00:00The newly declared state of emergency is not expected to affect daily life or business
00:05operations. That's according to both government and private sector representatives who spoke
00:12at the Trade and Investment Convention 2025 in McCoy. The second day of TIC 2025 carried
00:19on as planned just hours after the declaration of a state of emergency.
00:24Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development Dr. Kennedy Swarid Singh addressed
00:31the issue during his appearance at the event.
00:33Well, the issue is a targeted issue based on what the police would have put out this morning.
00:38So that is a specific activity that the police are very capable of dealing with.
00:42Will this affect in terms of, you know, the administrative planning?
00:45It wouldn't affect anybody in Toronto and Tobago.
00:47TTMA President Dale Parson was also present and gave his take on the potential impact.
00:53So I don't think that this SOE is going to impact the general population. I mean, you can look
00:58around the places, it's crowded. I think this is a targeted SOE. And this is specific to a particular
01:04group of citizens of China that are causing this disruption.
01:12He added that he does not believe there will be drastic incidents, nor will it affect investments.
01:19They are taking the time to make sure that nothing drastic doesn't happen. So this is a good thing.
01:27And I don't think it's going to deter any investors. In fact, I think it's going to have the reverse effect.
01:32People on the outside are going to see this and even the general population are going to see this as a proactive step
01:37to try and deal with the problem before it comes.
01:40Parson also weighed in on the potential motives behind the move.
01:44I think this is targeted more at, and this is yet to be confirmed, but it's a group of criminals from
01:52within prison and outside prison that are fostering these kidnappings that we see happening now.
01:57He also speculated that the recent criminal activity could be linked to the termination of over 300 CPAP workers' contracts.
02:13The SOE was officially declared shortly after midnight following a recommendation by Commissioner of Police Alistair Guevaro.
02:21In a statement, the Commissioner said the move followed intelligence, indicating the rise of a coordinated and dangerous criminal network operating from within the prison system.
02:33TIC 2025 continues through Saturday. For now, officials maintain that the state of emergency remains a focused security measure, with no broad impact on citizens or commerce.
02:46Feshana Pagu, TV6 News.
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