MINISTER of Homeland Security Roger Alexander says improving conditions at police stations and detention facilities will take time and financial resources.He maintained yesterday that the current administration inherited long-standing problems that could not be resolved immediately.Alexander told journalists at a graduation in Tunapuna yesterday the Government was aware of concerns surrounding conditions at police cells but noted that the UNC administration had been in office for only a year and there were still things that it needed to do.“I only have one year in office from the United National Congress. The previous administration had ten years,” Alexander said.He suggested that questions regarding the current state of police cells should also be directed at the former administration, which he said had presided over the security sector for a decade.“I suggest you take that question to the other team,” he said.Alexander said the Government had inherited a number of deficiencies within the national security apparatus and stressed that addressing them would require significant investment and time.“What we have met here, it doesn’t take one month, two weeks, two days, two hours or two minutes to fix it,” he said. “It takes finances and it takes time.”Alexander said the Ministry of Homeland Security did not currently possess all the financial resources needed to address every issue immediately, but assured that improvements would be made.“I do not have the finances yet. If you want me to offer time, I could. But rest assured, all of these situations would be fixed eventually,” Alexander said.He maintained that the administration could not have addressed all of the inherited challenges within its first year in office.“We cannot address that immediately. We met that,” he said.Other nationalsecurity challengesAlexander pointed to challenges within other arms of the national security sector, including the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service, as examples of the issues confronting the Government.“Let me tell you, the Fire Service didn’t have trucks. What are we doing? We are trying to fix it,” he said.He said the Government remained committed to improving infrastructure and operational capacity throughout the national security sector despite existing financial constraints.Businessman Dominic Hadeed, his wife Genevieve Hadeed, and their relative Star Sabga remain in custody under Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) issued under the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2026, as the State alleges intelligence links them to a conspiracy to assassinate senior Government officials and destabilise the country through violence.On Saturday, Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi, who represents the Hadeed family, filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the couple’s detention in police custody was unlawful and highlighting what he described as unsanitary and distressing conditions in which they were being held.In an affidavit filed before the court, Al-Rawi said he personally visited Genevieve Hadeed at the Woodbrook Police Station and found her confined to a small, poorly ventilated cell with a dirty floor, no bedding or furniture, and a hole in the floor serving as a toilet. He alleged there was no running water, the cell smelled of faeces and urine, cockroaches were present, and another detainee was curled up on the floor in a fetal position.The affidavit also detailed concerns over Dominic Hadeed’s detention at the Carenage Police Station. Al-Rawi said his client suffers from sleep apnea and requires a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, but the holding cell lacked the electrical facilities needed to operate it. He further stated that Hadeed, who also has an orthopaedic leg injury and wears a brace, was forced to sleep on a bare concrete slab without access to his medical equipment, aggravating his condition and preventing him from sleeping.On Saturday, Justice Frank Seepersad dismissed the application for a writ of habeas corpus but directed Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro to clarify whether the Hadeeds were being detained under Preventive Detention Orders. The matter has been adjourned to a virtual hearing today.Since the filing, revised PDOs signed by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander have been served on the detainees. Under the updated orders, Dominic Hadeed has been transferred to the Remand Prison at Golden Grove, while Genevieve Hadeed and Star Sabga are now being held at the Women’s Prison at Golden Grove, or another location designated by the minister, as investigations continue.