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  • 1 week ago


A bomb threat at the Office of the Prime Minister in St. Clair forced an evacuation that lasted hours.

It led to police and fire officials combing the space which was eventually cleared for staff to return.

TV6 News spoke to Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister on what transpired and the impact of it.

Alicia Boucher has the details.

Transcript
00:00Evacuate. Bomb on the second floor. The message written in what appears to be
00:05lipstick in a staff bathroom at the office of the Prime Minister in Sinclair
00:08was discovered by several employees around 9.30 a.m. Public Utilities
00:13Minister and Minister in the office of the Prime Minister Barry Padares tells
00:17us health and safety officers were informed. To which the bomb squad, the fire
00:22services department etc was then called in. They did a thorough check of the
00:28promised premises which lasted a couple hours and at around 1 p.m. this
00:33afternoon, operations were able to resume and staff who remained on the
00:39premises in terms of the evacuation area, they were allowed to go back into the
00:46building. Investigation has been launched to determine the source of the
00:51information. The Sinclair office houses various services under the OPM including
00:56government information services and administrative departments. Padares says a
01:01little over 200 employees function out of that location and a significant amount
01:05of man hours were lost to ensure OSH compliance with such threats. Additionally,
01:12the street in front of the OPM was cordoned off by police past midday. As for
01:16any possible psychological impact on employees? I spoke with the Permanent Secretary, the head of the
01:22public service, Ms. Natasha Barrow a short while ago. She has been meeting with the heads of
01:28departments and heads of divisions at the office of the Prime Minister in terms of the impact that it has
01:33had on employees at the Sinclair office. And over the next day or two, she will be sharing any other
01:41recommendations in terms of how do we treat with additional security measures for staff, health,
01:48well-being and security. We have not received any adverse reports as it relates to the impact
01:55psychological or otherwise that it has had on employees. However, out of an abundance of caution,
02:02assessments will continue. Whether it was an intentional threat or something done out of idleness
02:08is unknown at this time. But the minister highlights that it is important for employees to have a
02:13comfortable and sustainable environment. And he says there must be an area of recourse pertaining to
02:18people who seek to disrupt that. It can't just be a slap on the risk. We have to take these things
02:23seriously in terms of the environment in which we find ourselves in today globally and in terms of
02:29crime and the impact that it has had on Trinidad and Tobago. So we have lost a number of manpower
02:36hours today in terms of productivity. And it's the people of Trinidad and Tobago that lose ultimately
02:42the premises of it as a hub of all activity. The minister is calling on perpetrators of these acts
02:48to cease and desist. Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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