标签： Trinidad and Tobago

In a pointed address to the Senate during debate on the 2026 Public Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has sounded the alarm on widespread graft among building and public health inspectors, calling on ordinary citizens to bring forward evidence of bribe-taking to law enforcement for investigation.

Ameen opened her remarks by unpacking the systemic roots of the corruption crisis facing the country’s development approval system, noting that long-standing staff shortages, created by the previous administration’s failure to fill vacant inspector positions, have created critical openings for unethical conduct to flourish. In conversations with a former local government minister, Ameen confirmed that understaffing has allowed corrupt actors to exploit gaps in oversight, with bribe-taking becoming so normalized that many developers now build these illicit payments into their project overhead costs as an expected “cost of doing business.”

She emphasized that corruption penetrates every stage of the development approval process, where project sign-off is increasingly granted based on personal connections or illicit payments rather than compliance with building and public health standards. This pattern of graft has severely eroded public trust in the approval framework, she argued, allowing non-compliant projects to move forward while leaving honest developers at a disadvantage. Pointing to visible signs of illicit enrichment, Ameen noted that many corrupt inspectors maintain lavish lifestyles far beyond what their public service salaries can support, including owning multi-million dollar mansions, luxury vehicles, and multiple residential properties across the country. While public conversation about corruption often focuses on elected officials, Ameen stressed that cleaning up the public service requires rooting out bad actors at every level, including front-line inspection roles.

Looking ahead, Ameen issued a clear warning to all new applicants for recently opened inspector positions: corruption will not be tolerated under the current government. The administration is already moving to fill long-vacant inspector and engineering roles to address the staffing shortages that enabled graft, she confirmed. For members of the public who hold information about bribe-taking, Ameen urged immediate reporting to local police, noting that formal processes are already in place to remove proven corrupt officials from their posts.

Beyond addressing corruption, Ameen laid out the core policy goals of the Public Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, which aims to cut through bureaucratic red tape and streamline the country’s construction approval process by removing the County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) from routine stages of the building permitting workflow. The legislation, which already passed the House of Representatives last Friday, is designed to eliminate redundant approval requirements that have delayed thousands of development projects across the twin-island nation.

Official data presented by Ameen shows that between 2021 and 2026, more than 9,100 development applications were submitted to the CMOH for approval, even though regional municipal corporations already employ public health inspectors authorized to sign off on the same projects. This duplication has created a massive backlog: as of the Senate debate, 790 applications remain pending CMOH review. To address concerns over the fate of these backlogged requests, Ameen confirmed that the Ministry of Health will issue a formal directive transferring all pending applications to the relevant municipal corporations. Applicants will not be required to resubmit documentation or restart their approval process, as both agencies already hold full copies of the submitted materials, and all transitional arrangements will be finalized before the legislation takes effect.

Currently, four municipal corporations – the Port of Spain City Corporation, San Fernando City Corporation, Arima Borough Corporation, and Point Fortin Borough Corporation – already maintain in-house public health inspection teams to conduct project assessments. If passed, the bill will extend this full approval authority to all 14 of Trinidad and Tobago’s municipal corporations, creating a consistent, more efficient approval framework across the country. Coupled with ongoing recruitment of new inspectors and engineers, the legislative change is expected to cut administrative delays, remove overlapping agency requirements, and support faster delivery of new construction and development projects nationwide.

As Trinidad and Tobago advances its ambitious 2026 Migrant Registration Framework (MRF), the country’s government has implemented a rigorous, internationally supported vetting process to screen thousands of undocumented migrants seeking legal status, marking a sharp break from flawed past registration efforts. Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander detailed in an exclusive interview with local outlet the Express on Tuesday that the U.S. Interpol bureau is currently partnering with local authorities to conduct enhanced security screenings for more than 24,000 migrants who have completed the MRF’s in-person registration process. This collaboration comes as the current Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration intensifies background checks ahead of the planned rollout of official migrant registration cards, which Alexander projects will begin as early as next month.

Alexander emphasized that the current vetting protocol is far more exhaustive than the registration exercise carried out by the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration, which he criticized for lacking meaningful checks and balances. “Last occasion it was a runaway train, on this occasion, we are making sure to check every detail,” Alexander told the Express. Unlike the incomplete process of the past, the new framework incorporates fingerprint collection by local police service and cross-border background checks facilitated by Interpol, ensuring every applicant is fully vetted before receiving approval to legally reside and work in the twin-island nation. “This process was a tedious one. It was not one that was done with blindfolds on,” he added.

International security partners are contributing far more than just basic record checks: they are assisting local law enforcement in tracing criminal histories across applicants’ countries of origin and any other nations they have previously resided in or visited, with investigations extending beyond past travel to probe any illicit activities applicants may have participated in globally. To date, the enhanced screening has already uncovered multiple cases of applicants submitting false names and other falsified personal information, as well as identifying candidates with active criminal charges or prior conviction records. Alexander confirmed that these individuals will face appropriate administrative or legal action, stressing that the government will no longer admit migrants who would exacerbate existing public safety challenges. “We are not prepared to accommodate persons in this country any more who intend to be part of the problem that we are already in,” he said.

Beyond migrant vetting, Alexander noted that international partners have been critical to Trinidad and Tobago’s broader law enforcement efforts, providing critical intelligence, surveillance capabilities, technical training, and on-the-ground support to counter the illicit flows of drugs, unregistered firearms, and human trafficking across the country’s borders. He blamed the previous PNM administration for failing to secure national borders, invest in border security personnel, or build critical international security partnerships, leaving the country vulnerable to a large influx of unauthorized migration. Since taking office, the current administration has made cracking down on illegal migration a top policy priority, and has seen growing cooperation from global security partners as a result. “Our international partners have been very co-operative with us. And they are teaching us a lot of things that we did not have the technology to detect before. We continue to build that partnership and we can only see it getting better in the future,” Alexander said.

The 2026 MRF represents a major expansion of Trinidad and Tobago’s approach to undocumented migration. Unlike the 2019 registration exercise, which limited eligibility to Venezuelan migrants, the new framework opens registration to qualified undocumented migrants of all nationalities. The first phase of the 2026 process, which ran from January 26 to February 25, consisted of online application submission, preliminary reviews, and in-person appointment scheduling. By the close of the first phase, the Ministry of Homeland Security had received 29,276 applications from migrants representing more than 60 different countries of origin.

The second, mandatory phase of the process requires all applicants to complete in-person verification and processing at one of five designated regional stadium centers: Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima, Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, and Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago. In-person interviews launched on March 2, and as part of the processing workflow, all applicants undergo fingerprint collection and initial security checks through the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, while adult applicants are required to pay a TT$700 registration fee. Public health officials have also participated in the process to conduct required health screenings for all applicants.

The update comes amid criticism from some Venezuelan migrant communities and local migrant advocacy groups, which told the Express they have waited more than six months for an official status update on the MRF process from Alexander’s ministry, with no new information released to date.

A high-stakes legal dispute has emerged in Trinidad and Tobago’s telecommunications sector, as two top leaders of state-owned telecommunications firm TSTT have threatened to pursue defamation litigation against Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) Secretary General Joanne Ogeer, stemming from inflammatory allegations she made during a union-hosted press conference earlier this month.

One year after the United National Congress (UNC) administration took office in Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced a landmark milestone in the country’s war on illegal narcotics: security forces have intercepted contraband drugs with a combined local street value of approximately $1 billion. The announcement comes on the heels of a major high-profile cocaine bust carried out by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard earlier this week, a seizure that underscores the government’s ongoing push to disrupt transnational and domestic drug trafficking networks.

On Monday, Coast Guard operatives intercepted a shipment carrying 440.2 kilograms of cocaine, valued at an estimated $204.5 million on local streets, and took four men into custody following the operation. Speaking to reporters from the Trinidad Express on Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar, who also leads the country’s National Security Council, framed this latest bust as clear evidence that the country’s security apparatus is delivering measurable progress against the illegal drug trade.

Going beyond the announcement of aggregate seizure numbers, the Prime Minister pulled back the curtain on the structure of the narcotics trade in the small Caribbean nation, arguing that large-scale drug shipments cannot be funded or operated by low-level couriers or small-time criminal operators. She emphasized that well-connected, wealthy business leaders are the true masterminds behind most large-scale trafficking activity in Trinidad and Tobago. “Trinidad is a small place. Everyone knows it’s wealthy so-called business people who are behind drug trafficking. No poor person or small operator can traffic a billion dollars’ worth of drugs,” she stated.

This marks a continuation of the administration’s long-stated pledge to target every tier of drug trafficking networks, not just low-level street dealers and street gangs that handle the final stages of distribution. Persad-Bissessar has made dismantling the “big fish” financiers and criminal kingpins that operate behind the scenes a core priority of her government’s national security agenda.

When asked whether investigators would move up the criminal chain to apprehend the organisers and funders behind the latest cocaine seizure, the Prime Minister declined to prejudge the ongoing investigation, noting that local police and partner international law enforcement agencies are conducting a full, thorough inquiry. While she would not speculate on procedural outcomes, she made clear her expectation that the probe will result in arrests of higher-level players in the network. She also alleged that major trafficking operations are actively enabled by corrupt actors within local financial institutions, who facilitate the movement of United States currency — the primary currency used by international drug cartels, which do not transact in the local Trinidad and Tobago dollar.

Persad-Bissessar confirmed that a number of local businesses tied to narcotics activity are already under active surveillance by both local and international law enforcement. While members of the public have not seen high-profile arrests of these elite figures to date, she says behind-the-scenes action is already underway to disrupt the cross-border movement and criminal business operations of trafficking-linked individuals. When pressed on whether investigators would trace the financial trail through bank accounts, corporate holdings, real estate and other assets tied to the latest shipment, the Prime Minister said law enforcement would follow all formal investigative protocols and procedures.

International collaboration is a central pillar of the government’s campaign against organised drug crime, Persad-Bissessar confirmed. Over the past 18 months, key international partners including the United States and the United Kingdom have implemented a series of punitive measures against suspected trafficking figures, including visa revocations, restrictions and entry refusals, and the Prime Minister says she expects this cooperative support to continue. When asked if cross-border cooperation includes intelligence sharing, maritime surveillance, vessel tracking, financial investigations, personnel training and joint operational work, she confirmed the partnership includes all of these measures and additional coordinated initiatives. She declined to comment on whether foreign intelligence supported the latest cocaine interception, as well as questions about the cocaine’s origin, intended destination, and whether Trinidad and Tobago is being used as a transshipment point or final market, noting that these details remain part of confidential ongoing investigations.

The latest large seizure has reignited public debate over the country’s ability to secure its extensive territorial waters from sophisticated transnational trafficking operations. Acknowledging that no border security system is perfect and that some illicit shipments are likely to evade detection, Persad-Bissessar reaffirmed that security forces have made consistent, tangible progress in interceptions. When asked whether the government plans to allocate additional resources — including new coastal vessels, advanced surveillance technology, radar systems, drones, aircraft and other equipment — to boost the Coast Guard and police’s maritime interdiction capabilities, she confirmed additional resources are being deployed but declined to share specific details for operational security reasons.

The Prime Minister also tied recent gains in intelligence gathering to the national State of Emergency (SoE), which is scheduled to expire on September 17. She explained that the emergency public security measures, paired with major upgrades to information technology hardware and software at the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), have significantly boosted the country’s national intelligence gathering capacity. With emergency powers set to lapse, Persad-Bissessar says the government stands ready to reimpose emergency measures or take other extraordinary action if national security conditions deteriorate. She noted that the government has already delivered tangible progress, with overall crime rates and particularly murder rates falling across the country, but added that “if there is a reversion to an increase in crime the government has no problem taking every action available to us.”

Throughout her remarks, the Prime Minister reiterated a clear, uncompromising message: no amount of wealth, social status, or elite business connections will shield actors involved in the illegal drug trade from prosecution and disruption under her administration.

As the country prepares for the upcoming expiration of the national state of emergency on September 17, a key independent lawmaker has adopted a wait-and-see stance on whether the senate’s crossbench will revisit its proposed amendments to the revised Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) Bill.

Independent Senator Marlene Attzs shared her position with reporters outside Parliament on Wednesday, noting that she would not commit to supporting the government’s reintroduced legislation until she reviews what modifications the administration has made to the draft text. During the bill’s last parliamentary iteration, more than 50 amendments were submitted by lawmakers, nearly half of which originated from the independent senate bench. Attzs’ own proposed changes were crafted to strike a deliberate balance between two core national priorities: the government’s urgent push to curb the country’s rising violent crime rate, and the protection of fundamental civil liberties, governmental transparency, and legislative accountability.

On the previous iteration of the bill, the governing party refused outright to consider any crossbench amendments, a point Attzs did not shy away from recalling. Still, she says she holds cautious optimism that the revised draft will incorporate at least some of the crossbench’s proposed safeguards for how ZOSO powers are deployed by law enforcement.

Addressing the critical need for coordinated action on crime, Attzs emphasized that the national security crisis demands a collective response from all parliamentary blocs, rather than unilateral action from the governing party. “We’re hoping that this time around, as we collectively try to deal with the issue of crime in the country, that some of those amendments are taken on board and given consideration so that collectively we can address this issue that is facing the country,” she said.

When asked if she would be willing to compromise on any of her proposed amendments ahead of the bill’s introduction, Attzs declined to pre-judge the government’s revised text. She noted that she will assess the new draft in its full context once it is officially tabled, and declined to assume it will retain the exact same structure and content as the earlier, unrevised version.

Among the core unresolved questions the amendments seek to clarify is the methodology for designating areas as official Zones of Special Operations. Attzs pointed out that the draft legislation lacks clear guidance on what criteria and data are used to draw ZOSO boundaries, a fundamental policy gap that independent lawmakers intend to raise during parliamentary debate once the revised bill is officially introduced.

The conversation also turned to lingering tensions from a past controversy: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s earlier claim that some unnamed senators had offered to exchange their votes on the bill for political favors. When asked if independent senators remain concerned by the accusation, Attzs noted that a significant period of time has passed since the claim was made, and no public evidence has been presented to substantiate it. Echoing a common line from the country’s political leaders, she added that if any evidence of improper activity exists, those making the claim should bring it to law enforcement for investigation, noting that positions on the controversy have softened in the absence of proof.

In a landmark ruling that upholds core constitutional protections for incarcerated people, the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago has ruled that the State cannot carry out routine interception and recording of confidential communications between prisoners and their legal representatives. The judgment, delivered by Justice Robin Mohammed last Friday, has invalidated key provisions of the 2020 Interception of Communications (Amendment) Act, declaring them unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

The constitutional challenge was brought by Lyndon James, a prisoner who is currently awaiting retrial for the 2008 murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman. James, represented by a team of senior attorneys from Freedom Law Chambers led by Anand Ramlogan SC, targeted two specific sections of the 2020 amendment: sections 6(b)(v) and 7. These clauses expanded the State’s authority to intercept all prisoner communications within correctional facilities and stripped the vast majority of these exchanges of their longstanding legal professional privilege protection.

In his detailed judgment, Justice Mohammed found that the challenged amendments directly violated multiple fundamental constitutional rights, including the explicit right of detainees to retain legal counsel and communicate confidentially with them, as well as the foundational right to a fair judicial hearing. Beyond the substantive rights violation, the judge also determined that the legislation was never enacted in compliance with the special constitutional procedure required for any law that limits fundamental human rights, marking a fatal procedural flaw in the amendment’s passage.

Justice Mohammed emphasized the inextricable link between legal professional privilege, the rule of law, and functional democratic governance. “The courts are the guardians of the Constitution, they can only fulfil that role of guardianship if there is unimpeded access to the justice system,” he wrote in his judgment. He further noted that confidential communication between prisoners and their lawyers takes on heightened importance, given that incarcerated people rely on these discussions to address a wide range of critical issues, from challenges to their detention and claims of mistreatment to claims of constitutional violations and safety threats within the facility. “A safe space is an integral element to fostering open dialogue between attorneys and clients,” he added.

A key finding in the ruling was that the 2020 amendments effectively imposed a blanket ban on legal professional privilege for all prisoner communications. Justice Mohammed pointed out that no ministerial orders were ever issued to designate specific areas within prisons where privilege would remain protected, leaving no exception for confidential legal discussions.

The judge also rejected the State’s core argument that legal privilege could not apply to conversations held over illegal mobile phones that prisoners may smuggle into correctional facilities. “The Defendant’s proposition that the Claimant cannot reasonably expect to attach privilege to conversations facilitated by illegal cellular phones, is unsustainable,” he ruled. While he confirmed that communications made in furtherance of ongoing criminal activity never qualify for privilege protection, Justice Mohammed stressed that the mere use of an unapproved device does not automatically strip a defendant of their right to confidential legal discussion about their own case.

Justice Mohammed acknowledged that the State has a legitimate public interest goal of curbing criminal activity within prison walls. However, he found that the government failed to prove that sweeping, routine interception of all legal communications is a proportionate response to that goal. “Plainly a telephone call made by an inmate or detainee to his lawyer, to provide instructions or take advice, is not the same thing as the issuing of criminal instructions or the furtherance of criminal activity,” he explained.

The judge also noted that a far less intrusive alternative was available to the State: engaging independent legal counsel to review any intercepted communications to determine whether they qualify for legal privilege before retaining or using the content. “The option of engaging independent counsel provided a less intrusive measure which could and ought to have been used,” he said. “A fair balance has not been struck between the rights of the individual (the prisoners) and the interests of the community (the public),” he added.

Going a step further, Justice Mohammed found that the entire amendment was enacted on an “erroneous premise”: that the changes did not conflict with constitutional rights, and thus did not require the special legislative majority mandated under Section 13 of the national constitution. “Indeed, it is plainly obvious that if the parent Act was passed in compliance with Section 13, an Amendment Act which imposes further restrictions on Sections 4 and 5 rights ought to be passed in compliance with Section 13,” he wrote.

In final orders, Justice Mohammed formally declared the challenged provisions unconstitutional, and ruled that the amendments to the Interception of Communications Act are “illegal, null, void and of no effect”. James was awarded full costs for his successful challenge, with the judgment certified to allow for costs at the senior and junior counsel level. The Office of the Attorney General, which defended the law, was represented by Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson, Rishi Dass SC, and Rachel Wright.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has issued a stark public warning to the country’s wealthy drug trafficking networks, signaling that her administration will not ease its aggressive anti-crime push even after the expiration of the national state of emergency (SoE) on September 17.

In an official statement released via social media, the Prime Minister outlined a clear, uncompromising stance against organized criminal groups, specifically calling out drug gangs operating out of the upscale West Trinidad neighborhoods of Westmoorings, St Clair and Federation Park. She slammed these networks as “filthy, greedy” for flooding the twin-island nation with illegal narcotics and unregistered firearms that fuel violent crime and harm local communities.

Persad-Bissessar made clear that the end of emergency powers would not bring a halt to the government’s law enforcement campaign. She emphasized that criminals, their backers and their family members will still face harsh consequences for any ongoing criminal activity, noting that holding cells at the Teteron and Maximum Security Prison (MSP) remain ready for anyone who continues to terrorize law-abiding residents. “Negotiating with or placating criminals only emboldens them to continue their criminal activities,” she stressed.

As part of her commitment to transparency and public accountability, the Prime Minister declassified previously confidential law enforcement data submitted to the National Security Council, which outlines the results of the six-month state of emergency. The data shows that the operation has been “highly successful”: authorities arrested 5,802 people across the country, with 3,552 of those arrested – 61.2 percent of the total – facing formal criminal charges. Persad-Bissessar confirmed that the six-month period saw the “primary threat” of organized crime reduced, with crime rates dropping in every single police division across Trinidad and Tobago.

The Prime Minister used the address to critique decades-long trends that she said eroded public safety in the nation. She argued that over the past 30 years, Trinidad and Tobago slid from a peaceful society to what she called a “lawless dump,” a shift driven in part by a widely perceived two-tiered justice system. Under that unequal system, she explained, ordinary citizens face the full force of the law, while what she termed “eat-a-food fake elite and politically connected” actors get special treatment and avoid consequences for criminal activity. “I am working to bring those days to an end. Everyone must now bear personal responsibility for their individual behaviour,” she said.

To target high-level criminal networks that believe their wealth and influence put them beyond legal reach, Persad-Bissessar confirmed her administration is coordinating closely with foreign law enforcement agencies to dismantle local drug trafficking operations. This collaborative effort will ensure that even wealthy mafia figures face the same prosecution procedures as any other person accused of breaking the law, she said. The Prime Minister stressed that gangs from wealthy West Trinidad neighborhoods will not receive preferential treatment, and will face the same legal consequences as long-recognized street gangs from areas including Siparia, Arima and Laventille.

This public warning is consistent with Persad-Bissessar’s ongoing campaign to root out white-collar facilitation of organized crime, not just low-level street gang activity. Back in June, she backed a similar warning from Attorney General John Jeremie that the anti-crime push would target wealthy, influential figures suspected of profiting from drug trafficking and organized crime, not just traditional street-level groups. Reiterating the principle that “justice is blind,” the Prime Minister affirmed that the law applies equally to all citizens, no matter their net worth, social status, political connections or public influence.

Later that same month, Persad-Bissessar revealed that United States intelligence agencies had identified a network of local individuals, business owners and banking staff allegedly linked to large-scale money laundering and drug trafficking for international cartels, moving millions in U.S. currency out of the country. She confirmed at the time that U.S. authorities had already begun punitive action against these actors, including restricting their access to U.S. territory and American financial institutions. To strengthen domestic enforcement, the Prime Minister added that her government is bolstering the capacity of the Inland Revenue Division to increase regulatory scrutiny of white-collar criminals and businesses tied to drug trafficking, financial crime and gang activity.

Persad-Bissessar closed her statement by extending formal gratitude to all government officials and frontline personnel who supported the state of emergency operations, including the Attorney General, defense and security ministerial teams, police and prison leadership, and all rank-and-file protective service workers who worked extended shifts to keep the public safe. She also thanked law-abiding Trinidad and Tobago residents for their patience, support and willingness to cooperate with authorities during the emergency period, saying their backing was critical to the operation’s early success.