- 5 weeks ago
The TTPS confirmed reports of unverified security threats, one day after the Top Cop said threats were low
The PNM sought to defend its reputation
and WASA increased fees for several services
The PNM sought to defend its reputation
and WASA increased fees for several services
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:03welcome back more purchases of florida properties by former san fernando east constituency executive
00:09members came to light last week but despite several questions sent to at least two of the
00:14parties and even to a seller of one of the properties no one responded at least two other
00:20properties had been purchased by former members of the san fernando east constituency executive
00:25in florida tv6 news has been informed the unfolding story is at the center of the fallout between san
00:32fernando east mp brian manning and the former members of the pnm's san fernando east constituency
00:37executive sources confirmed that one of the apartments was purchased at the san andrews luxury
00:43condo resort in broward county florida at the exact building that another former executive member had
00:49purchased a unit as highlighted by tv6 news last night for an identical price of 187 000 us dollars
00:56today tv6 news attempted to contact both executive members by phone but got no answer we even sent
01:03them questions pertinent to the state of the properties which they read but neither chose to
01:08respond questions were also sent to the second executive member about this property in lauder hill
01:13florida where according to a document seen by tv6 that a registered business operating during the
01:19period of covid and purchased this property for coincidentally the sum of 187 000 as well before
01:28it was later resold but the executive member refused to answer any question about this property
01:33and also refused to say if 77 000 us dollars ppp payment was collected from the u.s government during
01:40covid 19 in 2020. tv6 news also contacted a seller of the first property who we were reliably informed
01:47by pnm insiders was a former executive member of the san fernando east constituency who resides in florida
01:54however the seller did not respond to our calls or messages mark wissant tv6 news political leader of the
02:03pnm penelope beckles was in rare form last week as she fielded questions from the media concerning
02:09allegations of corruption and other developments in the san fernando east constituency beckles declared
02:16that it is not her responsibility to investigate and urged anyone with information to take it to the
02:21police don't put the onus on me at all don't put the onus on me because i am not the
02:29attorney general
02:30i am not the minister of homeland security i am not the minister of defense i am not the commissioner
02:36of
02:36police and they know the powers they have to investigate you have your powers to investigate
02:41you see something shocking go and do your investigation don't put no onus on pnm political
02:47leader penelope beckles is making it clear she will not be accepting the responsibility to investigate
02:54allegations of criminal conduct and corruption within the san fernando east constituency the issue
03:02is not so much whether she owns that condo is the allegation that it was gotten by some corrupt means
03:09my responsibility as the leader of the pnm if something is brought to my attention i'm making
03:14it abundantly clear we followed our procedure and some people may not like the procedure but we are a
03:21party at 70 years old we have our procedure and we stand by it and that procedure is that a
03:27person
03:28must be given the right to be heard the political leader was responding to reports that a former
03:35member of the pnm san fernando east executive had acquired a million dollar property in florida amid
03:42claims of corruption i don't know about that property i just said that okay now that came out in the
03:48papers today i have not heard that allegation before as it relates to her buying some property by
03:55or getting it by some corrupt means and i'm maintaining my position because i am not going to
04:01go through this as if it's any court procedure if anybody has any information that she has acquired
04:09that property corruptly illegally or otherwise that is a matter for the police the pnm political leader
04:16also addressed a video currently in circulation which appears to show that she had liked a facebook post by
04:23one pierce robinson concerning the property in florida which is currently under question
04:29and the first place i haven't seen that post i haven't seen it this morning i've been here in my
04:34office since seven o'clock preparing for the press conference okay so i like no posts because i've seen
04:40none the entire san fernando east executive has since resigned and wife of the late patrick manning mrs hazel
04:48manning has indicated her intention to put herself forward for chairman that is all right we have
04:55a democratic party and in a democratic party anybody is entitled to offer themselves if you join you could
05:04offer yourself beckle says the question of san fernando east mp brand manning resigning does not arise
05:11she also had a message for the critics of her leadership style in particular pnm stalwart ashton
05:18ford somebody like mr ashton ford who resigned as general secretary some years ago under some very
05:26strange circumstances i am very surprised by so many things he said that's all i have to say very
05:32surprised this is the past seven days on six we'll be right back things are hard that was the cry
05:45across
05:45port of spain on friday from vendors and parents alike just one week ahead of the reopening of school
05:52vendors of school supplies are hoping still to ramp up this coming week as activity has been markedly
05:59slow in the capital city ahead of the reopening of school even for essentials such as school shoes
06:06it's not as was in years gone by you you've seen customers but everything is at play people are
06:12people are looking for price durability everything this year they are not like the years gone by we
06:20would have seen that people have come in a bit earlier and purchase merchandise for back to school
06:26the the this year the pricing they're telling they're coming back at the end of the month and
06:31and this and this year is unique there's an extra there's an extra week in the month of september
06:37so we expect our influx of people like coming into this month here into the first week of september
06:42i mean we hope we do we hope that we do well at that point vests underwear and socks are
06:48also
06:49selling slowly on the streets
06:58compared to previous yeah
07:01for the longest one now sell get stuck
07:05not like ago when you come out and sell like that 20 000 and like for your arm
07:10can about 25 000 you don't ever get that again
07:15it's cut down and the price rising right
07:20broadside book vendors are also reporting a drop in seals this year the last year was way better
07:26than this year this year kind of slow but they kind of hard at the same time now
07:32so more people will buy news books than brownie books because any bookstore it is expensive so
07:39people will ask for used books and this year too it's
07:45ain't a shaky but you still have to look out they know to make money and things so yeah
07:49so people saying they don't even have money to get the used book so they just get vouchers to go
07:54in the boxes and you ask them if they want books to buy they just said we'd have a voucher
07:58it's a narrative echoed by the manager of unique bookstores downtown port spain branch
08:04actually this year we have received a lot a lot much more vultures a lot of customers is coming
08:10with vultures that they got from different companies and different i guess government or whatever
08:18but a lot but a lot of vultures yeah some some fear some yeah but mostly i think it's the
08:26government
08:27here yeah yeah got the certain arms of the government doing vouchers here
08:31and that's how the sales have been going this season um compared to last year more or less the
08:36same run as last year the sales it didn't increase but it remained steady as last year
08:43it was no no it started the beginning of the month but a steady flow right you no big to
08:48say no big
08:49rush anything that's a steady flow right meantime one parent is thanking to napuna mp roger alexander
08:56for making it possible for her to get some of her kids school supplies this year my contract
09:02it wasn't renewed right so i was home looking for something didn't get anything looking for a job online
09:09didn't get anything and um yeah so i'm in this situation right now really hard i had to reach
09:15out for assistant from my mp um roger alexander yes and um he assists me with getting some stationaries
09:23and other things yes yes i got a voucher yes by chance have you applied for a book brand this
09:29year yes i did
09:30what's he still waiting still in process yes nobody contacted you or any nobody didn't contact
09:38but there are those who are fortunate to get whatever they like and spray ground is still trending in 2026
09:45she don't normally see those things so we had to just give her one oh yeah spoiled child yeah
09:58nearly 46 000 applications have been received for the 2026 school supplies and book grant
10:05and the ministry of education said final verification is still underway payments to successful applicants
10:11are expected to begin this coming wednesday days before the start of the new school term on september 7th
10:19families awaiting assistance with back to school expenses could begin receiving payments as early
10:25as next week the ministry of education says it has completed the initial review of all 45 953
10:33applications received for the 2026 school supplies and book grant the applications came from
10:41students at approximately 668 schools and educational institutions across the country but before payments are made
10:50the ministry says final verification checks must be completed to confirm eligibility and ensure assistance
10:57reaches the most vulnerable applicants approximately 10 000 applications are expected to complete final
11:04verification by friday with the remaining applications expected to be processed by september 2nd the ministry
11:10says priority will be given to unemployed applicants low-income households families with multiple dependents
11:18applicants with children with special needs and those receiving government assistance the volume of
11:24applications is significantly higher the ministry says than previous grant exercises with the ministry also
11:31working with a shorter implementation time frame applications opened on june 22nd and closed on july 11th
11:40for successful applicants the amount paid will depend on the student's class level during the 2025-2026
11:47academic year in front one through standard five students are eligible for one thousand dollars students
11:54entering form two in september will receive five hundred dollars all students entering form one as well as form
12:02three through upper six will receive one thousand dollars the ministry says the 500 allocation for forms
12:08two students takes into account the provision of six books with embedded learning support designed for
12:15use with their laptops parents and guardians are invited to track their applications through the ministry's
12:22online portal and will also receive email updates on their application status and payment information
12:28the ministry says information on check distribution and other updates will be communicated through its
12:34official channels as the process continues for families preparing for the new school year the key date is now
12:41september 2nd when payments to successful applicants are expected to begin schools reopen on september 7th
12:50rovishy to worry rupon ryan tv6 news in other news former public utilities minister marvin gonzalez accused
12:58wasa of increasing fees for inspections and approvals by as much as 700 percent without informing the
13:05national community the increase in fees are said to have taken effect on july 1st a multi-residential unit
13:13it moved from a hundred and fifty dollars to one thousand two hundred dollars an increase in fee by 700
13:22percent i want to ask the head of the psn the minister of public utilities whether or not you all
13:29are aware
13:29that the board of wasa and the management of wasa increase residential connection by 700
13:37percent while they are telling the people of this country on wasa's official website that the fee is still
13:43150 dollars it is only when customers go into wasa they are now met with this notice on the notice
13:52board
13:54swimming pool fees and sewer connection and other related fees also went up exponentially gonzalez said
14:01this is why he refuses to stay out of wasa's business as per the psa president's request
14:07today the opposition is calling for the resignation of the minister of public utilities the removal of
14:15the board of wasa and the executive management of wasa for what they have done to the people of trinidad
14:21and tobago to increase those fees by this amount without consulting the people of trinidad and tobago
14:32meantime public utilities minister barry podarek explained that there is no secrecy in the matter he
14:38advised gonzalez to stop behaving cold like a bacchanalist there's no secrecy in handling this matter
14:46wasa has advised me that a revised fee structure appears on the forms as of july 2026 these fees are
14:56one-time
14:56fees they deal with new connections regarding both domestic connections connections for swimming pools
15:04etc that have not been revised since the 1980s the former minister of public utilities must have
15:12behaved like a bacchanalist when he is not fighting his own member for san fernando east they are playing
15:16with their own problems at balise house instead we are looking to modernize the system and therefore
15:22the powers that be within wasa have taken the necessary steps to bring these very archaic rates and so
15:29on into more modern times in terms of up-to-date standards to improve upon our efficiency but also
15:36to reduce the expenditure of wasa in these particular areas sport is up next keep it here
15:49in some more news british oil giant shell pulled the plug on its aphrodite offshore gas project in tnt
15:56the decision was confirmed by sources to reuters journalist curtis williams who were close to the
16:02talks british oil giant shell has shelved its aphrodite offshore gas project in trinidad and
16:08sebago just a year after giving it a positive final investment decision this according to an online
16:14reuters story by senior journalist curtis williams the company confirmed it has released the drilling
16:20rig contractor to drill production wells after negotiations with the state-owned national gas
16:25company broke down over commercial terms at stake was the sale of roughly 100 million cubic feet of gas
16:32per day output that would have provided a modest but welcome boost to the island's supplies
16:37and you see which access trinidad's gas aggregator purchases gas from producers and delivers it to
16:43downstream users including the petrochemical sector and atlantic lng where shell itself holds a 45 percent
16:50stake but with talks collapsing shell says it will continue to evaluate the overall project schedule
16:56while keeping negotiations with ngc ongoing the national gas company did not respond to reuters requests
17:03for comment for trinidad latin america's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas the decision
17:09represents a setback in efforts to reverse years of declining output falling reserves have already
17:14curtailed lng exports and forced closures in the petrochemical sector with industry insiders pointing to
17:20commercial challenges especially gas pricing as a recurring obstacle the aphrodite project was seen as a
17:27bridge to help stabilize supplies its shelving now shifts attention to cross-border developments with
17:33venezuela where shell and bp have been granted license to produce gas for transport to trinidad
17:39those projects are viewed as critical to replenishing atlantic lng and sustaining the
17:45country's energy sector over the coming decade mark basant tv6 news in other news the health minister
17:53admitted that there is currently a shortage of some cdap drugs across various regional health authorities
17:59patients on government's chronic disease assistance program cdap benefit from access to free medication
18:07on 52 different drugs over the years shortages occur on some of the drugs as is currently the situation
18:14confirms minister of health dr lakram bodo you have 52 items on cdap it's quite a large number of items
18:22on cdap i can't say exactly the number that will show to this at this point in time but i
18:28know it's
18:28a small number and we're dealing we're dealing with that he says the problem stems from the procurement
18:33procedure done through nip deck and international supply chain issues play a role when shortages occur
18:40but we are working at the ministry level to tighten up the um the procurement and the supply chain process
18:46to
18:46ensure that procurement is done in a timely manner so i'm trying to identify and talk when i leave
18:52here this afternoon i'm meeting with a team from the ministry from the to address these particular
18:57challenges that have come up early in the public domain but i want to give you public the assurance
19:02that the ministry of health and the government is doing everything in our power to ensure that
19:06the supply of drugs remain we recognize their challenges and we're working to fix it he says these
19:12problems predate his time as minister but says it is an area currently under review and he expects a
19:19report from nip deck soon as they move to improve the system minister bodo notes however there are
19:26mechanisms in place to assist individual rhas in meeting demands when shortages do occur keep in mind that
19:34the in addition to the supply that the rha has received from nip deck they also have
19:40a way to buy drugs um there's something called an emergency purchase so they allow these allergies
19:46so they can utilize that avenue to purchase drugs where there is a shortage of supply from nip deck
19:51sindhi raguba tika singh tv6 news and in sport chinbago night riders ended their three game losing streak
20:01with a seven wicked win against the barbado strident on friday night at the queen's park oval here's a look
20:06back at
20:07the action this was friday night's republic bank cpl match at the queen's park oval and barbado's
20:14tridents were put in the back by the trindaco night riders the young shoulders scheduling when they play
20:18in barbado's shy and a graduate and zackery carter the left-handed zachary carter and shy and brathwaite
20:26put on a partnership of 25 and 4.2 overs to the players hand and out but the night riders
20:32picked up wickets
20:32thereafter with the dismissal of quinton de coq making it 38 for two taken spin doing the trip
20:40carter was out for a top score of 28 with the parsimonious usman tariq sending him back to the
20:46dugout it's high though and a fielder there trident skipper chris green was the second best batter with
20:5127. said beautifully chris green but tkr were too good on the night with the frugal sunal narain taking
20:59two for 14. huge all-rounder kyron pollard in his 750th t20 game also picked up two wickets it was
21:09another abject batting display from the barbado's tridents who were coming off a loss in their previous
21:13match they closed on a modest 127 for nine from the 20 overs when the trinbago night riders responded
21:26colin monroe and sunal narain gave their side a good start positive start from colin monroe first ball
21:32first boundary the two left-handers were scoring rapidly in pursuit of a paltry target
21:37into line and just using the pace narain eventually caught up with monroe overtaking him during their
21:44stand of 96 and 9.3 overs and again he brought up his half century in style his fourth ever
21:53in the cpl
22:00monroe departed for 37 followed by narain for 55
22:04to appeal to rivaldo clark again then it was a turn of captain nicholas puran to fall cheaply
22:09with rivaldo clark taking all three catches nikki p and rivaldo clark a trio of catches
22:17in the end pollard with this shot for two took tkr to 128 for three in the 15th over
22:23which saw them winning the match by seven wickets vinod nawani t64
22:28sport and that's a wrap of the past seven days on six i am renessa cutting if you didn't catch
22:35this
22:35segment in its entirety you can find it on our website www.tv6tnt.com and you can find all these
22:43stories and more on the tv6 mobile app thanks for choosing tv6 and do have a great evening
23:21good evening and welcome to the past seven days on six i am renessa cutting has what made the new
23:28news this past week the ttps confirmed reports of unverified security threats one day after the top
23:34cop said threats were low the pnm sought to defend its reputation and wasa increased fees for several
23:41services as per usual if it was happening it was on six let's get right into it top cop alista
23:49guavaro
23:50declared that the upcoming 64th independence day parade and observances will be the safest yet
23:56we just recently concluded our threat assessment and it has revealed a very low threshold so thus we
24:17are comfortable with hosting this event one year after independence day celebrations were cancelled
24:23due to reported threats against high office holders the top cop is reporting an apparent change in the
24:30national security landscape we are well poised for dealing with all eventualities coming out of the
24:37parade set for monday we have 222 officers set for the parade and we have over 400 officers set for
24:46contingency methods and supporting resource rules i want to reassure members of the public that the ttps and
24:52all arms of national security are well poised for ensuring that this is one of the for the safest
25:00parade for independence and it's a momentous occasion it's the 64th anniversary and i'd like to urge
25:06everyone to come out and view your national security assets on display the declaration comes just two
25:14weeks before the end of the extended state of emergency which is due to expire on september 17th
25:20there's been no indication from the authorities as to whether there is to be a further extension the top
25:27cop is asking for the public's cooperation and collaboration ahead of the national celebration
25:34the posture of the ttps for this entire independence day celebration is one of professionalism visibility and
25:41facilitation and thus i want to reassure the public that this is one celebration where we are coming
25:51together as one unity for one country so it's all arms of the protective services on board for the
25:59purpose of showing a particular display to the members of the public of unity in strength this year will
26:06feature cultural presentation before the big display i think this is the the first year we're going to
26:13have a cultural program so that at five o'clock if you look just behind you there the grandstand we're
26:20going to have a kid zone we're going to have some artists and a lot of entertainment for the whole
26:26family so
26:27that begins at five and then at six and at eight o'clock the fireworks begin in port of spain
26:33and in
26:33san fernando so we want the entire nation to come out meantime members of the public are advised to
26:40familiarize themselves with legal notices 671 and 667 as it relates to parking and traffic restrictions on
26:49monday as a cpl game will also be in progress the parking restrictions legal notice 671 has the parking
26:59areas for the savannah is restricted for independence morning and also in the evening so in terms of
27:07time the times vary based on the event in terms of cricket the time vary as well on monday the
27:1530 on
27:16today it's until 2 am on monday the 31st it's until 11 pm so based on the event the time
27:23varies so that you
27:25would have to look at the notice or corporate communications would also be sending out that
27:30information so they could look at the social media pages for updates but the ttps activated security
27:37measures one day after to ensure public safety after receiving unverified reports concerning possible
27:44threats to government buildings embassies and diplomatic facilities deputy commissioner of police
27:50operations who's at martin instructed divisional commanders to implement the necessary operational
27:55measures while working closely with intelligence and the national security partners to assess the
28:01credibility of the reports as well as safeguard the public the ttps said at this time the threats
28:07remain unverified and advised citizens remain calm and immediately report any suspicious persons
28:13vehicles packages or unusual activity to the police the ttps also sought to assure members of the public that it
28:21was treating the matter with due diligence and care we'll have more news when we return keep it here