UNC MP tells Rowley: National days of prayer not enough to stop crime

UNC MP Dinesh Rambally wants the Prime Minister to know that it will take a lot more than just "days of prayer" to effectively reduce crime in this country. He believes the government has ceased making efforts to fight crime and is now trying to rely on "divine intervention."

Rambally was speaking at a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain on Thursday morning.

As the murder toll for 2022 nears 600, he said this year was "historic for all the wrong reasons."

On Thursday morning, the murder toll was 599.

Rambally said home invasions, daylight robberies and land killings "are now all a regular part of life in Trinidad and Tobago.

"As we look to the members of the government charged with the responsibility of ensuring the safety and security of our citizenry – those who are paid by taxpayers to do this job – we see that they have effectively abandoned their posts."

He said people in this country are living in fear as "criminals run rampant and operate with impunity" and the government's only action in recent times is "asking citizens to pray."

Dr Rowley has hosted two national days of prayer in the last two years – one in August 2022 and the other in December 2022.

Rambally said that upon Rowley becoming Prime Minister, "citizens of this country have never stopped praying.

"Instead of asking for divine intervention, try some State intervention, try doing your job as the head of the National Security Council."

Rambally said God helps those who help themselves, so "instead of solely seeking refuge in prayers and sympathetic spokespersons, we need to start acting on substantive data, we need to actively pursue calculated policies that target criminals and help to keep law-abiding citizens safe."

Without a substantive plan, he said, 2023 will be an even more violent and horrific year.

He added that Rowley is being stubborn by not firing Fitzgerald Hinds as National Security Minister.

Asked by Newsday if he saw the national days of prayer as useful, Rambally said it's always useful to engage in prayer sessions, but Rowley has "now thrown up (his) arms in the air and just waving it all over and saying, 'Well, all we are doing at this point is engaging in prayer."

He said guidance, wisdom and divine intervention can be achieved through prayer but the person should then "get to work."