Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Trinidad and Tobago has become a nation of “grass cutters”.

She said on Tuesday night that she cannot, in good conscience, continue State-funded programmes without restructuring them.

Speaking at pre-budget consultations at her constituency office in Penal, Persad-Bissessar, who is also the Member of Parliament for Siparia, declared that she will not allow gang infiltration of the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP), the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP), and the National Reforestation Programme.