00:13Is there anything I told you could share in terms of whether or not the concerns raised by Trinidad and
00:18Tobago via the government would have been in any way addressed in a satisfactory manner?
00:23Some of the concerns were touched on in that correspondence, not all. Satisfactory? Respectfully, no.
00:32Satisfactory?
01:02But there would be an agenda item listed for both.
01:10And then on the morning of the retreat, there was also no indication at all that that would be an
01:16agenda item for discussion.
01:20At that juncture, I would have been made head of delegation because of the departure of the Prime Minister of
01:27Trinidad and Tobago on the evening of Wednesday the 25th.
01:29And as head of delegation, based upon the revised Treaty of Chagramos, I am entitled.
01:35I repeat, I am entitled to attend the Conference of Heads.
01:49While we were trying to have that issue sorted out, we eventually received a message confirming the position that heads
01:57of government only would be allowed to attend.
02:00Which essentially disinvited Trinidad and Tobago, me being the head of delegation.
02:13When I received that message, I then telephoned the Secretary General to confirm the veracity of the message.
02:20Which she did.
02:22Thereafter, I contacted the CARICOM Director of Trinidad and Tobago for her to also reach out to the Chef de
02:31Cabine, Miss Miller, I believe is her name.
02:36Her Excellency Janice Miller, who also confirmed that that was in fact the position.
02:48I usually don't treat with political has-beens and I really would not like my name to be utilized by
02:55someone who is looking for relevance in their own country to peddle any type of popularity or relevance essentially in
03:05their community.
03:06I suspect that Mr. Gonzalez should be more concerned with organizing payments to the HDC concerning the houses at Victoria
03:15Keys.
03:20I stand here today to categorically deny any attempts by anyone to indicate that I lied or misled this country.
03:31I am in consultation with my lawyers concerning the press conference that was held today to determine whether anything that
03:38was said by Dr. Brown was defamatory.
04:07The opposition leader then, as she was, did not get a response.
04:11Trinidad and Tobago, do you know when we got that response from the CARICOM Secretariat?
04:15We got it last week.
04:18Last week.
04:20So when we say to the population that we have serious concerns of CARICOM's efficiency, its effectiveness, its operational capability,
04:31it is demonstrative in terms of action that is demonstrated in terms of actions that are being metered out.
04:36We have a list of all the units that are used by the
04:39Discoction Department of the United States.
04:40We have a list of all the units.
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