00:00And we all have to be careful when we make the statements, for example, everybody smoking weed and drinking pension.
00:09We certainly on this side absolutely do not agree with that statement.
00:15Opposition leader Penelope Beckles speaking during a late night debate in the House of Representatives
00:20on legislation to raise the legal age for gambling and the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.
00:27And I want to refer to the Liquor License Act.
00:33A 6,000 penalty becomes 300,000.
00:37And a 2,000 penalty becomes 300,000.
00:41And a 12-month sentence becomes 30 years.
00:45And a 3,000 gambling-related penalty becomes 100,000.
00:51But again, we remember that one of the ministers said that they're getting problems to pay their bills.
01:00So I hope the public remember that part of this is about paying your bills.
01:07Energy Minister Dr. Rudal Munilal later defended the fines on behalf of the government.
01:12Regrettably, we will not have a situation where every policeman or every CCTV camera will be able to police 2
01:20,000 restaurants and bars and nightclubs and hospitality centers.
01:25We will not be able to do that.
01:27But what the fines do, whether it's seatbelt, phone, other infringements, what they do is they discourage,
01:34they're seriously discouraged from criminal offenses or from creating danger to the public.
01:41Dr. Munilal further weighed in on the bill seeking to raise the legal age for the consumption of alcohol, tobacco
01:47and cannabis, as well as for gambling.
01:50This is saving yourself, not just saving the public.
01:54The opposition leader elaborated on a concern raised earlier in the debate by opposition MP Hans Deveens.
02:00The proposed bill is that a child over 10 found drinking alcohol or possessing or using tobacco, cannabis, resin or
02:09dangerous drug on summary conviction faces a fine of 50,000.
02:14Now, I will be happy for the Attorney General to clarify this.
02:19Defense Minister Wayne Sturge had outlined the possibility of a reprimand and discharge of such a matter by the court.
02:25Attorney General John Jeremy later made an apparent reference to the government's campaign promise to increase the minimum age limit
02:32for alcohol and tobacco consumption from 18 to 21 years of age
02:37and increase the minimum age limit for gambling and cannabis consumption from 18 to 25 years of age.
02:45We fought an election on a manifesto in which this particular measure, these particular ages were mentioned.
02:56We made no secret of it. We won that election.
03:03The Attorney General spoke as he wound up the debate of the bill.
03:06When I piloted the bill, I said that the Prime Minister says, listen, it's going to take some time for
03:14this law to be, to come into force.
03:19And in that period of time, we continue to listen to people.
03:25That is the kind of government that you have.
03:29We are not going to listen to ghosts.
03:32That's not us.
03:33We listen to real people.
03:38After the committee stage in a division vote, the 10 opposition MPs voted against the bill.
03:44However, the bill was passed with amendments proposed by the government via the votes of the 23 government MPs in
03:51the lower house.
03:51The bill shall go before the Senate.
03:54Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
