- 1 year ago
A mother and her two children were found dead in a water tank in Tobago
Anothertriple murder was recorded
And the Auditor General's report was laid in Parliament
Anothertriple murder was recorded
And the Auditor General's report was laid in Parliament
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to the past seven days on six. I am Vanessa Cutting. Here's what made the news
00:22this past week. A mother and two children were found dead in a water tank in Tobago.
00:29A triple murder was recorded and the Auditor General's report was laid in Parliament.
00:35As per usual, if it was happening, it was on six. Let's get right into it. Tobago Police
00:42responded to a report of a gruesome find last week. The bodies of Sarah Smith, 34,
00:48and her two children, 18-month-old Phoenix Smith and three-year-old Genuine Smith,
00:53in a decommissioned water tank on Wednesday afternoon.
00:57The deaths rocked the Palatuvia community to its core.
01:01This has rocked the community of Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago and of course
01:09the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is really saddened by this situation.
01:16I can say at this point in time that our investigators are working assiduously towards
01:27bringing all together as to what is responsible for this gruesome
01:36death of these three persons. Assistant Commissioner of Police,
01:40Nicholas Hazel, as he spoke with TV6 News, the ACP is appealing to the general public
01:46to take mental health seriously and be their brother's keeper.
01:51We do have some information of a mental scenario that has taken place and therefore
02:00a strong appeal is going out to our very citizens of Tobago that we need to continue to love and
02:09care and we continue to look out for each one in situations like these.
02:18ACP Hazel is hopeful that there would be no repeat of Wednesday's shocking find in Palatuvia.
02:25If you give a call, try to reach out to someone because people are suffering
02:32in many ways in silence and therefore it is hoped that a situation like this
02:41will not take place again in Tobago. ACP Hazel told TV6 News that no signs of foul play were
02:49observed on the bodies of Sarah Smith and her two children but autopsies are to be performed
02:56to determine the cause of death. At this point in time we were able to see no signs of foul play
03:02however the body is in a state of decomposition. Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
03:10TV6 News's Elizabeth Williams met up with Jacqueline Wayne, the mother of deceased
03:16Sarah Smith, who called for answers on the disturbing situation.
03:21I come to take my grandchildren home. I didn't come to collect bodies.
03:27The voice of Jacqueline Wayne, the mother of Sarah Smith,
03:30who was found in a decommissioned Wasser tank in Palatuvia on Wednesday afternoon.
03:36Autopsies are to be conducted on the bodies on Friday. Ms. Wayne is demanding answers.
03:43Of course it should have justice. I want to know if police tell me
03:48stop paying attention to social media and all of the same,
03:52they will give me all the information tomorrow, when after the autopsy.
03:58Ms. Wayne says something about the case defies logic.
04:02Something not making sense. If you say that she and the mother also
04:11psychiatric hospital, how come we didn't find her there?
04:15Her children didn't have the children. How come?
04:23She says her daughter, Sarah Smith, made a number of bad choices but she loved her four children.
04:31I would say Sarah loved her children dearly. I just think she had made a number of bad choices
04:38and I think it was just difficult for her, right? I have her two big boys
04:52and if it was up to me alone, I would have had all of them.
04:58We asked the THA chief secretary Farley Augustine for comment.
05:02He said this is heartbreaking. The involvement of the toddlers makes it more painful. Hopefully
05:08the TTPS, forensics and autopsies will be able to tell us soon what really happened in this case.
05:16Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
05:20And in more unfortunate news, two men died in a fire at their Kanupia home on Friday.
05:26Investigators confirmed that a mother and her daughter-in-law
05:30perished in the flames after being trapped in the gallery of their home.
05:38The flames tore quickly through the house at Mangplaza Road, Persaud Avenue in Kanupia this
05:43morning with residents helpless to do anything to help those trapped inside. Sadly, 30-year-old
05:51Ambika Ali and her mother-in-law, 54-year-old Angela Ali died in the fire.
05:56Investigators say that around 11am, Richard Daniel heard screams coming from the house of
06:00his neighbour Nizam Ali. Flames and thick smoke were bellowing out of the western side of Ali's
06:06home. Daniel alerted other neighbours and ran across to the home where he met Jeremy Ali, 29,
06:12who told them that his mother Angela Ali and sister-in-law Ambika Ali were trapped inside
06:17the house. Several neighbours were able to safely get Jeremy Ali out of the house,
06:22but because of the raging flames, were unable to get to his sister-in-law and mother trapped
06:27on the northern side of the house. A team of firefighters from the Chagonas Fire Station
06:31responded to the distress call. While extinguishing the blaze, they found the charred remains of the
06:37women in the gallery on the northern side of the house. Ambika Ali's aunt said they were still
06:42trying to piece together what had happened, but it would truly be a sad day for Ambika's husband,
06:49Javed, who would not forget since he was celebrating his birthday and had left home
06:54briefly to go to Curep as they had made plans for birthday celebrations on Saturday.
07:20Investigators say they are yet to ascertain the cause of the blaze. Mark Besant, TV6 News.
07:29We had a quick break. We'll have more news when we return.
07:38Welcome back. The transfer of Tobago's two top cops, Assistant Commissioner Carlos Hazel and
07:45Senior Superintendent Rodel Kirk, had nothing to do with the spiralling crime wave in Tobago.
07:51This from ACP Hazel last week. Meantime, Chief Secretary Fahlia Ghosteen told TV6 News
07:57he welcomed the change. I want to make it abundantly clear that
08:07we are not the problem. Tobago's former top cop, Assistant Commissioner of Police Carlos Hazel,
08:14does not see his transfer to Trinidad as a demotion or him not being able to get a grip
08:21on the escalating crime situation on the island. ACP Hazel will now be in charge of the TTPS's
08:28tactical unit heading the Interagency Task Force and Guard and Emergency Branch. I would think that
08:37my transfer has nothing to do with no escalating crime. Crime is all over Trinidad and Tobago
08:44at this point in time. The transfers are to realign officers in places based on the idea
08:54that we have just promoted other senior officers, other officers, and therefore we have to be
09:00utilized best according to the leadership at this point in time. Officer Hazel hopes to one day
09:08become this country's Commissioner of Police. I want you to look at it in this way, Elizabeth.
09:16I am the most senior Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
09:24and I also have intention that one day I will sit in the chair
09:32as Commissioner of Police of this country. Hazel said the fight against crime must go on.
09:39The problem is the crime and the criminals outside there who are harassing,
09:49causing fear and panic to citizens and therefore there is a clarion call for us to continue to
09:58unite and to work with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. He is encouraging citizens to
10:04work along with the police in the fight against criminality. Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said
10:11the transfers were timely and all go well for Tobago's war on crime. He revealed that when the
10:18National Security Council met in Tobago on July 9th, a decision was taken to begin moving around
10:25members of the TTPS in order to, quote, remove the curse of complacency and in Tobago's case
10:32specifically to eradicate the contempt bred by familiarity. This is just that decision materializing
10:41after two months, end quote. The Chief Secretary expressed gratitude to Officers Hazel and Kirk
10:49for their tireless efforts in the fight against crime in Tobago and wished them success on their
10:56future endeavors. He said Mr. Hazel's new posting as head of the TTPS's tactical unit means he will
11:04continue to have a crucial role to play in the country's war against crime. Elizabeth Williams,
11:11TV6 News. Head of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George also welcomed the police shakeup
11:17in Tobago. In a video sent to the media, George said it was clear that Police Commissioner
11:23Earl Howard Christopher wanted to see change in Tobago's fight against crime. We of the Tobago
11:29Business Chamber, we fully support the Commissioner and endorse any such move to make a change to shake
11:36up things in Tobago to ensure that maybe you bring persons who are not so closely connected
11:42to the community, persons who are not from Tobago to take charge, to take leadership,
11:48and maybe they might bring fresh ideas, fresh perspectives, and we may see some drastic
11:53improvement in terms of the policing effort and the efforts to reduce crime and criminality
11:59in Tobago. So we of the Tobago Business Chamber, we fully endorse and support the move of the
12:06Commissioner to make a change because you can't, you know, I mean it's the definition of madness
12:12to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
12:17A family of three was brutally gunned down on Monday night in Piti Valley. The deceased,
12:23Marlon Lee, 41. His wife, Selena Rogers, 34, and his son, Malik Lee. Marlon Lee was said to be a
12:31laborer at the community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program.
12:35His wife was also employed with the program. Marlon's son, Malik Lee, was said to be 17.
12:41He was still in school. TV6 News was told that at about 9.36 p.m. on Monday, residents of Upper
12:47Pioneer Drive heard gunshots. Neighbors saw a group of men running from the scene and contacted the
12:52police. Officers from the Western Division responded and when they arrived, they found the family.
12:57They had been shot multiple times. Marlon Lee's body was found in a corridor between the bedroom
13:03and the living room while his son's body was in the backyard. They were both unresponsive at the
13:08time and later pronounced dead at the scene by the visiting district medical officer.
13:13Rogers was found bleeding on a bed in the room. She was later taken to the St. James District
13:19Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Relatives said that they were baffled by the
13:24killings as they did not know any of the three slain individuals to be involved in anything
13:29illegal. They also said that Marlon Lee had a 16-year-old son who had escaped the gruesome
13:34fate of his father and sibling because he was not at home when the gunmen came. Alexander Brucewall,
13:41TV6 News. This is the past seven days on six. We'll be right back.
13:48Thanks for staying with us. The Auditor General's special report was laid in Parliament on Monday
13:54but still noted an absence of evidence and signatures to support the reconciliation of
13:59the $2.5 billion understatement in the substantive report. The special report of the Auditor General
14:08in the substantive report. The special report of the Auditor General on the public accounts for
14:152023 seeks to account for an understatement of some $2.5 billion in the substantive report.
14:23That report was submitted to Parliament on April 24th and did not consider the Finance
14:29Ministry's reconciliation for the variance of $2.5 billion as visits by the Auditor General's
14:36department could not verify it. The Auditor General did say on the two days they visited
14:42the Treasury Division, the ledger system could not be opened. On May 29th, the Auditor General's
14:49department was informed the general ledger system was adjusted to reflect the increases in revenue.
14:56The special report notes the decision and approval to reopen the general ledger and make adjustments
15:03were done about two months after the error was discovered, seven months after the financial year
15:10ended and 15 months after the largest error of $2.599 billion occurred. The Inland Revenue
15:18Division explained the errors were due to decimal points being in the wrong place,
15:23which resulted in an overstatement of refund expenditure. But in the special report findings,
15:30the Auditor General notes an absence of evidence. Adjustment vouchers to authorize changes to the
15:37general ledger accounts were not signed by the Comptroller of Accounts. Debit advice
15:43slips were not examined for unusual or material transactions. Monthly reconciliation statements
15:50on the exchequer account were not prepared on a timely basis, nor were they signed by internal
15:56audit. Inland Revenue and Treasury Division documents bore no signs of examination by
16:01internal audit. Auditor General Jaywanti Ramdas' special report says to date there's no internal
16:08audit report on the reported material misstatement of $2.599 billion. The ministry explained a central
16:17bank system malfunction resulted in the erroneous generation of overstated debit advises. The CBTT
16:25corrected the inaccuracies, but the Treasury Division does not have a record of the receipt
16:30and so the error, it says, was unknown to the Inland Revenue Division. In the special report,
16:35the Auditor General concluded that there was a breakdown of internal control,
16:40an ineffective internal audit, and an apparent absence of management oversight may have contributed
16:46to the legislative non-compliance with the Exchequer and Audit Act. She recommended that
16:52the Ministry of Finance's Accounting Officer be reminded of the duties of the Accounting Officer.
16:58In the past eight years, significant findings were brought to the attention of the Finance Ministry
17:03via nine management letters sent to three of their divisions. The letters were not always
17:09responded to. Arvishi Tumwari, Rupanarayan, TV6 News. Well, one day prior, Finance Minister
17:18accused Auditor General Jaywanti Ramdas of being non-cooperative. He maintained that she refused
17:25to clarify the critical matter in the special report and failed to communicate with the central
17:30bank on two electronic systems that were in question. The minister called the developments
17:35a continued campaign of non-cooperation and criticism. The special report of the Auditor
17:41General on the public accounts for the financial year 2023. Finance Minister Coleman-Birdling,
17:46that report in the House of Representatives and referring it to the Public Accounts Committee.
17:52Issuing a statement authorized by cabinet, Inbert says the special report vindicates his ministry
17:58of Auditor General Jaywanti Ramdas' allegations. Her baseless assertion that the Ministry of Finance
18:06sought to unethically backdate the original 2023 accounts has been completely refuted.
18:14He states that the purpose of the special report was to clear the air on the controversy,
18:19which arose from a $2.6 billion discrepancy during the audit of the 2023 public accounts,
18:26which the government attributes to an overstatement of tax refunds and a subsequent
18:32underreporting of net revenue. According to the minister, an exit meeting to complete the special
18:38report was held on June 22, 2024, with staff from the Auditor General's office, including
18:45its most senior auditors, and they took a position. Openly expressed its satisfaction
18:53to the staff of the Ministry of Finance that the adjustment of $2.6 billion was appropriately
18:59accounted for. While Inbert believes the special report fails to provide that clarity that was
19:05needed for one specific reason. The Auditor General, in her audit opinion on page 25,
19:11did not state that she was satisfied that the error in the public accounts for financial year
19:172023 was corrected. We view this omission on her part as a continuing campaign of non-cooperation
19:27and criticism of public officials in the Ministry of Finance by the Auditor General.
19:33As for an affidavit filed by Ramdas on September 5, 2024, claiming that a central bank denied her
19:40access to its electronic check clearing system and therefore she could not carry out a proper audit,
19:46which she stated in the special report, Inbert has this to say. Although on September 5,
19:522024, the special report had not yet been laid in Parliament and the premature disclosure of
19:59its contents is, in our view, a breach of process. It is clear to us that the premature
20:07publication of that emotionally charged affidavit in the Sunday Express was designed to evoke
20:14public sympathy. Inbert says the request to examine the system was made via email on June 24,
20:212024, by an official in Ramdas's office, and the central bank requested further information
20:28on the scope of the examination to be carried out and expressed a willingness to meet with Ramdas.
20:33While it has received an outline of the scope of the proposed examination from a subordinate
20:40in the Auditor General's department, the bank has not yet received any correspondence
20:46from the Auditor General delegating authority to her staff to act on her behalf on this matter.
20:54The minister expresses hope that the Auditor General will respond to or meet with the governor
20:59of the central bank, who he says has committed to meeting with her. Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
21:08In other news, the United National Congress said it wants this country off the European Union
21:14blacklist and noted that it has in the past supported legislation geared toward that goal,
21:21but it objected to an amendment in the Global Forum Bill 2024, which the party said will place
21:28taxpayers' information in the hands of the Minister of Finance. The government refuted the claim.
21:34One of the pieces of legislation to be amended under the Global Forum Bill 2024
21:39is the Tax Information Agreements United States of America Act, or FATCA, legislation. One particular
21:45clause read by Finance Minister Colin Byrd has caused concern for the United National Congress.
21:52Clause 8A adds a new definition for competent authority,
21:56specifically for use in a tax information exchange agreement.
22:01In Trinidad and Tobago, the competent authority would be the minister responsible for finance or
22:06his authorized representative. For other countries, the definition would align with the specifications
22:11in their tax information exchange agreement. Well, according to Barataria San Juan MP Saddam
22:17Hussein, it is unacceptable. He states that during a 2017 joint select committee relating to FATCA,
22:24the opposition rejected that the competent authority should be the minister,
22:28and this was instead replaced with the Board of Inland Revenue in the Income Tax Act.
22:33And now surreptitiously, you go back on that particular position, Madam Speaker,
22:39and place the minister as the competent authority.
22:42He says as it relates to FATCA, the competent authority carries a lot of power,
22:47such as exchanging tax information with the Secretary of the Treasury to administer tax
22:53laws. That means the minister will be privy to taxpayers' information. That is the danger of
22:59this thing. So he can request information and also see information that is requested.
23:05Entrust these heavy responsibilities that deal with confidentiality
23:11and sensitive information in the hands of independent institutions,
23:16in the hands of independent institutions, not a politician.
23:19Hussein states that many of the other compliant countries have the equivalent of the BIR as their
23:25competent authority. However, Rural Development and Local Government Minister, former Attorney
23:31General Faris El Raoui, has this to say.
23:34But Madam Speaker, to answer the allegation from Barataria Sanjuan,
23:39the Minister of Finance still operates within the confines of the law. That is Act No. 5 of 2020.
23:48And Madam Speaker, the Minister of Finance has no usursion of authority
23:56from the Board of Inland Revenue. There is a wall legislatively constructed in this Act.
24:03The confidential information resides with the Board of Inland Revenue.
24:07It does not go to the Minister of Finance.
24:10Meanwhile, UNC leader Kamala Prasad Bissessa criticizes the government for what is being
24:14called an omnibus legislation, with voluminous amendments from the EU Global Forum,
24:21as admitted by the Finance Minister. Imbert states that he received those EU amendments
24:27on Thursday night. But this isn't sitting well with Prasad Bissessa,
24:31who at a time of the debate revealed she had not seen the recommendations.
24:38We have a duty to pass law in keeping with the best interests of the people of Trinidad and
24:44Tobago. And you blindside us. You blindside us. Wednesday, you say we're doing this.
24:49Yesterday, we're going through all stages of this 190 pages until you're coming out.
24:54I don't know what's on the table, the amendments. Have they been tabled, Madam? I don't know.
24:58Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
25:02Sport is up next. Keep it here.
25:11In sport, the Soka Warriors picked up their first point with a goalless draw against French Guyana
25:17in the CONCACAF Nations League last week. The Warriors were unfortunately not sharp in front
25:22of the goal, failing to convert on some good chances, leaving them bottom of the six-team
25:28table on one point. The Dwight York Stadium wasn't packed,
25:32but the fans saw TNT looking to be on the front foot as Dwayne Mockett had the French Guyana
25:36keeper at full stretch. The South Americans would ask questions as well, forcing Denzel Smith into
25:42action. But TNT would come closest to scoring from this Daniel Phillips blast.
25:47As a shot off the post. And this is Phillips' shot. It beat Faham.
25:54However, the scoreline was still a stalemate at the intermission.
25:58The Soka Warriors would make five changes in the second half, but would still struggle to
26:02convert chances. Rian Moore, in hindsight, would expect to have done better there.
26:11The home team would create great openings, but failed to deliver on any.
26:16This one ending in a goalless stalemate as both TNT and French Guyana picked up their first point
26:23in Group B. Terence Clark, TV6 Sports.
26:45Thanks for choosing TV6. Have a great evening.
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