00:00There's word that the Commissioner of Police, Alistair Guevara, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Suzette Martin,
00:06will be out of the country from October 16th to the 22nd.
00:10Both senior officers will be attending an International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Denver, Colorado, in the United States.
00:19The motion to have Junior Benjamin act as top cop for the period and Kurt Simon to act as DCP
00:26was brought to the House by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander.
00:32The opposition, while not against the acting appointments,
00:35believes more thought should have gone into approving the Commissioner's travel
00:39as the country is in a state of emergency, and there has been a recent uptick in murders,
00:45and the exchanges between both sides intensified.
00:49We are seeing that the issue of the state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago
00:54should be one that should have weighed heavily on the decision to have those two officeholders
01:01absent themselves from the jurisdiction at this point in time.
01:04I thank you, Mr. Speaker.
01:06I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that the substantive Commissioner will not be on a golf course
01:12while murders continue in Trinidad and Tobii.
01:16Mr. Speaker, 48-1.
01:18That was only the beginning, as MP Padarat continued to hammer the opposition,
01:33and the opposition in turn sought intervention from the Speaker.
01:36But the Speaker's ruling also came into question from the opposition,
01:40which eventually led to a walkout.
01:42It is a member for Aruka Lopino, which opened the door.
01:47It is a narrow portion, but that door was open.
01:49Mr. Speaker, you stopped him. You prevented him.
01:52I stopped him on crime and murders, 23 murders in three days.
01:57But that is what the member was speaking about, the crime rate and the number of murders.
02:01Mr. Speaker, I'm only using what you had ruled on.
02:05Overruled. Just continue. Just skip along. Let's get on with it.
02:09Mr. Speaker.
02:13As previously indicated.
02:16As previously indicated, Mr. Speaker, you can run, but you cannot hide.
02:22You can run, but you cannot hide, Mr. Speaker.
02:24As the members of the opposition exit the parliament, once more advocating their duty to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Speaker.
02:36We say to them, you can run, but you cannot hide.
02:43Minister of Homeland Security.
02:44Now, this.
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