00:00Minister of Homeland Security and incoming chair of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, Roger Alexander,
00:08is urging the public to respect the rule of law and allow investigators to do their jobs following the detention
00:14of businessman Dominic Hadid and his wife.
00:18Speaking with reporters after the 16th meeting of the Sedema Council of Ministers at the Hilton Conference Centre,
00:25Alexander declined to comment directly on the matter, saying it would be inappropriate to influence the work of the police
00:32or the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
00:36Let us respect the rule of law. And this is what we have done in Chiantobega.
00:39We have lost that respect for the rule of law when we are telling, in some cases, the DPP what
00:46to do.
00:47And we are telling the police how to do their job. No. Do your job. You wait for the outcome.
00:52The last place is a court of law, whether you're guilty or innocent.
00:56Hadid and his wife were taken into custody on Wednesday as investigations continue.
01:02On another matter, Alexander responded to a recent UK report claiming there are about 180 gangs operating in Trinidad and
01:10Tobago.
01:11He appealed to young people involved in gangs to leave that lifestyle behind.
01:17The time has come for these young men to wake up and come out of that system that they have,
01:22believing that the only thing that can be attached to is a number, and that number must force them to
01:27commit crime against others.
01:28Brothers and sisters that they knew, they grew up with, who went to school with, we want to change that
01:32narrative.
01:33That doesn't speak to who we are as a people.
01:36The minister said everyone deserves a second chance and stressed that the government is prepared to support those who choose
01:44a positive path away from crime.
01:47Turning to the rainy season, Alexander said ministries have been working to improve drainage infrastructure,
01:53but also called on the public to play their part by disposing of waste responsibly.
01:59Now, again, some of the problems is that we as a people, we seem not to wait for the garbage
02:07collectors to collect our stuff,
02:08but to chew it down the drains, which has contributed to many of what we see in the past.
02:13So we are hoping to change that.
02:15The rural government has cleaned some of the drains together, the Ministry of Works and all of that,
02:19so we are hoping for a better rainy season this year.
02:22But again, no guarantee, because the weather changes from time to time.
02:26Shala Kistu, TV6 News.
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