​Kamla: National Security Minister must go

THE Opposition Leader has yet again called for the removal of National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, labelling him incompetent.

A statement from Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, on January 22 said, “How many more of our loved ones must be murdered, raped, robbed or go missing before the incompetent Minister Hinds is removed? Keith Rowley must move immediately to remove Hinds and replace him with a competent minister.”

She added that the UNC supported the Government in passing at least 35 crime-fighting bills between 2015 and 2023.

Yet the violent crime crisis continues to spiral out of control because of ongoing implementation and operational deficits due to Hinds, she said.

Persad-Bissessar provided statistics that 1,546 people have been murdered in 1,007 days under Hinds’s tenure, which represents an average of one person every 16 hours.

She recalled Hinds being appointed on April 21, 2021, making January 22 what she called 1,007 days since that "most negligent" appointment was made.

Persad-Bissessar charged that Dr Rowley’s “unremorseful continuation” with Hinds as minister has now moved from gross negligence to an act of purposeful evil being committed against the population.

The Siparia MP added that the country is in a state of anarchy and people are terrified and living in their own states of emergency.

“In contrast to the brutal reality facing regular unarmed and unprotected citizens, Ministers of Government and their families continue to enjoy life under heavily armed, taxpayer-funded security,” the statement said.

Persad-Bissessar reiterated that under Hinds’ tenure, the country has seen a terrifying increase in bloody and violent crimes of all types.

She said the monthly murder average is 45, and a person is reported missing every 12 hours on average.

In 2022, she said, there were 605 reported murders, the highest annual murder total in the nation’s history, and in 2023, 575, the second highest.

The statement said 681 people were reported missing in 2022 and 673 in 2023.

There are brutally violent home invasions in which people are beaten and tortured occur every day, and robberies, rapes, woundings, and shootings have besieged the nation, Persad-Bissessar said.

She said kidnappings for ransom have restarted, and extortion of business owners by criminal gangs and rogue police is out of control.