00:00Trinidad and Tobago has recorded yet another maritime tragedy and according to Corporate
00:06Secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea Gary Abood, successive governments are to blame
00:11for failing to update TNT's fisheries legislation.
00:16New fisheries legislation, why don't they bring it to parliament? It is not just reckless
00:22endangerment. It is murder by negligence and our cabinets cannot avoid this brand, that it is
00:30their fault. It is this cabinet, the last one, the one before it, since 1997. Every year we write and
00:40we appeal, every year, and it just falls on deaf ears. His comments come as five people remain
00:47missing at sea following a boating accident on Sunday. A young child is reportedly at the center
00:54of the tragedy. We have a 1917 law. Before we had engines, they have this law. The law doesn't deal
01:03with speed. In those days, men would row a boat at one or two miles per hour. We didn't have
01:11this
01:11danger that we have now. We didn't have drug smuggling in those days. So there's nothing
01:17in that legislation to refer to qualifications or age or training of a licensed captain. There's no
01:26regime to ensure that captains are penalized for drunk driving, for reckless driving. There's nothing
01:35in place. So anybody can do anything. And there's no law. Abud also notes with disappointment,
01:43the fact that authorities have not addressed the country on the tragedy. Tonight, families are crying
01:50at home. Mothers are crying, brothers, husbands, and not a word, not even a word. It's not just
01:58disregard. It's contempt of us as though we are nothing. The Coast Guard held a briefing with relatives
02:04this evening. However, members of the media were not invited. Repeated calls to the Minister
02:11of Defense, Wayne Stooge, went unanswered. Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
