NGO appeals to govt, opposition to unite against crime

REACTING to the police alert being raised to the red and highest level, an NGO is making a strong appeal for government and the opposition to unite in the fight against crime.

RebuildTT Gregory Lal-Beharie said the lawlessness is hampering economic growth and is a disincentive for foreign investment.

Commending Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith for fully immersing himself in his job, Lal-Beharie nevertheless said this is not the magic bullet for the failed criminal justice system in TT.

“The murder rate is climbing back to the figures of last year. It’s an upward spiral which threatens to continue. We are in a state of crisis. We are at code red. The government and the opposition must get together and fix the entire criminal justice system.

"The police service is just one element and Gary Griffith is not a magician. Each party while in government, refuses to help the other fearing it will entrench the governing party for another term, but this must stop,” Lal-Beharie said.

He said suffering citizensare merely “pawns in the power play between these two entities (opposition and government), and while most of people don’t care too much about the gangsters being obliterated, and fully support the police’s “one shot, one kill” policy, the general lawlessness prevailing in TT is one of the factors widely acknowledged in hampering economic growth. Entrepreneurship is a key to fuelling our economy, but if you know you will be at the mercy of bandits, you’re less likely to attempt to start a business,” he surmised.

“Crime also continues to be cited as a disincentive in foreign investment. It is time the government and opposition come together to take action.

"We need people who live and breathe the jobs like CoP Griffith, who has won the confidence of the population. We need a new Chief Justice and a new Director of Public Prosecutions who think out of the box…and we need them fast. We need the heads of the various arms of the defence force, especially the Coast Guard – with their fancy ranks despite never being in a skirmish – to be pro-active or resign their commissions.”

He said all the talk about 360-degree radar was just that, as pirogues with illegal immigrants, guns, illicit drugs and victims of human trafficking cross the Columbus Channel and the Gulf of Paria daily without interdiction by the Coast Guard.

“We are in a state of anarchy, and our Constitution, which was written to prevent political interference in the appointment of key people in our criminal justice system as the DPP and Chief Justice, has now tied our hands while our nation disintegrates.”