MP alarmed by 'gruesome' skeletal find in Freeport

GRUESOME skeletal remains found in Freeport have alarmed Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram, who is once again calling for the axe to fall on National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds.

Ratiram said the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government was failing to protect and preserve the lives of the people who elected them.

The shocking discovery was made around 11.50 am on Friday by a Ministry of Works and Transport employee. The labourer, who was cleaning a drain in Freeport, contacted the police when he stumbled upon the remains.

Police went to the north-bound exit of the Uriah Butler Highway near the Chase Village flyover and found what appeared to be a human skull and bones in an open area near a watercourse.

More remains were found in a crocus bag at the scene. The bagged remains appeared to be those of an adult male. The remains were ordered removed by the district medical officer to the Forensic Science Centre pending identification and an autopsy.

Ratiram told Newsday the disposal of the body in "the most inhumane manner" in a waterway in his constituency was alarming.

“The Rowley PNM has failed to protect and preserve the lives of the people who elected them to government, and now bodies are being found littered on the streets of this nation.

“For some time now there has been a plethora of criminal activities that are being driven by the illegal drugs and weapons being imported through our many porous borders that are either ignored or unseen by local authorities.

“This deficiency by the government has caused countless deaths through gang violence and other crime-related deaths as they are unequipped to deal with the high number of sophisticated weapons borne by these criminal elements.”

He said, for eight years, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet had watched an escalation of crime because they were unaware of the cause and, therefore, unable to arrest the flow.

“Never before has a government turned such a blind eye to the daily murders occurring in this country to the point where a dead body being discovered on the street has become a regular occurrence in our lives.

“While the unequipped police force struggles to identify the corpses being uncovered from day to day, we must wonder when they will find the time and resources to uncover the identity of the criminals terrorising this nation and put a stop to their crimes.

“While any logical-thinking individual might find a nexus between the decline of the economy and the increase in criminal activity, instead the Prime Minister continues to tighten the stranglehold of our pockets to feed the elite few who can procure what few government contracts and employment is available.”

Ratiram said he anticipated another record-breaking murder statistic at the end of the year with the current toll being close to 400.

Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher has been criticised for her Independence Day toast, when she said there had been a "zero per cent increase" in the murder rate when compared to the same period last year.

At the time she said, the murder figure for the corresponding period was 393, compared to 394 in 2022.

At the toast, hosted at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain on Thursday, the Prime Minister commended the commissioner and the police for their crime-fighting skills.

On Sunday, Ratiram said “While the Prime Minister is toasting another year of 600 murders in this country, it is the poor and desperate citizens whose lives have been added to the tally of deaths caused by the refusal of the PNM to deal with crime effectively over the past eight years.

“While the streets have been overflowing with blood due to the relentless crime spree that has been occurring during their term in office, the Prime Minister's office has been overflowing with champagne despite their incessant failures."