00:00MP Brian Manning is launching a blistering attack on the government's handling of state
00:05assets and public resources, questioning whether its decisions are serving the national interest
00:11or deepening political divisions. He is warning that selling state assets does not benefit citizens.
00:18It's a sell-out of the state assets to friends, family and financiers of the United National
00:25Congress. It's not surprising at all. If you remember, under the People's National Movement,
00:30we did our best to not sell profitable state assets, even the financial assets,
00:35which we placed into a special purpose company. We formed the NIF so that the people of Trinidad
00:40Tobago still maintain ownership of those assets while raising funds, non-debt financing,
00:46from those funds by selling shares into the public markets. MP Manning is also questioning
00:52the distribution of development funding to municipal corporations. He is also raising
00:58concerns about the Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill 2026. But instead of doing something to
01:05improve the efficiency of that system and to improve delivery of goods and services, all they did was
01:11expand the system and try to change the borders of that system, which came out of a committee formed
01:17by them. If you look at the names on that committee, it looked like a UNC party group.
01:20You know, it was simply a rogues' gallery of UNC sycophants coming up with a problem,
01:26including the campaign manager of the United National Congress. There were no independent
01:31people on the committee. There were no opposition people on the committee.
01:35The MP also weighs in on the Special Operations Act, arguing that the framework favors the UNC and gives
01:43the Prime Minister excessive influence over where special operations are conducted and can infringe
01:49a citizen's rights.
01:51I don't know how you prepare for modern-day apartheid, because that's how we see it.
01:55There are communities in San Fernando East, just like any other community, that some would say are
02:01at risk or they're vulnerable. And we have been doing our best to do work in these communities and
02:07not stigmatize these communities. This bill is totally designed to stigmatize the people and various
02:14communities across Trinidad and Tobago. And it is a suspension of people's constitutional rights,
02:20which is not a crime-fighting plan. That is a last resort.
02:24Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
02:28Oh, my God.
02:30I've lost 50 cents.
02:32Oh, my God.
02:32You have lost 50 cents.
02:32I've lost 50 cents in San Fernando East.
02:33You
