CTU director to be chosen this week

A new director of the Counter Trafficking Unit will be announced by the end of this week, permanent secretary at the Ministry of National Security Vel Lewis told Newsday.

In a WhatsApp response to a question about the vacant position and others at the ministry Lewis said: "Those positions would be filled in the next few days. The Head CTU was on end of contract leave and so too were other senior personnel. In the absence of those persons though, other senior officers carried out the duties of those positions competently."

Speaking with Newsday on Saturday, former director Alana Wheeler said the position had been vacant for the past two months. Wheeler said the position was advertised internally in February while her contract was still valid and advertised externally two months later. She said the National Security Ministry conducted interviews a week ago but there have been some delays in the process. She confirmed she was interviewed for the position in the hope of regaining her position. She added that since her contract ended, no one had been acting as head of the unit.

National Security Minister Stuart Young was asked how soon the position would be filled and he said: “I have been requesting that the position be filled and I have been informed by the permanent secretary (Lewis) that the interviews and evaluation should be completed shortly.” Young did not respond when asked for a time frame for the completion of the interviews and evaluations.

The discovery that the unit is currently without a director came after the Prime Minister slammed the US for TT’s Tier 2 grade in the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report against TT.

According to a US State Department report, TT remains a Tier 2 country as it did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas and had not yet secured any convictions under its 2011 anti-trafficking law. A Tier 2 country is one whose government does not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act minimum standards. The report, however, said TT was making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards.

On the CTU’s Facebook page the Tier 2 rating given to TT is the third consecutive one. “For the 3rd consecutive year, TT maintains Tier 2 Ranking in the US DOS Annual (TiPs) Report 2019. The 2019 report assessment was for the period April 2018 to March 2019. Keep up the great work CTU, and all stakeholders!!!” the post read.

At the opening of phase 1 of the Chaguanas Traffic alleviation project, Narsaloo Ramaya Marg Road, Chaguanas, on Friday, Rowley asked what was needed for an “A” grade. “We get an F. Well God alone knows what we have to do to get an A, maybe we will have to put a placard in the middle of Caracas saying come to TT, land of milk and honey, we will take care of all of you in TT to get an A. Maybe if we had converted our little country, our little paradise, into a refugee camp, as we are being encouraged to do for a few dollars more we might have gotten a grade higher than an F.”

In a media release on Friday, the National Security Ministry said Government was working assiduously to counter human trafficking in this country. The release stated they are cognizant of the recommendations made in the report. The CTU, the ministry added, continues to work with partnering agencies, NGOs and civil society to increase public awareness on this crime and to reduce incidents of human trafficking in TT.

Some of the measures highlighted by the report are: increased anti-trafficking training for public officials; initiating more prosecutions and establishing a new intelligence task force to improve investigations.