00:00according to chairman of the people's national movement marvin gonzalez
00:04the approach taken by the government in increasing most fines under schedule nine
00:09of the motor vehicles and road traffic act is something that has not been seen in recent history
00:14it's in reference to the gazetting of the increases without any prior statement by
00:19the government to inform the public of what was coming i was aghast but not entirely surprised
00:27by the behavior of this government on this particular matter as well as so many other matters
00:35this occurred on christmas day when most citizens were having and enjoying their
00:42time with their families and their loved ones friends etc gonzalez says in the post budget
00:47debate in parliament there were additional fines brought by the government that were not announced
00:52in the 2025-2026 fiscal plan but as it pertains to the december 25th amendment which takes effect
00:59on january 1st this legal notice is very different from what the government stated in the national
01:06budget and in the debate in the finance bill the government continues to operate deceitfully
01:13and surreptitiously trying to pull wool over the eyes of the people of trinidad and the people
01:20the pnm chairman notes that under section 100 of the act the minister has the power to vary fines
01:26without going to parliament and he states that minister of transport and civil aviation eliza
01:31invoked that power however he questions why the partial cancellation of the demerit point system was
01:37done publicly by the minister but this was not he says all citizens should be concerned about the
01:43lack of consultation and information the whole thing is scandalous and it reeks of deceit by the government
01:53because the same government the same unc when the win opposition promised to reduce traffic fines
02:01they are now doing quite the opposite contrary to what they promised the country gonzalez says previous
02:07increases to traffic penalties under the former pnm administration were informed by regional and
02:13international benchmarks including commonwealth countries and claims local fines were already
02:19aligned with those standards perhaps we might be the only country in the world and in the common
02:24world where you see these hefty increases in traffic fines he states that the poor working class stand to
02:31feel the impact the most as they're the ones struggling financially to maintain their vehicles gonzalez also
02:38accuses the government of acting underhandedly pointing to the recent extension of the use of the coat
02:43of arms featuring the columbus ships which was also done via legal notice so what transpired on christmas
02:50day is very much in alignment and in sync with the behavior of this government to do things in the dead of
02:58night when they believe that the country is entirely distracted by other things the same thing with
03:04the radar in tobago being done in the dead of night with no official communication with the people of
03:11trinidad tobago and that is a gross disrespect he says the pnm will outline its next move to treat with
03:18the issue after it holds a caucus alicia boucher tv6 news
Comments