MP: Caroni East dumping ground for murder victims

Saying Caroni East has become a dumping ground for murder victims, MP Dr Rishad Seecheran is calling on National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds to act now on the worsening crime situation in central Trinidad.

“Killings have become as common as flooding from the Caroni river,” Seecheran said in a statement, triggered by the discovery on Monday afternoon of two bodies which had been chopped into pieces and put in garbage bags in a river at Mon Plaisir Road, Cunupia.

“This is just the latest heinous crime in Caroni East,” he said, also referring to the discovery of two other bodies with gunshot wounds at Freedom Street, Enterprise.

“Communities that were formerly safe and peaceful have become the country’s new bloody killing fields, and Minister Hinds continues to be negligent and unresponsive to this growing crisis.

“The murder count in these districts continues to rise, and each killing appears to be more horrific than the previous one.”

Comparing past and present life in the constituency, Seecheran said there is an absence of the security and safety felt then.

“Caroni East is not only at the centre of the island of Trinidad, but is also at the heart and soul of the country. Only a few years ago, residents of the communities of Caroni East lived with a relative sense of safety and security. They were allowed to be neighbourly in an old-fashioned way, to keep their homes and businesses virtually unguarded, to walk and drive around freely.

“Today, our once quiet districts are killing fields. They are dumps for murder victims. They are open drug turfs and centres of human carnage.

“This is most evident in Caroni East. Almost every day there are gory murders, wild shootings, noisy drug parties, and other wanton acts of lawlessness. There are so many brutal slayings that it is difficult to keep count. The victims are of all ages and of all groups in society.”

He repeated a call for the assignment of more crime-fighting resources to these areas, including a police post, CCTV cameras, and regular police patrols.

Seecheran also called for the police to improve their intelligence-gathering and surveillance. He also advocated for the reactivation of the police youth group and other creative solutions.

“The indifference by the government to this worsening emergency has led to widespread fear and is affecting people’s accustomed lifestyles and business operations.

“The Minister of National Security, Fitzgerald Hinds, has only offered explanations, excuses and guarantees. Still, the homicides take place.

“I strongly urge the government to appreciate the current catastrophe in the communities of Caroni East and surrounding districts and to respond with the urgency and seriousness that the circumstances warrant.”