Chamber pleads with Government after businessman’s murder - LET US DEFEND OURSELVES

THE murder of businessman Rishard Ali on Wednesday morning has struck fear among the Chaguanas business community who claim they are under siege. They are now asking to be armed and are calling for the death penalty for criminals.

Ali, 48, had just left his Biljah Road, Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas, home when a gunman he had spoken to a short while before, opened fire on his vehicle PDC 4440, hitting him multiple times.

The injured Ali jumped out of his vehicle and started running across the road. He collapsed in front of a house in the district. He was taken to the Chaguanas District Health facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Scores of people took to Facebook to express condolences to Ali’s family, speaking of his support for community efforts and clubs, as individual kindness.

Among them a group identified as The A Team which expressed deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ali, whom they said was one of their sponsors.

“Absolutely unbelievable,” another wrote with a tearful emoji. “You were more than a friend, you was part of my family. RIP BROTHER.”

A female friend wrote, “Never in my wildest dreams I would think I have to make this post today. I don’t want to believe you’re gone!!!!

“You helped me find hope through my darkest days and gave the best advice anyone can give.

“You said you will always be one phone call away for my family and I and you always proved it. You were the most caring person and never hesitated when it came to me. “You always put others first in front yourself. You will never be forgotten as long as I’m here... Rest my Angel. Be at peace.”

Police were initially investigating a botched carjacking, but sources claim the electrical contractor may have known his killer who stopped his vehicle in front of Ali’s house and had a conversation with him. They have also ruled out robbery as Ali was reportedly wearing jewellery which was untouched.

The motive, police say, is unknown at the moment.

However, president of the Chaguanas Business Chamber Baldath Maharaj called on Government, “to give us guns so we can defend ourselves, and death for criminals.” The Chamber recently hosted CoP Earla Christopher who called on them to look to Jesus when confronted with the upsurge in crime.

The call to arm business owners was expressed earlier by Supermarket Association president Rajiv Diptee, following the murder of San Juan businessman and owner of Golden City Supermarket Bingzhang Zhu, on Good Friday.

Opposition MP Dinesh Rambally, in whose constituency Ali lived, said he was told that Ali had applied for his FUL, which former CoP Gary Griffith had signed off on.

He never received final approval after Griffith left the service.

“I will not mince my words: this Rowley-led PNM government has blood on their hands,” he said.

Meanwhile Maharaj told the Newsday a lot of businesses had been calling him to report threats of extortion from the criminal element. “We are under siege. With crime out of control, we cannot sleep comfortably at nights in spite of additional security.”

Like other concerned citizens, Maharaj said it is time for Government to start the conversation on the resumption of the death penalty, not necessarily by hanging, as other business entities are advocating, but via lethal injections or other methods used in developed countries. He said there was a reduction in the murder rate following the hanging of Dole Chadee and his gang.

Alongside these measures, Maharaj also argued for restorative justice and community service for first-time offenders, rather than exposing them to the jail to be groomed by seasoned criminals. He submitted that these measures could be immediately implemented at little or no cost. “I would support any measure that would put fear in the minds of criminals,” Maharaj said.

“Whenever there is an upsurge in crime, as it is now, we talk about it. It makes the front pages of every newspaper, but then the stories disappear and businessmen still can’t sleep comfortably.

“It’s untenable. We have to employ additional security. The reality is that the average citizen would have to pay for that security because it comes from the profit. We have to make a profit so, obviously, the price of goods and services would go up.”

Horrible home invasions in Aranguez and Debe, where families were beaten and robbed, have renewed the call for hanging to be enforced as a deterrent to the crime surge from businessman Derek Chin and Gary Aboud.

The crime situation has also sparked fear in the heart of seemingly fearless senior counsel Israel Khan. In an interview on I.95.5 Morning Show on Wednesday, Khan said he was contemplating leaving TT, because he was fearful for his life.

He said he was frightened of being hit by shots fired nightly around his St Augustine home, or in the nearby neighbourhood where he grew up.

“I have given my entire working life to the legal profession. I have made a decent living. I have established a name. I have a big mouth. I talk when I am not supposed to talk.

“I enjoy the food, I enjoy the people, I enjoy this country. We have no racial problems. We have no religious problems, but I am frightened.”

He said home invasions were not random but a systematic attack on the entrenched middle class who have money. Robbers, he submitted, are going for the hard cash, jewellery and motor vehicles.

Khan suggested a limited state of emergency (SoE) but former head of the National Operations Centre, Commander Garvin Heerah said an SoE would negatively affect the economy while resulting only in criminal migration out of the hot spots and to safe zones.