UNC MP Ratiram laments no help for fishermen

COUVA North MP Ravi Ratiram lamented that discussions to provide better protection for fishermen in the Carli Bay area have not progressed.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Ratiram referred to letters that he wrote to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds on April 26 and May 11.

He claimed that Hinds ignored calls by the fishermen and himself for a Coast Guard forward base at Carli Bay and talks centred around such a facility at Point Lisas.

He said the national security presence in San Fernando was never discussed at a recent meeting with Hinds and it does not provide adequate response time to deal with incidents.

"This was proven most recently when the body of Parasram Boodoo was discovered on July 21, 2021 off Pt. Lisas and it took the Coast Guard no less than one hour and forty-five minutes to arrive at the scene from the time the call was made, because they were nowhere in close proximity."

Boodoo and Navindra Garib were cremated in separate but simultaneous funerals in Freeport and Couva on Saturday. They were kidnapped on July 19 while they were fishing. Their bodies were found days later in different locations in the Gulf of Paria. Cedros fisherman Ramjit Lalchan has been charged with their murder.

Ratiram also claimed Hinds was misreprented the situation at a recent news conference.

At a news conference at his ministry's office on Abercromby Street in Port of Spain on July 30, Hinds said intiatives had been implemented to protect from pirate attacks.

He said this included safety training sessions hosted by the Coast Guard and the police coastal and riverine unit. Hinds said he was disappointed to learn that no one attended those sessions.

He also said a Coast Guard base was established in San Fernando to give a quicker response time to fishermen in south and central Trinidad.