Chamber head laments 24 murders, poor policing: Tobago – Paradise lost

"A paradise lost" is how chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George described Tobago in the wake of two murders on the island over the weekend.

He was speaking at the Citizens’ Summit on Crime and Violence at the TML grounds in St Joseph on Sunday, after Brandon Edwards was killed on Friday and Nicholas Mitchell was killed early on Sunday morning.

“Tobago is now facing 23 murders and there was a murder in the last 24 hours again. The place that we used to say was 'safe,' the smallest division of the TTPS, apparently that is now being lost. It is like Milton’s poem – Paradise Lost.”

George said: “If we cannot make our smallest division safe, if Tobago cannot remain a safe place and a safe space, then nowhere in TT is safe.”

In order to fight crime, he said, it is necessary to focus on the performance of the police. In March, when the murder toll was at 124 for the year, the detection rate was nine per cent.

“They are the primary organisation in the country charged with the responsibility of protecting and serving. I want to ask everyone today: do you feel protected? Do you feel safe?”

In a subsequent video on social media, George called for better policing of ferries and points of entry to reduce the proliferation of firearms on the island.

"The inflow of illegal guns and ammunition is too much," he said.

"We are scanning walk-on passengers and doing nothing in relation to someone who can drive on with a vanload of illegal guns."

He called on Tobagonians to use Crimestoppers to share information on criminal activity.

Responding to questions from the Newsday, assemblyman for the area Watson Duke said the island has plunged into darkness because of poor leadership in the THA.

“It is as if they are cursed – oil spills, barges run aground, the greatest little island in the world with 24 murders – we need a new leader for the people of Tobago. Tobago needs to win after so much loss via bad leadership.”

He called for fresh THA elections.

Newsday sent questions to THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine via WhatsApp, but up to press time, he had not responded.

Tobago murder toll reaches 24, murder toll reaches 457

The two murders in Argyle, Tobago, between Friday and Sunday have pushed the murder toll for the country to 457 and the murder toll for Tobago for the year to 24.

Mitchell, 32, was the latest murder victim. He was a labourer from Windward Main Road, Argyle, Tobago.

Police said at about 2 am, his mother was at the house when she heard two gunshots and then heard Mitchell cry out.

When she checked, she found Mitchell dead on the floor in one of the rooms. Police and emergency services were alerted and a district medical officer declared him dead at the scene.

On Friday, 27-year-old Edwards, another Argyle man, was shot dead outside his home.

Police said at about 10.03 pm on Friday, Argyle residents heard gunshots and found Edwards lying face down in a pool of blood.

Police and emergency services were called, and a district medical officer pronounced him dead.

Argyle was also the scene of the August 5 murder of Victoria "Dolly Boss" Guerra, who was shot dead at Lammy Road.

The weekend murders were not limited to Tobago. Two men were killed in separate incidents in Trinidad.

At about 7.35 pm on Saturday, Rodney Maraj, a 47-year-old scrap iron dealer from Soodeen Trace Balandra, was killed.

Police reports said Maraj was sitting in a chair, talking with a relative and another man in the front yard of his home, when they spotted a gunman running toward them. He shot at Maraj, and everyone ran except for Maraj, who was shot several times.

One witness said he hid at the back of the house, and when he peeked to see what was happening, he saw the gunman kicking Maraj in the face while he lay dead on the ground.

Then the gunman escaped, running east in the direction of Soodeen Trace toward Toco Main Road.

Minutes earlier, at about 7.10 pm, Shaquille “Frame” Trotman, a 31-year-old man from Hamilton Trace Old Bay Road, Maracas, was killed.

Police were told Trotman was sitting on the southern side of Old Bay Road when a Hyundai Ioniq pulled up and two masked gunmen got out.

They shot at Trotman several times. He ran a short distance before falling to the ground. The gunmen then walked up to him, stood over him and shot him several more times before escaping in the same car.

Witnesses said they noticed the car circling the area at about 5 pm.

New Tobago ACP to start on Monday

ACP Oswain Subero, who previously worked in the Inter-Agency Task Force, is expected to take up work in Tobago on September 23.

Subero takes over from ACP Collis Hazel.

Acting Snr Supt Earl Elie will replace Snr Supt Rodhill Kirk, who was removed from the post last week.

Asked on Sunday about the number of murders in Tobago, Subero declined to comment.

“I wouldn’t be able to comment today, but it is a concern for us,” he said.

Last week, he told reporters he was “up to the challenge” of taking the lead in Tobago. He said he planned to build on existing crime-fighting strategies while working closely with Tobagonians in the fight against crime.

Last Thursday, at an award ceremony which recognised police officers involved in gun and ammo seizures at the Shaw Park cultural complex, Hazel said Tobago is ranked fifth among the country’s ten police divisions, with a detection rate of 32 per cent.

He said sexual offences have decreased by 32 per cent, fraud by 57 per cent, larceny of motor vehicles by 33 per cent, break-ins and general larceny by 17 per cent each and larceny of dwelling houses by 25 per cent.

He added that the Charlotteville station district has solved 81 per cent of serious crimes in its division and Roxborough and Scarborough have solved 38 per cent and 35 per cent of their crimes respectively.

He said seizures of firearms have increased from 15 last year to 17 this year, and gun-related crimes have increased by 32 per cent, having 37 incidents in 2023 and 49 this year.

Kirk, at the award ceremony, urged Tobagonian parents to talk to their children about crime.

“We have to take our communities back and we have to start by talking to our children,” he said.

“If we don’t start with that, unfortunate things may happen.”