00:00What you're seeing here now in terms of this SOE is not our crime plan. We have a 10-point crime plan for every year. So we haven't started, really. So we hope that person understands that.
00:16Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander responding to a question from TV6 News as he spoke with the media following the government's launch of the Trinidad and Tobago revitalization blueprint. The event took place at the Diplomatic Center in St. Anne's less than a week after the House of Representatives approved a second three-month extension of the state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago via the government's majority.
00:40The state of emergency has not included a curfew or a limitation on public gatherings since it began in July of this year. Critics have questioned its effectiveness, but the government and the police have declared it a success.
00:54The justice situation exists now and it's been going on and we are treating with that.
00:59So the population could look forward in 2026 to not being under a state of emergency?
01:04Well, as I said before, it depends on how things unfold. You see? And that's why we have to work. We have to work with the tide, you know. When the tide is high, you know what can happen. When the tide is low, you operate accordingly. So we work with the tide.
01:16During the launch of the Trinidad and Tobago revitalization blueprint, the Works and Infrastructure Minister announced plans for the facility which now houses the Port of Spain prison as she spoke in the future tense.
01:27You wouldn't recognize that, but that is two acres of where that jail was in Port of Spain. Shadow called it them boys' jail. We are suggesting that it be repurposed into an exhibition and event hall where even young artists can go and rent a space. It's a classroom and studios, a teacher and workshop, conference facility, rooftop restaurant, etc.
01:52TV6 News used the sort of details from Minister Alexander about the remanded prisoners in the Port of Spain prison.
01:58Well, as soon as it happens, if before, we have a plan in place to put them in a particular location. If we're waiting on the building that we proposed to build, then everybody will be placed in one location, but separated according to what offensive committee and all of this. We're trying also to separate the persons who are not hardline criminals.
02:24An apparent reference to another part of the Trinidad and Tobago revitalization blueprint announced by the Works and Infrastructure Minister.
02:32Carriera Prison Island, 25 acres. The Frederick Street, fondly called them boys' jail by the mighty shadow, and Golden Grove has 270 acres. We are talking about consolidating that into a major facility, one where we truly will have justice on time.
02:50So, yeah, this is our Tamana prison campus, sitting on 500 acres. So whether it is a youth juvenile detention center, agricultural facilities, the general population, training, maximum security, all of it consolidated into one hub.
03:07That hub is one of several projects under the Trinidad and Tobago revitalization blueprint.
03:11The online portal for expressions of interest for all of those projects went live on Thursday.
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