Beetham black boys hold TT to ransom

Former Minister of National Security Jack Warner has criticised government for its failure to contain last week’s violent protest by Beetham residents. He said it was unfair that a handful of young men were holding the country hostage.

Warner told Newsday the community has been a hotbed of criminal activity since he took up office in 2012. He said police officers are understaffed and poorly equipped to treat with incidences of violence.

“Imagine a group of young black boys are holding Port of Spain and this nation to ransom. A black nation with a black Prime Minister, a black National Security Minister, a black Police Commissioner and a black Chief Justice. They are making our leaders look impotent and it is about time something is done.”

Warner urged National Security Minister Edmund Dillon to introduce initiatives proposed during his tenure under the Peoples Partnership government, including the placement of a permanent army base in Beetham Gardens as well as granting soldiers the powers of arrest. Citing increasing violence against police officers, he said the regiment was the State’s most useful weapon in the fight against crime.

“The residents don’t respect the police anymore. Officers are not equipped with any rubber bullets or water cannons to quell a riot situation. The army must go in and take control of these communities.”

He said unless government is prepared to redirect resources to addressing crime and criminality in Beetham Gardens, he feared citizens would continue to suffer under similar situations.

Last week Thursday, Beetham residents who became incensed after police arrested two residents, hurls debris onto the Beetham Highway, the Priority Bus Route and the Eastern Main road in protest. When police arrived, they were fired upon. The two men were subsequently released without charge.

A day after, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley addressed the nation on the Beetham violence and warned criminals and those who support criminal behaviour that, “your day will come’. He also said that the State will not allow a handful of criminals to dictate the free movement of people and that to do so, would be to court anarchy.