Pepper spray approved but requires a permit

THE Prime Minister said a permit will be required to use pepper spray. He said the Attorney General is working towards bringing regulation for the use of pepper spray to Cabinet in a few weeks.

Responding to a question from Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh in the House on Friday, Dr Rowley said it is government’s intention to have pepper spray available by a regulated arrangement where permits will be required.

“The AG has been tasked to ensure the appropriate regulations are made available in short notice. We expect that those regulations will be before Cabinet in the not too distant future, and once they are authorized by Cabinet and arrangements are in place, we expect that the trade in regulated pepper spray supply will become available in TT.”

He said the matter of pepper spray was brought up a few weeks ago and the policy department of the national security ministry was asked to look at it.

“A report was presented, and the National Security Council met with alacrity. A report was discussed and approved last Wednesday. We expect that the AG’s work will take a couple weeks in that department, and once Cabinet approves it, it will be available for forward movement to the marketplace.”

Responding to a question from Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit, Rowley said the Electronic Monitoring Unit was ready to deploy electric bracelets and use them in monitoring.

He said the unit was waiting for the judiciary to start issuing orders for the use of the bracelets. He said he can’t give a timeline as to when the devices will be used as the government has no control over the judiciary.