00:00We are asking the President, Her Excellency, of Trinidad and Tobago to call upon the Chairman of the Police Service
00:08Commission to explain to the country as to why the Constitution was not complied with during the absence of the
00:17police commissioner.
00:18Because their silence on this very important matter, in addition to the explanation given by the Commissioner of Police, tells
00:26you that all is not right.
00:30All is not well and the population requires answer.
00:35The opposition is not letting up on the issue of the commissioner's mysterious overseas trip from which he has since
00:42returned.
00:43And while the commissioner had quipped that his absence did not create a crisis within the police service, Gonzalez is
00:50raising questions of illegality as it pertains to legal notices 648 and 649,
00:56signed by DCP Junior Benjamin in the capacity of acting commissioner of police in the commissioner's absence.
01:04This means that those two legal notices that have been purportedly signed according to this gazetted order, traffic orders,
01:13that persons can be charged under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act if they are found to be in
01:18breach of those traffic orders,
01:21signed by someone who does not have the legal authority to sign by someone who does not have the legal
01:26authority to sign the orders,
01:26then those orders are illegal, they are void, and they are of no effect.
01:33And therefore, I am asking the commissioner of police again to clear the air as to whether or not legal
01:41notice or legal notices 648 and 649,
01:46signed by J. Benjamin, acting commissioner of police,
01:50whether those legal notices are legal and whether the police can enforce traffic laws that these notices are pretending to
02:02bring effect into.
02:03Legal notice number 648 pertained to traffic restrictions with respect to the Arema Town Hall reopening,
02:11while legal notice number 649 speaks to traffic restrictions for the Caribbean Premier League,
02:18which is currently in progress.
02:20Those orders are putting restrictions in place for motorists,
02:25and if they are found to be in breach of those notices,
02:28the police have every right or should have the right to take effect or to take action against any motorist,
02:35but on a legal notice or an order that is illegal, void, and of no effect,
02:41signed by someone who does not have the authority to sign,
02:45these are very serious issues,
02:47and that is the reason why the opposition raised those matters in the public interest in the first place.
02:54And if those who believe that we are making an issue out of a non-issue
02:59by the government not putting in place an acting commissioner of police,
03:03then it resulted in where we are at this point in time.
03:07A number of vehicles were wrecked in the vicinity of the Queen's Park Oval on Wednesday night
03:12as patrons were inside watching the match.
03:15Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
