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CCNTV6
  • 11 months ago

So what can citizens expect during the State of Emergency when schools reopen for the new term in January 2025?

And what about the Carnival season?

Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript
00:00Basically a state of emergency is the suspension of certain constitutional
00:05rights. The police service will be given the powers to search premises without
00:11warrants, to search persons without warrants who they have suspicions of
00:16carrying out criminal activities, a lot of it associated with illegal firearms.
00:21Acting Attorney General Stuart Young during the media conference at the
00:24National Security Ministry's head office in Port of Spain on Monday while the
00:28police made their presence felt by way of a roadblock exercise in one part of
00:33Port of Spain what appeared to be a strategic exercise. The acting AG noted
00:37that the Prime Minister said a state of emergency is going to have
00:41inconveniences and urged the public to work with the authorities. While the SOE
00:46at this time does not include a curfew it will be in effect when schools reopen
00:51in January. A message of course to parents just because there are some
00:55Absolutely and I appreciate that question. At this stage this declaration
01:00of a state of emergency does not affect our day-to-day lives apart from the
01:04inconveniences that you will face. I ask the public to please work with the
01:10authorities. And what about the work of the 2025 carnival season the nation's
01:15largest tourism revenue earning period? One of the decisions taken was in the
01:21not having a curfew and in not preventing gatherings of people and
01:26movements of people that is one of the things. However Minister Young said he
01:30cannot predict what is going to happen over the next three months during a
01:34state of emergency aimed at reducing the high level of acts of gun violence
01:39including murders. Once the SOE ends we wouldn't want to see an increase or
01:46things going back to how it had been. What can you tell the public about that?
01:49Absolutely there's little that we can tell the public at this stage about it.
01:52We are providing the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and the Defense Force
01:56with a significant constitutional tool where I think it one of you all said it
02:04is going to be targeted operations utilize it to the best of your ability
02:09to try and protect us the population. While the People's Partnership
02:13Administration declared the 2011 SOE a success lawsuits against the state
02:19followed. This is a court of appeal case that talks all about the illegalities
02:24and the errors made with the 2011 state of emergency that has now frontally
02:30been provided to Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. We at the government
02:34level have studied it in our drafting and in the laws that we will pass.
02:37However those who have to carry out the activities during this public state of
02:43emergency will best be guided by this by this decision. The Acting Attorney
02:48General said he has been in contact with the Acting Chief Justice concerning the
02:52setting up of a tribunal for the state of emergency.
02:55Jewel Brown TV6 News
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