00:00Trinidad and Tobago stands alone on its claim that it was left out of voting process in St. Kitts and
00:06Nevis, where Dr. Carla Bannett was reappointed.
00:09No other member state has taken issue with her appointment.
00:12It's something that hasn't gone under the radar of Opposition Senator Dr. Amory Brown, who says it is time that
00:18the statements being made are addressed.
00:20This includes that TNT was quote-unquote disinvited from the caucus retreat.
00:25The fact is that we were invited and welcomed in the same way that every other delegation in CARICOM was
00:37invited and welcomed.
00:40None were excluded, none were denied, none were disinvited, and all were welcomed.
00:50Dr. Brown, are you accusing the government of lying on CARICOM on this matter?
00:57Yes, I am. They are lying.
01:02Dr. Brown says since last year, Prime Minister Kamala-Poussad Bisesa, and by extension, the government,
01:08was in receipt of a memorandum of arrangements inclusive of an agenda which outlined the head's retreat,
01:14where details were set to be confirmed at a later date.
01:17How can that equate to a minister, a member of cabinet, standing up in a parliament and saying that
01:26I can say without fear of contradiction that Trinidad and Tobago was not invited?
01:32He believes it places a further strain on the country's representation at CARICOM.
01:37The opposition senator states that correspondence even went out from the Prime Minister's secretary
01:42providing measurements for a retreat shoot for her.
01:45But she decided when, on the evening of the 26th, Marco Rubio left Sinkitz and Nevis and
01:53Kamala-Poussad Bisesa also left, before the most important part of any head's meeting, which is the caucus.
02:03He states that this is where the vote is usually taken, and Dr. Brown says that alternate plans
02:09were made to facilitate this country after the Prime Minister left the island.
02:14I can tell you here today, and I'm using his phrase, without fear of accurate contradiction,
02:22that extraordinary measures were taken, listen to me please,
02:27extraordinary measures were taken by the CARICOM secretariat and the chair of CARICOM
02:34to not just include Trinidad and Tobago, but to specifically include Minister Sean Sobas at that meeting.
02:46Dr. Brown states that this included phone calls and WhatsApp messages to Sobas from the night before
02:52up to 1 a.m. on the morning of the retreat.
02:55It has been stated that Sobas declined taking the boat to Nevis because he would have been seasick.
03:01Dr. Brown is accusing the Prime Minister and Minister Sobas of embarrassing the country,
03:05as he notes that a three-quarters vote is enough for the decisions made in that regard to stand.
03:11TNT is expected to head CARICOM in 2028.
03:15Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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