00:00Don't put the onus on me at all. Don't put the onus on me because I am not the
00:07Attorney General, I am not the Minister of Homeland Security, I am not the
00:11Minister of Defense, I am not the Commissioner of Police. And they know the
00:16powers they have to investigate. You have your powers to investigate, you see
00:20something shocking, go and do your investigation. Don't put no onus on me.
00:23PNM political leader Penelope Beckles is making it clear she will not be
00:29accepting the responsibility to investigate allegations of criminal
00:33conduct and corruption within the San Fernando East constituency. The issue is
00:39not so much whether she owns that condo, it's the allegation that it was gotten by
00:45some corrupt means. My responsibility as the leader of the PNM, if something is
00:49brought to my attention, I'm making it abundantly clear we followed our
00:55procedure. And some people may not like the procedure but we are a party at 70
00:59years old, we have our procedure and we stand by it. And that procedure is that a
01:04person must be given the right to be heard. The political leader was responding
01:11to reports that a former member of the PNM San Fernando East executive had
01:16acquired a million dollar property in Florida amid claims of corruption. I don't
01:22know about that property. I just said that. And that came out in the papers today. I have
01:28not heard that allegation before as it relates to her buying some property by
01:32getting it by some corrupt means. And I'm maintaining my position because I am not
01:38going to go through this as if it's any court procedure. If anybody has any
01:43information that she has acquired that property corruptly, illegally or otherwise,
01:49that is a matter for the police. The PNM political leader also addressed a video
01:55currently in circulation, which appears to show that she had liked a Facebook post
02:00by one Pierce Robinson concerning the property in Florida, which is currently
02:05under question. And the first place I haven't seen that post. I haven't seen it
02:09this morning. I've been here in my office since seven o'clock preparing for the press
02:13conference. OK, so I like no post because I've seen none. The entire San Fernando East
02:20executive has since resigned and wife of the late Patrick Manning, Mrs. Hazel Manning, has
02:27indicated her intention to put herself forward for chairman. That is all right. We have a
02:32Democratic Party. And in a Democratic Party. Anybody is entitled to offer
02:38themselves. If you join, you could offer yourself. Beckel says the question of San
02:44Fernando East MP Brian Manning resigning does not arise. She also had a message for
02:50the critics of her leadership style, in particular PNM stalwart Ashton Ford. Somebody
02:57like Mr. Ashton Ford, who resigned as general secretary some years ago under some very strange
03:04circumstances. I'm very surprised by so many things he said. That's all I have to say. Very
03:09surprised. Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
