KAMLA MAKES 15 YEARS AS UNC LEADER

[00:00:01] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, Accountability. The all new talk Radio Freedom 106.5 welcome back. Joining us via phone now, let's welcome back to our program, Mr. Jack Warner. Mr. Warner, good morning to you. Welcome to our show. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Good morning, Satish. [00:00:19] Speaker A: It's nice to have you with us here this morning. A number of things for us to discuss. Just remind me, you were. You were Minister of National Security at one point in time under the partnership, correct? That's correct, yes. So let's begin by getting your comments on this latest pronouncement our Prime Minister has made about the police service. And the police are doing its job. What's your take on it? [00:00:42] Speaker B: I don't know who advises the Prime Minister, but it seems to me that whenever he opens his mouth, he of course puts his foot into it. His information about the police station being closed is false. I have been Minister for about nine or 10 months and I know that this never happened. I also wanted to say as well that the police that I know today, as I knew yesterday, never hide the incisions from criminals. This is madness. What if, even if even remotely this were the case, what does this revelation do for this country's image internationally? What does it do for those citizens who are living in fear of the criminals? How does this help? So I just don't understand the Prime Minister. But then again, this is nothing new. He continues to talk a lot of foolishness and this upsets people, but not me. I'm not surprised in any way. [00:01:47] Speaker A: Do you think the Prime Minister's continued criticism of the police service undermines the public's confidence in the police? [00:01:55] Speaker B: Most definitely. The public's confidence in the police is already low. What he has done and what he has said has not helped, that has worsened it. In addition to that, the public would not have any trust in the police as they should have. And Wilson, the moral of the police has become very low indeed. I made the point last week to a friend of mine that apparently the Prime Minister does not know that the police also have votes and they can show their disgust and their anger at the voting boots when the time comes. I'm sure they will. [00:02:33] Speaker A: But as head of the National Security Council, is it not? And you'd be aware of how these things work. Having been a Minister of National Security, you would have met with the National Security Council and would have had discussions. Is this not something that the Prime Minister could have dealt with in those discussions? [00:02:50] Speaker B: He could have dealt with their satish. He could even have had a chat with the Commissioner of Police. She herself was as surprised as the general public at the comment he made. And you saw where she rushed off and gave a different explanation. Completely disagree with the Prime Minister. He could have spoken to her, he could have spoken to National Security Council, but I don't know what headline he was trying to get. But if he wanted to get a headline, he got the headline. But he wrong one. [00:03:26] Speaker A: As we're talking about the crime situation and the Prime Minister as head of the National Security Council and his continued comments about the police service, we hear time and time again that the reason why the government can't address the crime situation is because they're not getting the support that they say they need from the opposition. What's your take on that? [00:03:45] Speaker B: That is foolishness. If you listen to the leader of the opposition and the amount of bills they supported the government on crime, you will see that the support has been exceedingly high. And in fact the opposition support has in no way helped them. The main point, Satish, is that the country is lacking leadership. And you will know that whenever the PNM is in office, crime is at an all time high. The records are there for everyone to see. And therefore the problem as far as I'm concerned about the crime is in the leadership. Until this changes, crime will not go down. It has to change and has to change quickly. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah, you've been making, just to shift gears just a bit, you made a pretty interesting comment recently about the UNC and their screening, about the announcement of candidates and others. And it comes at a time when on Friday I believe it was, the party at its screening in Chaguanas celebrated 15 years of leadership under Kamala Prasad Bissasa. Now I asked a question on social media and some people get really upset with the question. Some people thought that it was an unfair question and the question was simply After 15 years of leadership of Kamala Prasad be Sassa, is the UNC better or for worse off as the gentleman who spearheaded all the meetings across the country and everything else that forced the internal elections that saw Kamala Passad Bisesa ascending to the leadership of the UNC and then subsequently as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. What's your opinion, Satish? [00:05:36] Speaker B: I have been hearing people say time and time again that it's time for Mrs. Prasad Bisesa to step down, to resign, to. To do this, to do that. And each time they say so, I ask them if she resigns, then to put who we have come back to the stage where you call in the early years of the PNM in the 80s, I think. The 80s, yes. People were asking who we go put. And the same question stands now. If not Mrs. Posaki says who? And therefore I am saying that at this point in time, it makes no sense, absolutely no sense for Mrs. Basak to step down. The time will come when she may have to do that, but I could tell it definitely not now. And worse yet, she shouldn't step down when the PLM is on the run. This is a time when Mrs. Posad Besesa can strike once again and become prime minister of this country. And she'd be foolish to step down at this crucial time and give it to some new fight and lose an election. It doesn't make sense, Satish. It just doesn't make sense. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah. This morning we had the discussion and one person suggested that the party has grown tremendously under Kamala Passad Bisesa's stewardship. Do you agree? [00:06:55] Speaker B: I agree. I agree it has grown tremendously. Look at. Go to any meeting and you'll see. And I'm not trying to be a racist here, but I'll tell you, fact is, you'll see a mixture of people that you never saw before. You'll see African, you'll see Indian, you'll see Chinese, you'll see all kinds of people for the first time. And this, this, I'm saying, was something which had begun in 2010 and has now reached the point, I think, where we are all happy to see the kind of hue and the color at the meetings. Yeah, this is. This is something that ever happened before. [00:07:32] Speaker A: When we do. Look, go ahead. [00:07:34] Speaker B: No, look for yourself and see. See what takes place and you'll see. I'm saying that the UNC has been transformed in a way that is unimaginable. It's no longer an Indian party, as people say, it is a national party. And I am saying this contribution has been made by Mrs. Prasad GI Sessa in no small way. [00:07:57] Speaker A: Your comments recently referred to the selection and announcement of candidates, and you suggested that, well, more should be done. What's the more. What do you think is not being done the way it should be? [00:08:10] Speaker B: Well, I feel that there should be more screening taking place. I feel especially in the PNM constituencies, the candidates there should have been chosen early, at least earlier, that they can work, they can meet people, they can discuss their plans and ideas, they can meet their supporters, and they can do all kinds of things because they need as much time as possible. And therefore, particularly in the PNM constituencies, I believe that we should have. And I Say we. But I surely understand what I mean that we should have had screen taking place. Diego Martin West Diego Martin, Central, Northeast, and also put people in place, let them start walking. Right. If you don't want to put to announce candidates in some of the seats for strategic purposes, fine. But what prevents you from doing in the peer constituencies? Nothing. [00:09:06] Speaker A: No. Well, I guess this is a question that needs to be posed. What's your role moving forward with. Because you were at some meetings and you had said that you were now going to be a part of helping the UNC moving forward. What are you playing any role at all at this point in time? [00:09:26] Speaker B: Well, let me tell you, I have said that people misunderstood, but I have said if one has to sweep the floor, the office to put the PNM out of government, I will do that. And I mean that seriously. Anything that can be done to help the UNC to win the election, I will do. And at this particular point, I am working with. I am supporting the candidacy of Dr. Natalie Chaitan Maharaj for the Aruka Gopino constituency, where I live, actually, and I'm supporting her. We are planning meetings, we have our strategic committees and so on. And I'm doing all things that are possible to help her. And I will do it with anybody. I will work with anybody. I will go to the ends of the earth, so to speak. Literally, I will do anything that has to be done legally to get this government out of office and to save this country. This country needs to be. We are in trouble. And I'm saying so not to try to scare people, but just look around you. Everything in this country is falling apart. Our institutions have gone right. Our independent commissions are no more. The economy is in shambles. The Dragon deal is stuttering. You look around you and see for yourself. And in all of this, the prime minister has doubled his salary. His pension has increased. He has accepted, I mean, salaries that would make any other political leader or prime minister in the region envious. So I'm saying, therefore, that we have to correct this and do it quickly because we have to save your children and your children's children if this government brings the defense. I could tell her this, you know, there'll be a long line heading for Piako because people will be leaving this country. We can't afford to do that. And therefore, we have to change the government. I make no apologies for saying so on the air this morning. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah. For those of you who may have joined our conversation, we were speaking to Mr. Jack Warner on several things that we've been discussing. We've started off with national security. We've moved a bit of politics. Mr. Warner. There were some changes made recently by the EBC to several constituencies. Changing the name, the boundaries and so on. Do you think that's going to have a role at all in the outcome of the election? [00:11:51] Speaker B: I don't think so. I mean if it does, it would be minimal. The disgust and the anger people have at this government. I think you could change the boundaries what you want in the sea. The government will still lose because the people are angry, the people are disappointed, the people are broken and as such therefore they can do what they want. Satish. It's just a matter of time. They can have election in April, May or June to have it in September, October, the result will be the same. The PNM will lose. [00:12:28] Speaker A: Welcome back. We do have Mr. Warner with us and of course we're taking Your calls on 625-2257 and you can send your voice notes as well. Let's see if we have somebody with us here. Have a good morning. Okay. Nobody there. I think it's 625-20-257 or 627-3223. I wonder confusing myself here. Hello. Good morning. [00:12:55] Speaker C: Good morning to you sir. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Good morning sir. Good morning. [00:13:00] Speaker C: It's good to hear you on the air again. This is Linden. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Right, okay. [00:13:07] Speaker C: Good to hear you man. Good to hear you and always a pleasure listening to you. [00:13:12] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:13:15] Speaker C: Now I've heard from time and time again I think you are in a good position to give a pronouncement on this. I've heard from time and time again from critics of the Commonwealth administration that if the PP was so good, why did they lose the election? My question to you is this, right? First of all, let me say that it cannot be disputed by any neutral and objective Personally Tamlo led administration perform remarkably right. [00:13:43] Speaker B: This. [00:13:44] Speaker C: This administration is no way can be compared to what Kamala processor did between 2010 to 2015. That administration appears on a trajectory to better the betterment. Right? [00:13:55] Speaker B: That's correct. [00:13:56] Speaker C: To what extent uncle, would you say that the email gate had on the effect of the Kamala Prasad administration getting back into office? [00:14:12] Speaker B: I don't think the email gate had too much to do with it. It may have had some effect but I don't think the effect was so great that it affected the election. Immigrate. You know as well as I do that this is a seven day country. And after seven days people began to forget about immigrate and they took up something else. What I think we have to do to win the election, if nothing at all, we have to have attractive candidates. We have to ask candidates that people can say, look, there goes our Minister of Finance, there goes our Minister of Work and Transport, there goes our Minister of this, there goes our Minister of that. Unless we do that, people see the optics, then we shall be in trouble. So I'm saying therefore, that we have to have ministers or candidates who are attractive for the national community. [00:15:03] Speaker A: What makes a candidate attractive? [00:15:07] Speaker B: Several things I could tell you. Candidate, profession, the candidate, how they get across the ideas to the people, how they interact with the people. These are things that you either have or don't have. And if you are a good debater and so on, if you can stop and argue on national issues and so on, if you can get can. Can suggest ideas and ways how this country can be governed better, these are some of the things that can make a candidate attractive. [00:15:43] Speaker A: Yeah. For those of you who'd like to join the conversation, feel free to do so. 6 2. I think we have another call here. Let's see. Hello. [00:15:52] Speaker D: Good morning, Mr. Warner, your morning. [00:15:54] Speaker B: Good morning, Mr. Moana. [00:15:56] Speaker D: Yes, we have a state of fake leaders in this country. No government, no party has put this country on a party. Economic development. Our leaders were treacherous to us. All the parties they saw for themselves and the people, but not the people. Look where the countries today, all the bright people, where are they? All the people of caliber. Is there pure caliber country. [00:16:25] Speaker B: People otherwise. [00:16:26] Speaker D: But none of the caliber. Mr. Moana, you know, our country needs people are honest, like in Singapore. Honest and decent and people of integrity. And we don't have that here. We have a shortage of honesty. Mr. Warner, could you comment on that, please? [00:16:41] Speaker B: Well, I don't agree with you that the people here are not honest and the people here are not qualified and they don't know and they have not helped with the economy of the country and so on. Somebody said earlier, when I think the first caller, that the golden era of this country was 2010 to 2015. Look at the kind of things that were done in five years. Look at the roads, then look at the schools, look at the scholarships, look at the laptop, look at the hospitals. 2010 to 2015. Look at what's happening, happening in that period and you can see for yourself that was the golden era in this country. [00:17:23] Speaker A: Let's take another call. [00:17:25] Speaker B: I don't think that I agree with you that of course we have no leaders and things are so bad we have leaders and if people are corrupt, then they must Pay a price for being corrupt. But the fact is we have had good leaders and I'm saying again that one of them has been Mrs. Posad Bisesa and the role she played in 2010, 2015. Nobody could argue that this country wasn't better off in that period. Nobody could argue. If you be a PNM fanatic, you must agree that that period was the golden era for Triangle Tobago. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Let's take another call. Hello, good morning. [00:18:01] Speaker E: A pleasant morning. Morales Morales here from new grants. Mr. Warner, being national Security Minister for the short time you're worth going back into supporting the unc, we need to have some really effective methods of how we're going to treat the government. You had recommended that time that the jailer, jail and porters should be moved out of other recommendations. Do you think you will be able to influence for us to follow Trina? Because that's one of the biggest crisis we have. And the jail is like the pipeline, the overflow line of the whole judiciary system. Because once they're backed up, everything I backed up. I listen off here to some recommendations so that we do get effectively address the judiciary. [00:18:44] Speaker B: Right? I always maintain that the royal jail is in the wrong place and should be moved to some area where we have lands. I can currently land and so on. Look, in no country, no serious country, you would have your jail in the heart of your city. That is not normal and worse yet, it is overcrowded, it is lacking in facilities. And I am saying that you should therefore use county lands. You have lands all in Princess Tongue, in Kyreni, in Moruga. You have lands which Bishop county lands. You can build new prisons there and close down the prison in Port of Spain. Nothing is wrong with that. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Let's take another call. Hello, Good morning. [00:19:35] Speaker F: Morning, Mr. Warner. There's a plethora of videos, newspaper reports and several other documents between 2010 and 2015 with you criticizing the then government and speaking about a high level of corruption in that government, talking about who have bagman in England and all of that. And you come here this morning telling that that was the golden era. Mr. Bernard, tell me something. The money that Mr. Kamala Passad Precessor was pending, how that money came into Trinidad, who was responsible for the second oil boom? And listen to your response. [00:20:09] Speaker B: The second oil boom that you, that you refer to, I can tell you who was responsible. It was an oil boom. And even the oil boom is just as. Of course you have, you have an oil boom now in Ghana where you find oil. But at the end of the Day there was no oil boom in Mrs. Posad be successful time. What you had, of course, was prudent management. And I'm saying also too, yes, there were some people who were corrupt and the party paid a price for it. And the party will learn from that. But the fact is that you can't paint everybody with a white brush. You can't do that. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, Mr. Wonder if I were to say to you, because crime is one of the major issues confronting the nation, it affects every single thing. Let me take this call before I ask that question to wrap up. Hello, Good morning. [00:20:59] Speaker C: I want to draw two just to show how the tps, the people's partnership, was so good as a government that they didn't see things as a problem, but they fixed the problem. Right. One, people remember the Karuba link road that was left abandoned by the people by the. By the PNM for many years. You drive in there and your vehicle is actually leaning. You all fix that. Remember, the Blanche says you would. Where I was living, I could talk about that. We were displaced from there. Right. We were never even given a placement house. We were displaced. The PNM condemned the road on the premise that it cannot be fixed. So you came there and you fixed that today. Vehicles can pass there up to today. I'm saying to the people of this country, the things that the PNM has had abandoned in this country, the people's partnership under Kamala would have showed that they can in fact be fixed. [00:22:05] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Thank you so much for your call, but we're running out of time and I. I really want to get from Mr. Warner response. Mr. Warner, if I were to say to you, I'm making you minister of national security, Crime is among the major issues confronting the nation. What are some of the things you would put in place to treat with it? [00:22:23] Speaker B: One of the things I would do from the outset is to put a police post in Laventille. You remember when I was of national security for 35 days, there was not a single murder in Laventille for 35 days, not her body dropped simply because you have in place systems that you can monitor. And what I used to have, Satish, was every Monday morning, every Monday morning at 5 o'clock I will call all the leaders of the protective service, army, the coast guard, the police and so on, meeting to discuss with me what they did the week that has gone and what they plan to do in the week to come. So they will report to me and I. And after that we have breakfast so at 7:30 to go to the offices and so on. But I keep monitoring what they have done and what they have failed to do. And therefore once you have this as this simple process of monitoring, right, it will help. The another thing too that I would suggest is those police stations that were closed down in the era of Gary Griffith, they should be reopened, especially one in Brussels between Chaguanas and Rio Claro on that road there, there's not a single police station. Between from Londonville police post to Rio Carlo police station, there's not a single police station or police post. And the one they had in Brazil, they close down. No, for me that is foolishness and I, if I were minister, I'll be open that and several others. The one in San Rafael, they closed down, reopen that. Because the fact is when you see police stations, physical buildings that help also to deter criminals when you don't have those things. But what do you expect? So as a start, I'm thinking patish, I will do those things. I would also make sure that we have an enlarged police service. Why is it we have to train police officers in the Police College in St. James when you could do it at UWI for three months? The campus at UE is closed for three months. It's closed. They have room for six to seven to eight, 9,000 people stay in these campuses. So if they close for three months, why during those three months you can't have six or five or 4,000 officers being trained at the same time. And you're going to, instead of doing it, chirp chirrup 100 now, 100 next time. It doesn't make sense. And there are hosts of things that I'm saying that can be done to help to fight crime, but people just simply sitting down on their heads. [00:25:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Mr. One of us, we're gonna have to leave it here this morning. We're out of time. But I want to thank you for being with us and sharing your, your perspectives on some of these. Continue to confront us as a nation. Always my pleasure to speak with you. Thank you once again for being with us here this morning. [00:25:24] Speaker B: Thank you Satish, appreciate it. [00:25:26] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability, the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5.