Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 2 months ago
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced backpay payment for NIB workers

The new school year got off to a violent start

and more URP workers were terminated
Transcript
00:00thanks for staying with us well-behaved children have nothing to fear the words at the top cup on
00:10the first day of the new school year as armed and unarmed police officers were deployed at a number
00:16of schools across the country so just a further warning to the parents over there keep your
00:23children in check the well-behaved children who are here for that particular purpose of getting
00:29an education have nourishing the fear for my officers it's those errant ones who want to
00:33bring disruption to the education facility and the system those are the ones that would have to fear
00:39top cop balista covaro is doubling down on this vow to have the ttps deal with out-of-control
00:46children in a better to curb escalating school violence and in discipline the majority of
00:52right-thinking parents want to see their children inside of a safe environment where they will not
00:58be bullied or extorted or beaten on a daily basis how would you respond to those parents who need a
01:06little reassurance the reassurance is put yourself in a position where your child is attending a school
01:11and you get that phone call come by the hospital the child has a broken collarbone ribs a broken arm
01:17lacerations and this is something that is real and has happened in the past so put yourself in the
01:23position of those parents who now have to go and nurse their children back to help from a hospital
01:27ward and think if you wouldn't want police officer in your school at least two officers one male and
01:33one female will be posted at each of the selected schools the list of which has not been made public
01:40but the police commissioner has confirmed that some officers will be armed
01:45i will not get into what each officer has in terms of being armed or unarmed whatever
01:52because it is all based on assessments that were done which will dictate what the officers will be required to utilize
02:01the police officers must be able to protect themselves the members of staff and the other students
02:07so i'm not sure if you all want them to come to karate classes but my officers will be appropriately armed to treat with the inherent risk
02:18the top cop says the officers who have been deployed to schools have received specialist training
02:24the initiative is to be assessed and reviewed over a six-month period
02:29so the interaction with students shall be minimal all right they are not here to take over or be a part of the
02:36the education system they are part of the law enforcement initiative that will then be monitored and evaluated to see how we can tweak it
02:45and if incidents should arise the police will first serve as a response to treat with that immediate threat
02:51and then when that is over we'll know what investigative methodologies that need to be applied and if anything
02:58are persons to be charged there are particular processes to be adopted because we are dealing with children
03:03we have the children's judges rules and particular scenarios within different legislations that would come into effect
03:10Gasparullo Secondary School, St. Madeleine Secondary School and La Romaine Secondary School are among the schools in the south
03:18to get a compliment of officers however in the days that followed there was a fight between a teacher and a student
03:25within the first three days of the new school year there have already been at least two violent incidents involving school children
03:38however the two incidents making the rounds on social media involve a teacher and a student and a parent and a student
03:46in the video student of Eldorado East Secondary School can be heard questioning where the assigned police officer was at the time of the incident
04:01it's the question also on the lips of the NPTA president because this school is one of those schools on the list of at-risk schools and while we know that a police officer can be
04:13in all places at all times we question where was the police officer at this particular time when this parent slapped the student
04:28nevertheless the NPTA is denouncing the parents behavior
04:32it should never be the remit of any father to take matters into his own hands and intervene in situations involving two students
04:44disagreements and infractions between students are guided by established regulatory procedures in the school
04:53and certainly by the established national school code of conduct which deals with such eventualities
05:02this particular school is under the ambit of the school oriented police unit and as such this now brings into question a legal matter
05:15on wednesday the ministry of education issued a release condemning the altercation between a teacher and a student
05:22of a remand north secondary school and indicating that a full investigation had been initiated
05:28however as of earlier today tutor told tv6 news no ministry officials had visited the school
05:36tuta has been informed that officers of the trinidad and tobago police service visited the arima north secondary school this morning
05:48and addressed the assembly of students we were informed that the officers were strict with their warnings to the students present
06:01tuta cannot confirm whether the teacher reported for duty or if the student involved was at school today
06:12up to the time of this recording the team from the ministry of education did not report to the school in order to lend support or receive any reports
06:28tuta awaits the findings of the report and that the recommendations for any action be taken
06:37the tdbs gave an update on the matters
06:41police are looking into an incident where a parent of one student slapped another student outside of the el dorado secondary school on september 9th
06:49this has been confirmed by deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations junior benjamin
06:54who states that the incident occurred around 3 pm as the victim was awaiting transportation
07:00he says the father of another student allegedly came out of his vehicle slabbed the child before returning to his vehicle
07:07and driving off with his son
07:09the victim of 15 year old student as well as the father of that student made a report to the tunapuna police station
07:19and immediately an investigation was launched
07:24pc hines would be was the one assigned to do the investigation
07:28we are saying based on the facts that is before us
07:32the situation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by detroit and tobego police service
07:38police visited the arima north secondary school on thursday
07:42a day after there was a physical altercation between a student and a teacher
07:47several other officers proceeded to the arima north secondary school today
07:51and the set officers engaged the school assembly
07:56they were able to speak to the students and to share with them
08:03and to share with them that there is a zero tolerance that would be taken even as we go forward within this school year
08:14in terms of any breach of discipline
08:17and any situation where the police would be called in to deal with fights
08:23according to benjamin the message was well received by staff and students
08:28the ttps says that school was initially placed on its list for the stationing of armed police officers
08:35under the school oriented policing unit
08:38however the final list was based on the education ministries rankings
08:42and the school ended up being off the list
08:45so it was one of the schools that
08:48even prior to this situation
08:51we would be paying particular attention or we had paid particular attention to
08:55and will continue to pay particular attention to
08:58so
08:59rest assured that they are on all this
09:02and we will continue the committee policing
09:05as well as the officers of the northern north
09:08will pay particular attention to that school
09:10alicia boucher tv6 news
09:13this is the past seven days on six we'll be right back
09:18welcome back
09:25unemployment relief program workers across several regions
09:30were given termination notices last week
09:33as the government continues what it says is restructuring of make work programs
09:37minister khadija ameen said the process will weed out corruption
09:41and allow for the creation of meaningful employment
09:45scores of europe workers at the administrative level were sent home today
09:50joining the daily paid laborers who were sent home several weeks ago
09:54letters dated september 4th were distributed to a number of workers today saying quote
10:00as you are aware in accordance with the terms of your employment
10:04your appointment can be terminated at short notice
10:07accordingly it is with deep regret that i inform you of the immediate termination of your appointment
10:13it should be noted that you will be paid one month's salary in lieu of notice end quote
10:19a source at urp tells tv6 news
10:22roughly six thousand laborers would have been the first to be sent home
10:26followed by some program and deputy program managers and regional managers
10:31with clerical assistance coordinators and other support staff receiving letters today
10:38contacted for comment minister of rural development and local government khadija ameen confirmed the terminations
10:45we did not callously terminate people immediately as government change even though that has been the tradition and the norm and that was what the pnm did
10:54since winning election it has been five months and as the prime minister indicated we are looking at restructuring these programs
11:03so while we allow the workers to continue as we go more advanced into the restructuring
11:09those persons are now being terminated
11:13when the pnm took office they terminated the urp workers immediately the very week they won the election
11:20but we chose not to do that
11:22so yes people are being terminated
11:25but what you will have is more meaningful employment being created
11:30people having better paying jobs as well as in terms of the type of work that they are doing
11:37will be contributing to society in a bigger way
11:40the minister stresses that the restructuring process will weed out deep rooted corruption in the program
11:46many of the pnm mps facilitated those ghost gangs they facilitated the corruption
11:53there was a senior urp employee at the head office whose daughter is a student at mona campus in jamaica
12:01who was in jamaica and receiving a salary for an office position that she did not report to
12:10so all this blatant corruption under the pnm has to be removed for that money to be used for meaningful employment
12:20pnm mp for san fernando east brown manning said the mass urp firings which took place was political victimization
12:28the sales was at the pinch myself who is none of those we are monthly paid workers
12:34former urp workers from san fernando east expressed disappointment and anger over notices of immediate termination
12:42received on wednesday from the minister of rural development and local government
12:47we have bills to pay we have mortgage to pay which include agc and all that so what you want me to do
12:53pack up ourselves and go by khadijah i mean the house and sit down the honorable kamala bisesa
12:58which she said when you and see when everybody win which is a totally blatantly lie
13:04because to me when you and see when she win and she not victimizing us alone her own people are getting victimized
13:10because which of which upon us you see on our forehead mac pnm unc another former employee says
13:17to some extent it was expected but many hoped mass firings would not come from day one when we see
13:25okay election call okay the party out of power we know what has come i don't mind what i trying to
13:32say we're fixing what we say we have to fix and it of course as you all say right i will say it of course
13:39everywhere you work it does have people as fall through the cracks that is too stupidness but you cannot tell us
13:45it's all of us the woman attended a press conference called by their member of parliament
13:50brian manning on thursday manning called the layoffs political victimization and assured workers
13:56that the pnm would fight on their behalf we are here to say that we believe that san fernando east
14:03is being victimized by the ministry of rural development and local governments we are going to refer
14:09these workers here along with others who decide to sign up to our the pnm attorneys so that they can
14:17take this mark to the court in the laws of trend and today you cannot fire people without cause
14:22mp manning says programs like c-pep and urp serve the most vulnerable and there should have been a
14:29better way to revise the program cindy raguva tika singh tv6 news sport is up next keep it here
14:38keep it here
14:45in sport sad news as the trend vehicle night riders suffered defeat at the bat of the barbados royals
14:53at kensington oval here's a look back
14:59tkr were put into bad by barbados royals in the republic bank cpl match in bridgetown with chris green doing some
15:05early damage in the innings it was a poor start from the night riders who lost quick wickets
15:12green grabbed three to make it forty one for four
15:19captain nicholas puran and karen pollard then did some repair work with a partnership of seventy one
15:26pollard fell to ramon simmons for 36
15:33daniel samms ended with two wickets
15:40and so too did simmons
15:45puran fell for 45 after which akil hossein hit an unbeaten 23 of six balls
15:51in the end tkr closed on 166 for eight from their 20 overs
15:58that has disappeared
16:01in reply the royals got a good start from their openers
16:06first ball six
16:08quinton de kock was the main contributor for the men in pink
16:11he has smashed up
16:13both de kock and kadim alain put on 87 in nine overs
16:17alain was out to akil hossein for 36
16:24uzman tarik picked up two wickets by removing de kock for 55
16:29out of nowhere they have manufactured a wicket
16:33and then the other south african rassi van de dusen for seven
16:36the boundary pressure has been built
16:41but captain rovman powell and shoafaine rutherford would see them home
16:45exceptional
16:48rutherford made 32 not out while powell was unbeaten on 27
16:52the royals who were playing for pride reached 172 for three from 19 overs
16:57to win by seven rickets
17:00and no one with the bats
17:02they don't know any t6 sports
17:04and that's a wrap on the past seven days on six i am runessa cutting
17:08if you didn't catch this segment in its entirety you can find it on our website
17:12www.tv6tnt.com
17:16and you can find all these stories and more on the tv6 mobile app
17:21thanks for choosing tv6 and do have a great evening
17:51good evening and welcome to the past seven days on six
17:58i am runessa cutting
18:01here's what made the news this past week
18:04prime minister kamala passad possessor announced a back pay payment for niv workers
18:10the new school year got off to a violent start
18:13and more urp workers were placed on the breadline
18:16as per usual if it was happening it was on six
18:20let's get right into it
18:23the first budget of the new unc led government will be delivered in the house of representatives sometime early next month
18:30it was announced by prime minister kamala passad possessor on friday
18:34as she announced the back pay payments for workers at the national insurance board
18:39i know for the past months we're getting the money we're getting money
18:43minister the money is there
18:44it's a user creativity the intelligence and your integrity to place the money where it rightfully goes
18:51prime minister kamala passad possessor in the house of representatives
18:54giving an apparent response to consistent questions from the opposition
18:59about her administration's plans to fund its twenty twenty five general election campaign promises
19:06and in doing so the prime minister also answered in part
19:09when the nation can expect her administration's budget for the government's twenty twenty five twenty six financial year
19:17as the opposition has said her administration's stated efforts to get rid of corruption and state funded programs such as c-pep and urp has led to the dismissal of thousands of workers
19:29our budget statement will be in early october
19:32we will share with you many more ideas we have for creating more revenue streams and of course for creating more jobs so i will not go into that today
19:41the prime minister had first begun to deliver a written statement regarding the two thousand and fifteen to twenty twenty five former pnm-led government
19:50and what she said was a legally binding collective agreement entered into between the public services association of trinidad and tobago
19:59the psa and the national insurance board the nibtt for the period january first twenty fourteen to december thirty first two thousand and sixteen
20:10the former administration deliberately blocked the nibtt from honoring its obligations to workers
20:17in doing so they denied six hundred current employees and three hundred and fifty past employees their lawful entitlements for many years
20:27effectively withholding salary increases that had been due for over twelve years
20:33they placed political interference above the law they sacrificed justice on the order of expediency
20:39and in the process they rubbed thousands of our citizens of their rightful salary adjustments and arrares
20:45the prime minister told the house of representatives that her government has acted decisively to correct what she called this grave injustice
20:54this action is not only about back pay and arrares it is about honoring lawful agreements
21:01defending fundamental rights and providing that in a just democracy no citizen is ever beneath the protection of the law
21:09or beyond the reach of fairness accordingly my cabinet has directed the nibtt to do the following to implement the agreed salary adjustments with immediate effect
21:21prime minister passard besessa also said her cabinet has also agreed to facilitate the full and prompt payment of all outstanding arrares to affected employees without delay
21:38this is not merely the execution of a contract this is the restoration of justice and fulfillment of our workers agenda
21:51and this is mr speaker i am proud to see the delivery of another campaign promise where you want to know where we are getting the money
21:59we will find the money to do the right thing to make sure to make sure that the workers are taken care of
22:05the prime minister did not give the exact date in october when finance minister davidjanath tanku
22:11will deliver the statement for the first budget of the new unc led government in the house of representatives
22:18jewel brown tv6 news
22:22while the public services association welcomed the move saying it brings long overdue justice to workers who were forced into years of legal battles to secure what was rightfully theirs
22:33according to the public services association the payments stemmed from a registered collective agreement
22:39that was blocked under the former people's national movement administration by then finance minister colman bird
22:46the union said the decision to withhold the payments forced a protracted legal battle at the industrial court
22:53in a statement the psa thanked the current united national congress administration and
22:59prime minister kemla pissard possessor for fulfilling their promise to workers under the government's workers agenda
23:06the union says the directive signals the government's respect for workers rights and the collective bargaining process
23:11president of the public services association felicia thomas said quote to the hard-working employees of the nib i thank you for your patience resilience and unwavering support during this challenging period your solidarity has been the backbone of this struggle and this victory belongs to you end quote prior to the 2025 general election the psa had declared its support for the
23:29the unc and its coalition partners the association would no doubt be hoping for more positive news in the upcoming budget presentation in october particularly on the proposed 10 percent wage increase which prime minister
23:51pisad pissard possessor had promised to deliver act your goldstein tv6 news in other news for the u.s court of holding judgment in the piaquil international airport matter this country no stands to
24:06benefit over one billion dollars in restitution from attorney general faris al-arawi said that prime minister must stay at her position on the matter and the country must pay close attention to whether the attorney general faris al-wari said the prime minister must stay at her position on the matter and the
24:17and the country must pay close attention to whether the Attorney General moves to recover the monies.
24:24You're looking at close to 1.4 billion TT dollars that is at the pot of the Trinidad and Tobago people.
24:34This is unprecedented victory. I challenge anybody in this room or in this nation to show me where 1.4 billion dollars has been successfully pursued in terms of a judgment.
24:53The golden question right now is show me the money.
24:55With the Piyako International Airport matter one step closer to being concluded for good, former Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who was instrumental in the litigation of the initial case,
25:08is calling on former PNMAG, common UNC Attorney General John Jeremy, to ensure TNT gets its just due in the matter.
25:16We are in this interesting scenario where Mr. Jeremy has been properly vindicated against all the allegations of scandal that stood against him by the UNC.
25:27And very interestingly, he is now the man who will have to carry out the recovery exercise for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
25:36A judgment of the United States of America to be effective in Trinidad and Tobago has to be introduced via a process.
25:47The United States of America is not a participant in the reciprocal endorsement of judgments under law.
25:55So therefore, you have to make an application to the courts in Trinidad and Tobago to reseal that judgment.
26:01In other words, then, to bring the U.S. judgment to Trinidad and Tobago.
26:05Criminal proceedings in the matter have never taken place locally.
26:10After more than two decades of litigation, it is U.S. courts which have delivered judgment against former UNC financier Steve Ferguson and former UNC minister Brian Kwaite-Tung.
26:21Al-Rawi is questioning Prime Minister Kamla Pasad-Bissetta's position on the matter.
26:26The Attorney General and the Prime Minister in particular, what her position is in relation to this matter.
26:32Because Mrs. Pasad-Bissetta served as the Attorney General once in this country in these very PRCO airport matters.
26:41And when she served as the Honourable Attorney General, Mr. Ramesh Lawrence-Miraj had a lot to say about what did not go right.
26:51It's going to be very interesting right now to see the AG's vigour to pursue this money.
26:58More particularly, the Prime Minister's vigour.
27:00Because our Honourable Prime Minister is the one who said, I'm going to bust your head if you talk to people alleged to be corrupt.
27:09Al-Rawi confirms that the matter can be further appealed, but says at this stage, the verdict is unlikely to change.
27:17We had to a quick break. We'll have more news when we return.
27:19We'll have more news when we return.
27:21We'll have more news when we return.
27:22We'll have more news when we return.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment