Trinidad government says no truth to report National Security Minister was fired

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, – Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds remains on the job, despite a media report on Thursday that he had been fired.

In a post on his Facebook page on Thursday afternoon, Hinds did not directly address the report, but he posted photos of himself in office and stated that he had been going about his job as usual, after attending a Cabinet meeting.

“We had a solid Cabinet engagement today, treating as always, with the serious business of the nation’s affairs. As always, I admired the visionary and strong leadership of our Prime Minister; as well as the ideas and proposals of my colleagues. Thereafter, I proceeded to the Head Office of the Ministry of National Security, where I sit. Here doing my work as always! No time to lose, especially with the happy rumor-mongering, that we seem to so enjoy,” he wrote.

The post came on the heels of a story posted by Guardian Media, which was subsequently retracted and an apology issued.

“Guardian Me­dia wish­es to clear the air on an ar­ti­cle post­ed today with a link to our website. We are in­ves­ti­gat­ing the ori­gin of this post which was not authorized and sin­cere­ly apologize at this time for any em­bar­rass­ment to the Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Fitzger­ald Hinds. The Min­is­ter re­mains on the job,” it said in a statement on its website that was accompanied by one of the photos Minister Hinds had posted on his Facebook Page.

Hinds was appointed Minister of National Security on April 19, 2021, replacing Stuart Young who became Energy Minister following the death of Franklin Khan two days earlier.

CMC/