCA the other day,

01:42:50you know, we put this emphasis on SCA,

01:42:52how to pass for your first choice,

01:42:54how to do X, Y, Z, or this level of pressure.

01:42:58Now, he was topping his class in primary school,

01:43:01St. Mary's, Takerigo, so St. Mary's Anglican.

01:43:05And when it came time for Common Insurance,

01:43:08he didn't pass for his first choice.

01:43:10He didn't pass for his second choice.

01:43:11He passed for his third choice school,

01:43:13which is Tunapuna Government Secondary.

01:43:16So, you know, that's the kind of thing

01:43:18as an 11-year-old, you can kind of be shocked

01:43:20because you're accustomed to topping school.

01:43:22You know, you end up being the man in school.

01:43:23It can break you.

01:43:24It can break you.

01:43:25You know, so that is one of the aspects of his journey

01:43:29that I found fascinating,

01:43:30that a young man couldn't realize,

01:43:33no, you're now going into a secondary school

01:43:35that you probably did not want to,

01:43:37that you probably didn't consider.

01:43:38It's not the QRC.

01:43:39It's not the Fatima.

01:43:40It's not the presentation.

01:43:43But you're going to a secondary school

01:43:44that you may not have even been on your radar.

01:43:48We see that in the case of Nigel Edwards.

01:43:51And so, Nigel goes to Tunapuna.

01:43:54He's a little, the good thing about him

01:43:58is his parents didn't put that level of pressure

01:44:01for the Common Insurance.

01:44:03So, he goes to Tunapuna.

01:44:05He's not a remarkable student by any means.

01:44:07You know, he's doing his thing.

01:44:08Yeah, boy, you run away from school.

01:44:10You go court, all that, right?

01:44:12So, apart from that, he moves on.

01:44:14And one of the interesting stories that he also tells

01:44:17is that from CXC, that period between CXC and, again, A-level,

01:44:21so, again, this sort of environment we're in,

01:44:24one of his partners come and say,

01:44:25hey, hold this bag for a minute.

01:44:26Hide it for a minute.

01:44:27When you open the bag, there's a gun inside.

01:44:29Okay.

01:44:30So, he had this decision.

01:44:31You're faced with a decision.

01:44:32This is your friend.

01:44:33This is probably your best friend

01:44:35coming to give you, this is an avenue that you can go down.

01:44:39He decides to tell him no

01:44:41and tells him no and doesn't accept to hide the gun

01:44:46and stuff like that.

01:44:47So, it's like all these sorts of challenges

01:44:50that you as a person are facing.

01:44:52And there may be somebody in the community

01:44:54know you're facing that challenge,

01:44:56that specific challenge.

01:44:57So, these pieces are meant to inspire, right?

01:44:59Meant to inspire.

01:45:00It is not going to be the first or last piece, right?

01:45:03Because we are going to be seeing it.

01:45:05Yeah.

01:45:06So, we're trying to really tell the stories of people

01:45:10to inspire one.

01:45:12Because we believe that that is one of the things

01:45:14that we have to do as the organization.

01:45:16Yeah.

01:45:17Joel, we're rushing this morning.

01:45:18Yeah, of course.

01:45:19We just have about a minute again.

01:45:20All right.

01:45:21So, one of the things that also took place this week

01:45:23is we have the Trade and Investment Convention,

01:45:25which is headed by

01:45:26the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association.

01:45:29They celebrated the 25th anniversary this year.

01:45:34The TIC was held over a three-day period last week.

01:45:37Also, in today's magazine,

01:45:38we look at a couple of the entrepreneurs

01:45:40that would have been there.

01:45:42There's a woman called Madam Moringa.

01:45:44Her real name is Michelle Barton.

01:45:46Boy, Moringa, boy.

01:45:47Madam Moringa.

01:45:48So, she makes her business out of the herb Moringa.

01:45:51And also, we have UWE Made.

01:45:53Now, UWE, the University of the West Indies,

01:45:55we have all these faculties.

01:45:56And some of these faculties are doing fantastic work.

01:45:58So, you have like the Faculty of Chemistry.

01:46:01They created some sealants.

01:46:03We have the cocoa research development.

01:46:05Yeah.

01:46:06They're doing their stuff.

01:46:07So, we just look at the TIC

01:46:08and some of the things that are taking place within the TIC.

01:46:11Yes.

01:46:12And that is more or less

01:46:13a gist of our Express Business Magazine this week.

01:46:15We have some of our weekly contributors.

01:46:18We have Riyad Mohammed looking at agriculture.

01:46:20We have Mary King looking at diversification.

01:46:24And that's more or less our package for this week, Marlon.

01:46:26All right.

01:46:27Thank you, Joelle.

01:46:28We appreciate the opportunity.

01:46:29Of course, of course.

01:46:30Thank you very much for coming this morning, Joelle.

01:46:32All of this in the Express Business.

01:46:34We are going to a very short break.

01:46:35We're coming back, everybody.

01:46:36See you at 9 o'clock.

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01:47:26When I was a young boy,

01:47:40growing up in Lavantry Road in Fembo Village in Samoa,

01:47:43I really had no concept of ever becoming a manager

01:47:46or having an organization of my own,

01:47:49or even having my own house.

01:47:51And a lot of people reached out and helped me along the way.

01:47:54People who helped me who I knew, some of them I didn't know.

01:47:57And for that reason, I feel it's important now

01:48:00that I give back in any way that I can.

01:48:03All corporate social responsibility at the Esquerrez and CiteHub

01:48:06is Habitat for Humanity.

01:48:07So we are supporting the cause of alleviating poverty housing.

01:48:11And really, you don't have to have a whole lot to be able to give.

01:48:15Because what you're giving of is your time, talent, and treasure.

01:48:19So this is my appeal to you, to get involved with Habitat.

01:48:21Get on board.

01:48:23And for those of you who have received a lot,

01:48:25to those who much is given, much is expected.

01:48:39We'll do 57.

01:48:45All right.

01:48:46Prompter, prompter, let's go.

01:48:54All right.

01:48:55So welcome back.

01:48:56Bake Cancer Society is hosting its second annual Global Relay for Life event.

01:49:01To tell us more is Projects and Communications Lead

01:49:04of the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society, Shereen Mungal.

01:49:08Shereen, good morning, and thank you very much for joining us.

01:49:11Good morning.

01:49:12Thank you.

01:49:13We appreciate the opportunity to share some information on our event, Alan.

01:49:16Thank you.

01:49:17All right.

01:49:18Thank you very much.

01:49:19Well, let's talk about batting against cancer, Shereen.

01:49:22OK.

01:49:23So let me start by saying that Relay for Life

01:49:26is an initiative that started by the American Cancer Society way back in 1985.

01:49:32And over the years, they've been bringing countries upon that program.

01:49:37And two years ago, the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society

01:49:40became a member of the Global Relay for Life initiative.

01:49:43And we are required to execute an event,

01:49:47our choice.

01:49:48We can decide what we wanted.

01:49:50And last year was our first Relay for Life event.

01:49:53And this year, we decided to do something that was more in line

01:49:57and aligned with our culture and sports and culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:50:01So we decided to create Batting Against Cancer.

01:50:05And so this event takes place at Skinner Park on the 10th of August.

01:50:09And what we've done, one of the mandates for Relay for Life initiatives

01:50:14is for us to really bring communities and people together.

01:50:17So we decided to reach out to major cricket clubs across the country

01:50:22where we can have young players.

01:50:25So we decided to make two teams up.

01:50:28We're having two 10-over games.

01:50:30And the big attraction to this event, more than anything,

01:50:34is the fact that these young players are going to be inspired by our national players.

01:50:39So they play a match against themselves to win.

01:50:43And whoever wins moves on to play against a national team

01:50:47that we've pulled together with really big names in cricket in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:50:52So we're really excited about that.

01:50:54Of course, the event is not just bringing communities together,

01:50:57creating awareness on cancer, but it's about raising funds,

01:51:00much-needed funds as well.

01:51:02Yeah. And Shareen, I want you to stress on that a little bit for us.

01:51:06How important are these funds, and for what purpose are they being raised?

01:51:14Well, so the Cancer Society, you may know, it's subsidized by government, yes.

01:51:18We're a 54-year-old organization, the National Voice Against Cancer.

01:51:24And we have found the need to increase on creating awareness,

01:51:28the need to increase in our education initiatives.

01:51:32And much of the funds that are raised actually go towards programs like that,

01:51:37including screening in remote and underserved communities.

01:51:41Yes. Is there still an opportunity for teams to register for this Relay for Life?

01:51:47Well, yeah, that's why we appreciate your airtime this morning,

01:51:53because we're really appealing to not only individuals,

01:51:57but we really want to throw out a challenge to companies and organizations

01:52:01to register teams. There will be prizes to be won.

01:52:04And we really want it to be something that is fun,

01:52:07something that is entertaining, and our national cricketers

01:52:10and our club cricketers recognize that.

01:52:12So it was so easy to get them on board.

01:52:15It was easy for us to build three cricket teams in a matter of a month,

01:52:19even though we have a lot of players.

01:52:21Well, we're in cricket season, as you know, so a lot of them are traveling.

01:52:24But so many of them are giving of themselves.

01:52:26You may know Riyad Emrit, a big Trinidad and Tobago cricketer.

01:52:30He's also on the board of the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society,

01:52:34having been touched by cancer himself through his dad's passing.

01:52:39And so he really wanted to give back.

01:52:42And we have found that with a lot of the other players,

01:52:45they really want to support the Cancer Society and the initiative.

01:52:48And so we're reaching out to companies that we're doing a lot of telemarketing

01:52:52right now, but again, using your platform to ask people to register

01:52:56their groups and their teams to come and be spectators in this magnificent game.

01:53:01Yeah. And where can spectators get tickets?

01:53:05So they can reach out to us at the projects team,

01:53:08which our numbers are 280-3353.

01:53:12That's 280-3353.

01:53:14And they can email us at projects at cancer.tt.

01:53:18Also visit our website, cancertt.com.

01:53:21And there's all the information. We're all over social media.

01:53:24And so it's pretty, pretty easy to find.

01:53:26Yes. Shireen, I just have about 30 seconds.

01:53:29Yeah, go ahead. I have 30 seconds. Go ahead.

01:53:32Just to say the tickets are $100 for adults and $60 for children.

01:53:36Like I said, we're turning it into a family affair.

01:53:39So we really want the entire family to come out and to support the initiative.

01:53:43Yes. Shireen, thank you very much for speaking with us this morning.

01:53:46We appreciate it. Bye for now.

01:53:49Thank you.

01:53:50So we are going to a very short break. We're coming back, everybody.

01:53:52♪♪

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01:54:49♪♪

01:55:00A very special good morning to the mighty Trinia who religiously views the program.

01:55:04So thank you to all of the persons who would have called in on the program today,

01:55:09all of the persons who would have appeared.

01:55:11We do this all over again tomorrow.

01:55:14Have a safe day, everybody. We have this image for you.

01:55:17Bye for now.

01:55:44♪♪

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