Senator lives in fear

A SIX-MONTH pregnant woman had to try to fight off two youth bandits in a maxi taxi on her way to work at a fast-food outlet at 7.30 am one day, Independent Senator David Small related to the Senate yesterday, to spell out the reality of crime-hit life in TT during debate on the Anti-Gang Bill.

“They are terrorising regular citizens of TT. People commit crimes with impunity, no concern about the effects of crime on people.”

Regarding the bill’s penalties for those who knowingly habour criminals, Small said at present when the police seek out suspects, they are being moved from place to place, shielded by friends and family. “Let us stop calling them good boys,” he urged. He also lamented that some people unfairly accuse the police who pursue suspects of “advantaging people.”

“Crime is out of control,” he attested. Small said his daily reality is that everybody is inside by 5.30 pm, safely behind burglar bars, and for fear of crime he will ignore anyone who comes knocking on his front door. He said he’ll not get robbed because “I ain’t moving.” He recalled that fear leaves him whenever he leaves the country.

“My brain suddenly relaxes immediately as the aircraft takes off out of Piarco. I’m tense moving around Trinidad. The only place I’m tense is home (Trinidad.) “I am in a fast-food place and some guy is walking in in a pair of short pants and a hoodie and everybody gets nervous.” Recalling that Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus had once told him not to characterise people wearing hoodies, Small said while such stereotyping may not be right, it is nonetheless a reality.

“It’s real. And we have to accept that perception is often reality.” Small lamented that many youngsters don’t know right from wrong and do not respect authority, the latter of which he said some people in the Parliament chamber were to be partly blamed for.

“Young people are clearly misguided and I’m not sure how to fix it.”