00:00Really quickly, I've got the tail end of your address to CPEP workers, yeah?
00:04Yeah, yeah.
00:05But what is the main point, what is the key issue that you're dealing with here today?
00:08Well, the key issue is that we have, there are a number of lawyers that have come together
00:14for the purposes of representing the CPEP workers and the contractors, pro bono.
00:20We believe that this is a deliberate attempt by the government.
00:25This is a vindictive attempt.
00:27CPEP is something that is very close to our heart.
00:31It's something that started under Patrick Manning.
00:34And you can see that this is not an isolated incident, whether it is WASA workers, whether
00:39it is LSA, whether it is CPEP, whether it is reforestation, it is absolutely clear that
00:45they have decided that they are going to send people home.
00:48This is July month.
00:49This is the month when, you know, you're expecting to buy books, buy shoes, buy clothes.
00:55And a lot of the people here are single mothers.
00:57So, I mean, this speech that was given by the Honorable Prime Minister, and clearly today,
01:02she spoke about love and love, you know, how much she loved the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
01:05This is not love.
01:06This is abuse.
01:07And the fact is, we are coming together with the workers.
01:10We are going to take the matters to court and we're going to do our best to protect the
01:15rights of the CPEP workers and the CPEP contractors.
01:17It's almost as if, you know, the theme of the speech on Parliament today by the Prime
01:21Minister, you're saying you're not seeing that executed.
01:24No, it's not.
01:25It's not executed.
01:26I mean, you would recall that when the Prime Minister took her oath at President South,
01:29Prime Minister spoke about loving the public, loving the people, doing everything to love.
01:34And she mentioned it again today.
01:35I wrote it down.
01:36And yet still, look at the hundreds of people, right, who are on the breadline.
01:42And what is the reason why?
01:43They can't give you a reason why, right?
01:45So they obviously decided long ago that almost every day or every week they are going to send
01:53somebody home.
01:54And we, the People's National Movement, we will not stand idly by and allow them to abuse
02:00workers.
02:01They have joined with the trade union movement and they say in joining with the trade union
02:06movement, they are looking after the interests of workers.
02:08But this, this activity is not after looking at the interests of workers.
02:13You mentioned, just before you go, if you don't mind, you mentioned yesterday they talked
02:17about your dad and so on in terms of CPEP contracts and you told the crowd something
02:21but didn't get it exactly.
02:22Could you just repeat it?
02:23My father died 10 years ago.
02:24It's public knowledge.
02:25I mean, my father had a CPEP contract in 2002 when the government changed.
02:30Of course, the UNC came into office yesterday.
02:32Like many other persons, they took away the contract.
02:34But they are now putting it out in the public domain that he has five CPEP contracts with.
02:38My father is still alive.
02:40My father died more than 10 years ago.
02:42Right?
02:43And it's deliberate.
02:44And they also made the same comments about my colleague's father here from-
02:47And Randall Mitchell.
02:48And Randall Mitchell from St. Anne's, from St. Anne's East.
02:52So the point is that they are also targeting MPs and they are putting it out in the public
02:57domain as though, I mean, that something was wrong was done.
03:01The truth is, like everybody else, I mean, they would have applied and they would have been
03:06successful.
03:07But, I mean, as I said, that since more than 15 years ago, there's no contract.
03:13I'll be guided by the attorneys here.
03:14Yes.
03:15Is there anything called a class action lawsuit in Trinidad as far as I know?
03:19But can something like that be filed in the issue of, let's say, a number of persons like
03:24what happened at CPEP?
03:24Yes.
03:25So why is this not a, wouldn't be considered a class action?
03:34We are, the first thing that we have done, we have filed a substantive claim for breach
03:40of contract in the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago against the CPEP Company Limited
03:45yesterday.
03:46Um, we have also, we also filed, um, a notice of application for injunctive relief, um, that
03:52was served on the CPEP Company Limited and their attorneys.
03:56I could, I can confirm that the attorney on record for the CPEP, um, Company Limited is,
04:01um, Freedom Law Chambers headed by Mr. Anandram Logan, Senior Counsel, and they are representing
04:06the CPEP Company.
04:07We are led by Mr. Lara, Mr. Larry Lara, Senior Counsel, and we will have our day in court very
04:12soon, and, uh, we expect that the principal relative to the breach of contract would be,
04:18um, properly ventilated before the Honourable Court, and there are other, there are other
04:22actions that we intend to bring, including.
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