00:00While the Prime Minister continues to praise the United States for putting a damper on criminal activity in TNT,
00:07the opposition notes with concern the trending increase in homicides.
00:12Clearly that's not the case. I mean, if you look at the figure today,
00:17we actually, the figures suggest that for this month you had more than last month around the same time.
00:23So I don't see that that has tamed.
00:25And I mean, we are not aware as to exactly what is the role the United States is playing at
00:30this time as it relates to crime intervention.
00:33That information is not before us and that is not one of the things that this government has said,
00:39save and accept for the fact that you have the reader, which they claimed would have detected crimes.
00:44And to date, we have not had any evidence to suggest that.
00:48A total of 29 murders have been recorded for the month of February to date, compared to 27 last year.
00:55Meantime, despite indicating that the U.S. military is set to withdraw its troops from Tobago sometime next month,
01:03the Prime Minister has also suggested that her upcoming meeting with the United States President
01:07could possibly see more U.S. boots on the ground in TNT.
01:12If the Prime Minister says maybe or maybe not, that's very interesting, because at the end of the day,
01:17we haven't gotten the total details as to exactly what has continued.
01:21If you recall when the question was asked as it relates to the reader in Tobago,
01:28Minister Sturge indicated that you still do have the presence of the United States here.
01:33So we await to find out exactly what was the decision.
01:36Leaders from a few Latin American countries will meet with President Trump on March 7th at his request.
01:44Guyana's President Divinale and Kamala Fassad-Bissessa are the only two Karakam invitees,
01:50a development some have described as a win for TNT.
01:54Well, I'm not going to get into whether it's a win or a loss.
01:57I mean, as a Trinidadian, you always want the best for Trinidad and Tobago.
02:01So if it is that the Prime Minister hasn't been invited, we'll wait and see exactly what happens.
02:07We also know that it's not the entire Karakam.
02:10It's really Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
02:12So it's not, it's a number of other countries that have been participating in the invitation.
02:17And we always want the best for Trinidad and Tobago.
02:20We'll await the outcome.
02:21The opposition leader also responded to news that the government may consider launching a commission of inquiry
02:27into what the Prime Minister has described as the kidnapping of TNT businessman Brent Thomas from Barbados.
02:35I think I would want to get some more details here exactly what she says, what is influencing that decision
02:40because the Prime Minister of Barbados seemed to have said something opposite.
02:45So I'm not sure why a commission of inquiry would be called on.
02:49Prime Minister Barbados, Mia Motley, has described the Prime Minister's description of the event as a scurrilous lie.
02:57Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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