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Host: We're honored to have[br]Afra Raymond with us.

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Afra Raymond: Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Okay, this morning I'm speaking

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on the question of corruption.

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And corruption is defined[br]

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as the abuse of a position of trust

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for the benefit of yourself

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or in the case of our context,

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your friends, your family[br]or your financiers.

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Okay? Friends, family and financiers.[br](Applause)

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But we need to understand[br]what we understand about corruption.

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We understand that we have[br]been miseducated about it,

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and we have to admit that.

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We have the courage to admit that

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to start changing how we deal with it.

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The first thing is that the big myth,

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number one,[br]is that in fact it's not really a crime.

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When we get together[br]with friends and family

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and we discuss crime in our country, [br]

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crime in Belmont, crime in Diego,[br]or crime in Marabella,

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nobody's speaking about corruption.

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That's the honest truth.

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When the Commissioner of Police[br]comes on TV to talk about crime,

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he isn't speaking about corruption.

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And we know for sure,

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when the Minister of National Security[br]is speaking about crime,

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he's not talking about corruption either. [br](Laughter)

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The point I'm making[br]is that it is a crime.

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It's an economic crime we're involving[br]the looting of taxpayer's money.

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Public and private[br]corruption is a reality.

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As somebody who comes[br]from the private sector,

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I can tell you there's a massive[br]amount of corruption

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in the private sector that has[br]nothing to do with government.

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The same bribes and backhanders and things

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that take place under the table,[br]it all takes place in the private sector.

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Today, I'm focusing on public[br]sector corruption,

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which the private sector[br]also participates in.

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The second important myth to understand -

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because we have to destroy these myths,

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dismantle them and destroy them[br]and ridicule them -

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the second important myth to understand

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is the one that says

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that in fact corruption[br]is only a small problem.

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If it is a problem,[br]it's only a small problem,

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that in fact it's only a little[br]10 or 15 percent.

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It's been going on forever,[br]it probably will continue forever,

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and there's no point passing any laws, [br]

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because there's little we can do about it.

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And I want to demonstrate that that too,

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is a dangerous myth, very dangerous.

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It's a piece of public mischief.

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And I want to speak a little bit,

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take us back about 30 years.

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We're coming out today[br]from Trinidad and Tobago,

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a resource-rich,[br]small Caribbean country,

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and in the early 1970s we had a massive[br]increase in the country's wealth,

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and that increase was caused[br]by the increase in world oil prices.

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We call them petrodollars.[br]The treasury was bursting with money.

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And it's ironic, because

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we're standing today in the Central Bank.

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You see, history's rich in irony.

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We're standing today in the Central bank,

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and the Central bank[br]is responsible for a lot of the things

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I'm going to be speaking about.[br]Okay?

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We're talking about irresponsibility[br]in public office.

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We're speaking about the fact[br]that across the terrace,

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the next tower is the Ministry of Finance,

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and there's a lot of connection[br]with us today.

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So we're speaking[br]within your temple today. OK?

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(Applause)

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The first thing I want to talk about

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is that when all of this money flowed[br]into our country about 40 years ago,

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we embarked, the government[br]of the day embarked

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on a series of government-[br]to-government arrangements

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to have rapidly develop the country.

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And some of the largest[br]projects in the country

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were being constructed through[br]government-to-government arrangements

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with some of the leading[br]countries in the world,

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the United States and Britain and France[br]and so on and so on.

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As I said, even this building[br]we're standing in -

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that's one of the ironies -

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this building was part of that series[br]of complexes,

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what they called the Twin Towers.

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It became so outrageous,[br]the whole situation,

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that in fact a commission of inquiry[br]was appointed,

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and it reported in 1982,[br]30 years ago it reported -

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the Ballah Report -[br]30 years ago, and immediately

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the government-to-government[br]arrangements were stopped.

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Then the Prime Minister went to Parliament

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to give a budget speech, and he said[br]some things that I'll never forget.

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They went right in here.[br]I was a young man at the time.

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It went right into my heart.

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And he said that, in fact -[br]let me see if this thing works.

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Are we getting a, yeah? -

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That's what he told us.

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He told us that, in fact,

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two out of every three dollars[br]of our petrodollars

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that we spent, the taxpayer's money,[br]was wasted or stolen.

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So the 10 or 15 percent is pure mischief.

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As we say, it's a nancy-story. Forget it.

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That's for little children.

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We are big people,

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and we're trying to deal[br]with what's happening in our society.

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Okay? This is the size of the problem.

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Okay? Two thirds of the money[br]stolen or wasted.

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That was 30 years ago. 1982 was Ballah.

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So what has changed?

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I don't like to bring up[br]embarrassing secrets

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to an international audience,[br]but I have to.

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Four months ago, we suffered[br]a constitutional outrage in this country.

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We call it the Section 34 fiasco,[br]the Section 34 fiasco.

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A suspicious piece of law,[br]and I am going to say it like it is,

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a suspicious piece of law

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was passed at a suspicious time

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to free some suspects.[br](Laughter)

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And it was called, those people are called

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the Piarco Airport accused.

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I am going to have my own lexicon[br]speaking here today.

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They are the Piarco Airport accused.

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It was a constitutional outrage[br]of the first order,

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and I have labeled it[br]the Plot to Pervert Parliament.

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Our highest institution[br]in our country was perverted.

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We are dealing with pervert here

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of an economic and financial nature.

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Do you get how serious this problem is?

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There was massive protest.

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A lot of us in this room

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took part in the protest[br]in different forms.

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Most importantly,[br]the American embassy complained,

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so Parliament was swiftly reconvened,

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and the law was reversed, it was repealed.

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That's the world lawyers use.[br]It was repealed.

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But the point is

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that Parliament was outwitted[br]in the whole course of events,

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because what really happen is that,

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because of the suspicious[br]passage of that law.

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The law was actually passed into effect

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on the weekend we celebrated[br]our 50th anniversary of independence,

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our jubilee of independence.

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So that is the kind of outrage[br]of the thing.

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It was a kind of a nasty way[br]to get maturation. But we got it.

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Because we all understood it,

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and for the first time[br]that I could remember,

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there were mass protests[br]against this corruption.

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And that gave me a lot of hope. Okay?

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Those of us who are -[br]sometimes you feel like

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you're little bit on your own doing[br]some of this work.

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That passage of the law[br]and the repeal of the law

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fortified the case[br]of the Piarco Airport accused.

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So it was one of those really superior

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double bluff kind of things[br]that took place.

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But what were they accused of?

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What was it that they were accused of?

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I am being a bit mysterious[br]for those of you out there.

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What were they accuse of?

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We were trying to build,

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or reconstruct largely, an airport[br]that had grown outdated.

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The entire project cost[br]about 1.6 billion dollars,

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Trinidad and Tobago dollars,

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and in fact, we had a lot of bid-rigging

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and suspicious activity,[br]corrupted activity took place.

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And to get an idea[br]of what it consisted of,

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and to put it in context[br]in relationship to this whole

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second myth about it being no big thing.

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We can look at this second slide here.

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And what we have here -[br]I am not saying so,

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this is the Director of Public[br]Prosecutions in a written statement.

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He said so.

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And he's telling us that[br]for the $1.6 billion cost of the project,

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one billion dollars has been traced

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to offshore bank accounts.

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One billion dollars[br]of our taxpayer's money

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has been located in offshore[br]bank accounts.

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Being the kind of suspicious person I am,

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I'm outraged at that,[br]and I'm going to pause here -

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I'm going to pause now and again[br]and bring in different things.

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I'm going to pause here and bring in[br]something I saw in November

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last year at Wall Street.[br]I was at Zuccotti Park.

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It was autumn. It was cool.[br]It was damp. It was getting dark.

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And I was walking around[br]with the protesters

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looking at the One Wall Street,

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occupy Wall Street movement[br]walking around.

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There was a lady with a sign,[br]a very simple sign,

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a kind of battered-looking blond lady,

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and the sign was made out of[br]Bristol board, as we say in these parts,

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and it was made with a marker.

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And what it said on that sign[br]hit me right in the center.

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It said, "If you're not outraged,[br]you haven't been paying attention."

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If you're not outraged by all of this,[br]you haven't been paying attention.

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So listen up, because we're getting[br]into even deeper waters.

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My brain started thinking.

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Well, what if -

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because I'm suspicious like that,

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I read a lot of spy novels and stuff -

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What if -[br](Laughter)

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but to make it in these wrongs,

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you have read a lot of spy novels

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and follows some of that stuff, right?[br](Laughter)

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But, what if

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this wasn't the first time?

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What if this is just the first time

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that the so-and-sos had been caught?

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What if it had happened before?[br]How would I find out?

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Now, the previous two examples I gave

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were to do with construction sector[br]corruption, okay?

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And I have the privilege[br]at this time to lead

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the Joint Consultative Council,[br]which is a not-for-profit.

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We're at jcc.org.tt,[br]and we have the leaders

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in the struggle to produce a new[br]public procurement system

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about how public money is transacted.

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So those of you interested in finding[br]out more about it,

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or joining us or signing up on any[br]of our petitions, please get involved.

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But I'm going to segue to another[br]thing that relates,

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because one of my private companies[br]I've been conducting

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for over three and half years

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is for transparency and accountability

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around the bailout of CL Financial.

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CL Financial is the Caribbean's largest[br]ever conglomerate, okay?

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And without getting[br]into all of the details,

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it is said to have collapsed -[br]I'm using my words very carefully.

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It's said to have collapsed[br]in January of '09,

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which is just coming up to nearly[br]four years.

0:10:03.546,0:10:05.821
In an unprecedented fit of generosity -

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and you have to be very suspicious[br]about these people -

0:10:08.397,0:10:11.123
in an unprecedented - and I'm using[br]that word carefully -

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unprecedented fit of generosity,[br]the government of the day

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signed, made a written commitment,[br]to repay all of the creditors.

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And I can tell you without fear[br]of contradiction

0:10:21.039,0:10:23.833
that hasn't happened anywhere[br]else on the planet.

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Let's understand,[br]because we lack context.

0:10:26.148,0:10:28.528
People are telling us[br]it's just like Wall Street.

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It's not just like Wall Street.

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Trinidad and Tobago is like a place[br]with different laws of physics

0:10:33.348,0:10:34.730
or biology or something.

0:10:34.730,0:10:38.428
It's not just like anywhere.[br](Laughter) (Applause)

0:10:38.428,0:10:41.326
It's not just like anywhere.

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Here is here,[br]and out there is out there.

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Okay? I'm serious now.

0:10:47.888,0:10:50.318
Listen. They've had bailouts[br]on Wall Street.

0:10:51.003,0:10:52.987
They've had bailouts in London.

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They've had bailouts in Europe.

0:10:54.996,0:10:56.766
In Africa, they've had bailouts.

0:10:56.766,0:10:59.484
In Nigeria, six of the major[br]commercial banks collapsed

0:10:59.484,0:11:01.114
at the same time as ours, eh?

0:11:01.114,0:11:04.086
It's interesting to parallel[br]how the Nigerian experience has -

0:11:04.086,0:11:05.296
how they've treated it,

0:11:05.296,0:11:07.549
and they've treated it[br]very well compared to us.

0:11:07.549,0:11:08.927
Nowhere on the planet

0:11:08.927,0:11:11.004
have all the creditors been bailed out

0:11:11.004,0:11:13.438
in excess of what their statutory[br]entitlements were.

0:11:13.438,0:11:16.196
Only here. So what was the reason[br]for the generosity?

0:11:17.056,0:11:19.716
Is our government that generous?[br]And maybe they are.

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Let's look at it. Let's look into it.

0:11:22.219,0:11:24.672
So I started digging and writing[br]and so and so on.

0:11:24.672,0:11:26.794
And that work can be found,[br]my personal work

0:11:26.794,0:11:30.068
can be found at Afra Raymond.com,[br]which is my name.

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It's a not for profit blog that I run.

0:11:32.420,0:11:35.492
Not as popular as some[br]of the other people, but there you go.

0:11:35.492,0:11:37.501
(Laughter)

0:11:37.501,0:11:41.717
But the point is that the bitter[br]experience of Section 34,

0:11:41.717,0:11:44.377
that plot to pervert Parliament,[br]that bitter experience

0:11:44.387,0:11:47.422
that took place in August,

0:11:47.422,0:11:50.639
when we were supposed to be[br]celebrating our independence,

0:11:50.639,0:11:55.029
going into September,[br]forced me to check myself

0:11:55.042,0:11:56.955
and recalculate my bearings,

0:11:56.955,0:12:00.132
and to go back into some of the work,[br]some of the stuff I'd written

0:12:00.132,0:12:02.603
and some of the exchanges[br]I'd had with the officials

0:12:02.603,0:12:04.264
to see what was really what.

0:12:04.264,0:12:07.704
As we say in Trinidad and Tobago,[br]who is who and what is what?

0:12:07.704,0:12:09.634
Okay? We want to try to recalculate.

0:12:09.634,0:12:12.330
And I made a Freedom of Information[br]application

0:12:12.330,0:12:15.741
in May this year[br]to the Ministry of Finance.

0:12:15.741,0:12:18.060
The Ministry of Finance[br]is the next tower over.

0:12:18.060,0:12:19.643
This is the other context.

0:12:19.643,0:12:21.955
The Ministry of Finance, we are told,

0:12:21.955,0:12:24.933
is subject to the provisions[br]of the Freedom of Information Act.

0:12:24.933,0:12:27.319
I'm going to take you through[br]a worked example

0:12:27.319,0:12:29.379
of whether that's really so.

0:12:29.379,0:12:32.976
The Central bank in which we stand[br]this morning is immune

0:12:32.976,0:12:36.010
from the provisions of the Freedom[br]of Information Act.

0:12:36.010,0:12:37.914
So in fact, you can't ask them anything,

0:12:37.914,0:12:39.848
and they don't have to answer anything.

0:12:39.848,0:12:41.848
That is the law since 1999.

0:12:41.848,0:12:45.658
So I plunged into this struggle,[br]and I asked four questions.

0:12:45.662,0:12:49.269
And I'll relate the questions to you[br]in the short form with the reply,

0:12:49.269,0:12:52.094
so you could understand,[br]as I said, where we are.

0:12:52.094,0:12:53.729
Here is not like anywhere else.

0:12:53.729,0:12:55.408
Questions number one.

0:12:56.238,0:12:58.952
I asked to see the accounts[br]of CL Financial,

0:12:58.952,0:13:01.549
and if you can't show me the accounts

0:13:01.549,0:13:03.728
the Minister of Finance[br]is making statements,

0:13:03.728,0:13:05.978
passing new laws and giving[br]speeches and so on.

0:13:05.978,0:13:08.288
What are the figures he's relying on?

0:13:08.288,0:13:10.788
It's like that joke;[br]I want whatever he's drinking.

0:13:10.788,0:13:12.835
And they wrote back and said to me,

0:13:12.835,0:13:14.338
well what do you really mean?

0:13:14.338,0:13:16.921
So they hit my question with a question.

0:13:16.921,0:13:19.949
Second point: I want to see

0:13:19.949,0:13:23.929
who are the creditors of the group[br]who have been repaid?

0:13:23.929,0:13:26.268
Let me pause here to point out to you all

0:13:26.268,0:13:29.095
that 24 billion dollars of our money[br]has been spent on this.

0:13:29.095,0:13:31.505
That is about three and a half billion[br]U.S. dollars

0:13:31.507,0:13:33.454
coming out of a small -

0:13:33.454,0:13:37.495
we used to be resource rich[br]Caribbean country. Okay?

0:13:37.825,0:13:39.679
And I asked the question.

0:13:39.679,0:13:43.264
Who was getting[br]that three and a half billion dollars?

0:13:43.264,0:13:45.489
And I want pause again[br]to bring up context,

0:13:45.489,0:13:48.574
because context helps us to get[br]clarity understanding this thing.

0:13:48.574,0:13:51.514
There's a particular individual[br]who is in the government now.

0:13:51.514,0:13:53.352
The name of the person doesn't matter.

0:13:53.352,0:13:55.877
And that person made a career

0:13:55.877,0:13:58.245
out of using the Freedom[br]of Information Act

0:13:58.245,0:14:00.785
to advance his political cause.

0:14:00.785,0:14:03.285
Okay? His name isn't important.[br](Laughter)

0:14:03.285,0:14:05.732
I wouldn't dignify it. I'm on a point.

0:14:05.732,0:14:08.209
The point is, that person made[br]a career out of using

0:14:08.209,0:14:11.253
the Freedom of information[br]Act to advance his cause.

0:14:11.253,0:14:13.477
And the most famous case

0:14:13.477,0:14:16.367
was what we came to call[br]the Secret Scholarship Scandal,

0:14:16.367,0:14:19.583
where in fact there was about 60 million[br]dollars in government money

0:14:19.583,0:14:22.023
that had been dispersed[br]in a series of scholarships,

0:14:22.023,0:14:25.209
and the scholarships hadn't been[br]advertised, and so and so on.

0:14:25.209,0:14:28.244
And he was able to get the court,[br]using that act of Parliament,

0:14:28.244,0:14:30.109
Freedom of information Act,

0:14:30.109,0:14:31.768
to release the information,

0:14:31.768,0:14:33.923
and I thought that was excellent.

0:14:34.843,0:14:36.583
Fantastic.

0:14:38.264,0:14:40.085
But you see, the question is this.

0:14:40.085,0:14:44.195
If it's right and proper for us to use[br]the Freedom Of Information Act

0:14:44.195,0:14:46.245
and to use the court

0:14:48.677,0:14:52.717
to force a disclosure about[br]60 million dollars in public money,

0:14:52.717,0:14:54.509
it must be right and proper

0:14:54.509,0:14:57.606
for us to force a disclosure[br]about 24 billion dollars.

0:14:58.436,0:15:00.849
You see? But the Ministry of Finance,

0:15:00.849,0:15:03.236
the Permanent Secretary[br]of the Ministry of Finance,

0:15:03.236,0:15:05.899
wrote me and said to me,[br]that information is exempt too.

0:15:05.899,0:15:08.457
You see? This is what we're dealing with.[br]Okay?

0:15:08.457,0:15:11.295
The third thing I will tell you

0:15:11.295,0:15:14.021
is that I also asked

0:15:14.021,0:15:17.320
for the directors of CL financial

0:15:17.320,0:15:21.153
whether in fact they were making filings[br]under our Integrity in Public Life Act.

0:15:21.153,0:15:23.158
We have an Integrity in public Life Act

0:15:23.158,0:15:27.338
as part of our framework supposed[br]to safeguard the nation's interest.

0:15:27.338,0:15:29.852
And public officials are supposed to file

0:15:29.852,0:15:35.913
to say what it is they have in terms[br]of assets and liabilities.

0:15:35.913,0:15:38.724
And of course I've since discovered[br]that they're not filing,

0:15:38.724,0:15:41.921
and in fact the Ministry of Finance[br]has not even asked them to file.

0:15:41.921,0:15:43.153
So here we have it.

0:15:43.153,0:15:45.226
We have a situation where

0:15:46.963,0:15:51.366
the basic safeguards of integrity[br]and accountability

0:15:51.366,0:15:53.501
and transparency have all been discarded.

0:15:53.501,0:15:56.210
I've asked the question in the legal[br]and required fashion.

0:15:56.210,0:15:58.250
It's been ignored.

0:15:58.250,0:16:00.817
The sort of thing that motivated us[br]abound Section 34,

0:16:00.817,0:16:02.597
we need to continue to work on that.

0:16:02.597,0:16:03.811
We can't forget it.

0:16:03.811,0:16:07.505
I have defined this as the largest[br]expenditure in the country's history.

0:16:07.505,0:16:10.486
It's also the single largest example

0:16:10.486,0:16:13.365
of public corruption according[br]to this equation.

0:16:15.922,0:16:18.052
And this is my reality check.

0:16:18.052,0:16:20.650
Where you have an expenditure[br]of public money

0:16:20.650,0:16:23.002
and it is without accountability

0:16:23.002,0:16:25.346
and it's without transparency,

0:16:25.346,0:16:27.673
it will always be equal to corruption,

0:16:27.673,0:16:30.484
whether you're in Russian[br]or Nigeria or Alaska,

0:16:30.484,0:16:32.361
it will always be equal to corruption,

0:16:32.361,0:16:35.235
and that is what we are dealing with here.

0:16:35.235,0:16:36.747
I'm going to continue the work

0:16:36.747,0:16:40.962
to press on, to get some resolution

0:16:40.962,0:16:43.073
of those matters[br]at the Ministry of Finance.

0:16:43.073,0:16:45.827
If it is I have to go to court personally,[br]I will do that.

0:16:45.827,0:16:47.256
We will continue to press on.

0:16:47.256,0:16:49.000
We will continue to work within JCC.

0:16:49.000,0:16:51.845
But I want to step back[br]from the Trinidad and Tobago context

0:16:51.845,0:16:53.681
and bring something new to the table

0:16:53.681,0:16:55.441
in terms of an international example.

0:16:55.441,0:16:58.526
We had the journalist[br][Heather] Brooke speaking

0:16:58.526,0:17:00.910
about her battle against[br]government corruption,

0:17:00.910,0:17:05.100
and she introduced me[br]to this website, Alaveteli.com.

0:17:05.100,0:17:10.560
And Alaveteli.com is a way for us[br]to have an open database

0:17:10.564,0:17:13.433
for Freedom and Information applications,

0:17:13.433,0:17:15.253
and speak with each other.

0:17:15.253,0:17:18.014
I could see what you're applying for.

0:17:18.014,0:17:20.946
You could see what I applied for[br]and what replies I got.

0:17:20.946,0:17:22.306
We can work on it together.

0:17:22.306,0:17:24.129
We need to build a collective database

0:17:24.129,0:17:27.601
and a collective understanding[br]of where we are, to go to the next point.

0:17:27.601,0:17:29.491
We need to increase the consciousness.

0:17:29.491,0:17:33.012
The final thing I want to say[br]is in relation to this one,

0:17:33.012,0:17:35.529
which is a lovely website from India

0:17:35.529,0:17:37.440
called IPaidABribe.com.

0:17:37.440,0:17:39.273
The have international branches,

0:17:39.273,0:17:41.555
and it's important for us[br]to tune into this one.

0:17:41.555,0:17:43.596
IPaidABribe.com is really important,

0:17:43.596,0:17:46.140
a good one to log on to and to see.

0:17:46.140,0:17:49.224
I'm going to pause there.[br]I'm going to ask you for your courage.

0:17:49.224,0:17:51.306
Discard the first myth; it is a crime.

0:17:51.306,0:17:53.356
Discard the second myth;[br]it is a big thing.

0:17:53.356,0:17:55.986
It's a huge problem.[br]It's an economic crime.

0:17:55.986,0:17:58.192
And let us continue working together

0:17:58.192,0:17:59.748
to betterment in this situation.

0:17:59.748,0:18:02.462
Stability and sustainability[br]in our society.

0:18:02.462,0:18:04.361
Thank you. [br](Applause)