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  • 19 minutes ago
Residents of one PNM constituency is calling the announcement by the Prime Minister last evening unfair to many citizens.

The Prime Minister said since PNM MP’s do not support the Special Operations Bill, she will only authorise it in UNC held constituencies and UNC held local government electoral districts.

Our reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh passed through San Fernando East today where many residents disagreed with her decision.

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Transcript
00:00On the electoral map of Trinidad and Tobago, there's a lone PNM constituency in all of central and south Trinidad.
00:08San Fernando East is the only constituency there that won't be covered if the Prime Minister keeps her word to
00:15authorise government's special operations bill in UNC-held constituencies and electoral districts only.
00:22Although the Prime Minister pointed out that there are some UNC-held local government electoral districts within that constituency, allowing
00:31closed zones to be set up in Marabella East, Marabella South, Vistabella and Marabella West.
00:37On Tuesday, we visited the area to hear from residents, because while it is PNM-held, Brian Manning narrowly won
00:45in 2025 by just 673 votes, which means the Prime Minister is counting among those constituencies to be excluded from
00:55special operations, one in which she secured over 45% of the votes.
01:01You can't just put it in the UNC areas when it should benefit everybody, if it's something that is benefiting
01:08everybody, it should benefit everybody.
01:10No matter if the PNM oppose it or not, if it's something that's supposed to help the country, it should
01:17help the country, not just a specific area.
01:19I think that's unfair to the residents of Phukia, because we need protection as well as everybody else.
01:37We then moved around High Street San Fernando, where people from different communities across South Trinidad shared differing views.
01:49I think it should be countrywide because of the crime rates and all this unemployment and everything that is going
01:56on.
01:57I think it should be throughout the country.
01:58But this is the areas where the people want this, and I think in all the areas it should be
02:03because the criminal element now, it's really, really out of hand.
02:07So they have to do something about it, and I think it's a good initiative.
02:10They have one side of the party, right? So how is the rest of the country benefiting?
02:16Won't it go into chaos or there's a lot of crime going on in the country still, even though the
02:21state of emergency, people is being robbed, people is being killed? You can't stop that.
02:26The prime minister needs to realize that she's the prime minister of a country and not the prime minister of
02:32a party.
02:33Cindy Raguba, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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