![]() The issue is the report of the American authority and what are you doing about the issues raised, their serious concerns as to why we cannot have human traffickers arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted? The thing is not to ask everybody in TT if they received an illicit offer, then all 1.3 million people in TT may have to say yes or no. When Moonilal was asked if he would be reporting this businessman if he knew the person was involved in trafficking, he said, “Those are not the issues really. I’m told that being a decent man, he shooed them away, but I have to ask the PM, if this happened, will you be reporting these people to the police, did you make a report to the police onsite, are you going to deal with those people since you know them as human traffickers?” ![]() He said he was told that the PM may have been offered similar services at a recent Carnival party by “a prominent Southern businessman who is known to have brought people in for companionship. Moonilal said statements made by Maharaj that he was offered the services of Venezuelan and Colombian prostitutes were attempts to trivialise human trafficking, which was a transnational, international criminal enterprise. I cannot now accuse (former) minister Maharaj of suppressing information all these years, because to my knowledge, there was some enquiry in 2011/2012 I believe, and I cannot accuse him of suppressing information or knowledge of criminal wrongdoing and waiting until Dr Rowley made such an abominable allegation in Parliament on Friday, to come out and confirm that.” “If that was done, minister Maharaj should have sent that report, or have ensured that the report went to the police, but that certainly was not a government or cabinet matter. He said this practice was followed when he was housing minister and reports were made of people fraudulently accepting money for homes. Government practice is that if a minister conducts an investigation of any kind, the report is filed at the ministry and if there is any wrongdoing, it goes to the police.” If he did, surely the ministry will have a report and that report could be found, and if there’s any claim of wrongdoing or criminal conduct, such a report should go to the police. I’m not sure if former minister Maharaj may have conducted his own enquiries into any matter. “It certainly was not an investigation of any cabinet or any cabinet business. Speaking at the UNC’s Sunday media conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Port of Spain, Moonilal said, Oropouche West MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said he is not aware of any investigation into government officials being involved in human trafficking while the UNC was in power between 20, contrary to statements made by former UNC minister Devant Maharaj. Monday 27 February 2023 Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal during a media conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Port of Spain on September 25, 2022. News Moonilal: 'No human-trafficking probe of UNC in my time'
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