00:00The People's National Movement held a town hall meeting at City Hall in Port of Spain
00:04to get the feel of the temperature on the ground and feel the concerns of members of the public
00:09with regards to the Special Operations Bill.
00:12Dr. Nayan Gadsby-Dawley, MP for St. Anne's East, says one of her concerns about the bill
00:18is the lack of social provisions, especially pertaining to young people.
00:22What I find very alarming about this particular bill,
00:26because in the Zoso Bill, which preceded this one,
00:31there was a social transformation aspect, and that was there
00:34because there is no country in this world that would approach crime fighting
00:40from only dealing with the criminality aspect.
00:44That's the downstream.
00:45But you must also deal with the conditions that lead to criminality,
00:50meaning that you must have a rescue clause for children, young people,
00:55especially that need it.
00:57The former Education Minister compared the SO Bill to the non-renewal of contracts
01:01for school social workers and guidance counsellors.
01:04She is comparing the lack of social provisions in the bill
01:07to the lack of support for school children,
01:10situations from which many problems can arise.
01:13So in the schools, there are hundreds of school social workers and guidance counsellors,
01:19which are a big part of that safety net, that have not been renewed.
01:23So schools are operating with hundreds of children,
01:27many of them having issues, sometimes 60% to 70% of them.
01:32And there are no social workers and guidance counsellors in the schools to help them.
01:36So you look at what is being presented.
01:40This bill has no provision for social safety net.
01:43Meanwhile, PNM Senator Larry Lala is questioning the government's personnel.
01:48They need to explain why ordinary policing methods that are used all over the world
01:56are failed or can't work.
01:59It's probably because you have the wrong ministers in place, right?
02:03And it's probably because the commissioner is incompetent.
02:08And if these are the things, then you need to address those issues
02:12before you seek to impose these burdens on the population.
02:16And he wonders aloud whether the government can be trusted
02:19with the powers of the Special Operations Bill.
02:22Now, the question that arises with this type of legislation
02:27is can the government of the day be trusted with this type of legislation?
02:33No.
02:34Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News.
02:36Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News.
02:37Moves, TV6 News.
02:38firmlyiended by ingen Examples of the government of Africa
02:38Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News-
02:39I.
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