00:00MP411 till West, Karim Marcel has moved a motion in the House of Representatives
00:05calling for urgent and meaningful social relief for people, he says,
00:10who have been displaced by government policy.
00:13Marcel told Parliament since May 2025, the mass termination
00:17and non-renewal of contracts at state agencies and public bodies
00:21has triggered widespread hardship in already at-risk communities.
00:25Since May 2025, Trinidad and Tobago has experienced a wave of mass termination
00:34and widespread non-renewal of employment contracts across public bodies,
00:41state agencies, government-funded programs and local government structures.
00:46He argues that the impact goes far beyond individual job losses,
00:50linking the terminations to food insecurity, school absenteeism, mental health strain
00:56and increased vulnerability to exploitation.
01:00He also warned of a wider economic ripple effect,
01:03noting that many affected workers earned between $2,000 and $3,000 a month,
01:08money that previously circulated within their communities.
01:11From that, they will go on Challenge Street, they will buy the market.
01:19They will go down by the Barba or New City Mall, they go take a trim.
01:24They will jump in a bit of a car and they will stop up the road
01:28and they will jump out by the hairdresser and they may do their hair.
01:32They may go by the minimart and they may purchase something to make dinner that night.
01:38Mr. Speaker, when you, and of course, as I tell you, you take a taxi,
01:44so the taxi you don't get any money.
01:46The Lavental West MP accused the UNC government of being disconnected
01:50from the realities facing ordinary citizens.
01:53With the exception of a few members opposite,
01:58my colleagues opposite have been posturing as untouchable lords.
02:03They have been looming larger than life, governing on a high,
02:11while suffering from never thought and never see come see.
02:14In an emotionally charged contribution, Marcel went further,
02:19accusing government of governing through fear and intimidation.
02:22I have never witnessed a political party govern by fear, intimidation,
02:29vindictiveness, hate, and just pure evilness.
02:34He also shared the story of a constituent, a 59-year-old former CPAP worker,
02:39whose son, a single father, employed in forestry, also lost his job,
02:44describing it as an example of the human cost behind the statistics.
02:48Usually, I'm not distracted by cross-talk, you know,
02:52but I like how Labrie just, let's line it up.
02:54Never come.
02:56Never see, never come, never see.
02:58Never see come see.
03:01Mr. Speaker, the member for Labrie, in a joking way,
03:06a serious case like that,
03:08I am telling you about a humanitarian crisis with a family in my constituency.
03:12And here, the member for Labrie, Mr. Speaker,
03:15here, the member for Labrie, Mr. Speaker,
03:16that, that, the lady should be ashamed of herself
03:22for now, for now, for now, being able to be contributed.
03:31Okay, let me let the member continue.
03:35Mossel claimed that communities traditionally aligned with PNM
03:38are now being unfairly targeted.
03:40They turned and waged war on these safe PNM cities.
03:46Mr. Speaker, they make it a sin to be hired by the PNM.
03:54They make it a sin to even be employed anywhere between 2015 to 2025.
04:00They make it a sin to be, to live in a PNM constituency.
04:06He said the motion was drafted with vulnerable citizens in mind,
04:10insisting the issue is about people, not politics.
04:13And I gave you another example with Mr. Richard Cooper,
04:18whose family, both him and his wife working in a program,
04:21sent home, have no food to feed their children,
04:24have no money to send their children to school,
04:27have no money to buy school books,
04:29have no money to buy school bags,
04:30have no money to buy school uniforms,
04:32have no money to give them passage to go to school.
04:34And he felt that it was necessary to take his life.
04:43Members opposite should hang their heads in shame.
04:47The MP is urging the government to act swiftly,
04:50saying failure to do so risks deepening social and economic instability across the country.
04:56Arvashi Tawari, Rubnarain, TV6 News.
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