Kamla: Don't blame UNC for crime

THE Opposition UNC is not to blame for crime in TT. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar made this statement in response to claims made by National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds during debate on a private motion in the House of Representatives on Friday.

Opposition MPs thumped their desks as she told Hinds, "We are not taking that blame. You are to blame. Your government is to blame."

Persad-Bissessar rejected Hinds' argument that the UNC regularly opposed anti-crime legislation that was brought to Parliament.

Referring to Hinds' comments on he escape of five prisoners from the Golden Grove prison in Arouca on March 20, Persad-Bissessar dismissed suggestions that the UNC was to blame for the prison's infrastructure being deficient.

She asked Hinds if this situation happened "before the jailbreak or after the jailbreak." Persad-Bissessar reminded MPs that while the former UNC-led People's Partnership (PP) coalition government was in power in July 2015, there was a jail break at the Port of Spain prison, in which a police officer was killed.

She said recommendations were made after that incident to improve security at the nation's prisons. Persad-Bissessar expressed doubt that the PNM implemented any of those recommendations.

Persad-Bissessar dismissed Hinds arguments that the UNC never supported anti-crime legislation that the Government brought to Parliament. She cited anti-terrorism legislation as an example. Persad-Bissessar asked Hinds, "Have you found any terrorists yet?"

She argued that legislation is not the panacea for solving crime in TT

Persad-Bissessar said it was shameful for Hinds and former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi to speak about criminal gangs but not provide evidence of gang members being convicted for their crimes.

"What are you doing about it?"

She dismissed Hinds' suggestions that the UNC was connected to criminal elements.

Persad-Bissessar claimed that under previous PNM administrations, the PNM cultivated a culture of crime in TT. She referred to meetings which former prime minister Patrick Manning held with "community leaders" as an example of this.