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  • 2 months ago
An Urgent Question about the kidnapping of two residents of Monos Island led to one Opposition MP strongly objecting to a claim by the Homeland Security Minister about what the UNC led government inherited from the former PNM administration where the national security apparutus is concerned.

The House Speaker brought order to what he called "glorified juvenille behaviour".

Juhel Browne reports.
Transcript
00:00Aruka Lopino, Port of Spain South, they should have known that they left the Trinidad and Tobago.
00:09I object. I have to not even answer the question.
00:18Sit down. Sit down.
00:23The loud objections from Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland, the former minister of policing,
00:29to the claim made in the House of Representatives by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander
00:34about state security during the former PNM administration.
00:39House Speaker Jagdeo Singh intervened.
00:42You know I'm standing by, allowing all of you all to indulge in this glorified juvenile behavior
00:50in the presence of parliamentarians across the Commonwealth.
00:54Port of Spain South.
00:56All right. Minister, could you just stick to an answer and leave out the unnecessary hyperbole?
01:10The speaker then informed the minister the two-minute time period was up for the urgent question,
01:16which was earlier raised by opposition MP Hans Deveens.
01:20Given the recent kidnapping involving two citizens at Monas Island,
01:27can the minister indicate what immediate measures have been implemented
01:30to safeguard the public and prevent similar kidnappings?
01:35The couple were kidnapped for a reported U.S. $2.5 million ransom.
01:39To answer the question for the member for Diego Martin-West,
01:46the Trantobago Police Service, who has a responsibility to protect and serve with pride,
01:52at this time, they are coordinating operations with the Trantobago Coast Guard
01:58Minister Alexander continue to speak about the work of the police and the Coast Guard.
02:11Their intentions are to protect the citizens in and around those areas considered vulnerable,
02:23but also, and it includes to safeguard the public of Trantobago,
02:31and to prevent further incidents of that nature.
02:37MP Deveens posed a follow-up question.
02:42Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for your discretion.
02:45To the Minister of Homeland Security,
02:47what specific maritime assets and radar surveillance were active in the Gulf of Parry
02:51at the time of the abduction,
02:53and why did they fail to detect or intercept the perpetrator's vessel?
02:56Minister, that's an entirely different question from the primary question.
03:01Speaker Singh did not permit the follow-up question by MP Deveens.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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