SSA NOT SPYING ON POLITICAL OPPONENTS SAYS PM

CCNTV6

The Prime Minister slams Opposition claims that the state's intelligence is being used to spy on the Government's political opponents. Dr. Rowley says that's a "blatant untruth."  This, as another Opposition MP questioned the role of the intelligence agency concerning the State of Emergency .  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00The last point I wish to raise is the question of the SSA and the better

00:04utilization of it in the in the state of emergency. Not only should we have it

00:10working but we should be monitoring carefully to see whether we get a value

00:14for money. Outgoing Napa Rima MP Rodney Charles speaking on behalf of the

00:19opposition in the House of Representatives after nine o'clock on

00:22Monday night as he made his contribution to the debate for a three-month

00:26extension of the state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago. MP Charles focused

00:31on the SSA the Strategic Services Agency which has a mandate to gather

00:36intelligence for law enforcement. In March of last year the SSA's director

00:41was sent on leave and was subsequently fired. The office of the Prime Minister

00:46then announced the new acting SSA director retired a Brigadier General

00:51Anthony Phillips Spencer was engaged in initiating an extensive review and

00:56audits of the agency. The question of the cause the reason why we're here

01:01today is it because they say that that there are gangs and there's a possible

01:06possibility of retaliation and my view is that if we had a properly functioning

01:12SSA they would have been able to monitor it's not 10,000 people more

01:17monitor the communications infiltrate and know what plans they have to

01:22retaliate and if we knew the plans that they had to retaliate perhaps we might

01:26not have to be here today because that is the reason. However when Prime

01:30Minister Dr. Keith Rowley wound up the lower houses debate on the three-month

01:34extension of the SOE he directly responded to another point about the SSA

01:39raised on behalf of the opposition by Barataria San Juan MP Saddam Hussein. We

01:45have the SSA in this country in charge of intelligence in charge in charge of

01:49intelligence gathering. Legislation was passed in this Parliament to widen the

01:54scope and power of intercepting communication Madam Speaker but what

01:59this government has done is weaponize the SSA against political opponents

02:03rather than the criminals Madam Speaker where the intelligence supposed to be

02:08Madam Speaker I want tonight to categorically deny that and to ask my

02:18colleagues on the other side to point to one instance that any one of them can

02:25get up in this Parliament and say this is what has happened involving any

02:31member of the SSA in abusing the authority of the SSA against any

02:36political opponent in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a blatant untruth. Prime Minister

02:44Rowley linked MP Hussein's statement to the criticisms about the state's war on

02:49crime leveled against the government by the opposition. Unlike much of what

02:54they've said they're right said to some good but at variance with the fact that

03:03hoping that of course it will sound like something the government is

03:08accountable for and in the normal situation go on to call on the

03:14government to apologize for people murdering people. Prime Minister Rowley

03:18told the Parliament in October of last year that the audit of the SSA had

03:22revealed that there had been persons within the agency who were being trained

03:27to replace the political directorate. The Prime Minister who chairs the National

03:32Security Council also told the Parliament late last year that as of

03:36March 2024 28 SSA employees were terminated for violations of the SSA Act

03:42and regulations. However the government has since described the SSA as the

03:47premier intelligence gathering agency. Jule Brown TV6 News

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