Get serious with the crime fight

THE EDITOR: On the crime front, Keith Rowley and Kamla Persad-Bissessar are like two little children fighting in a schoolyard.

In 2012, then opposition leader Rowley stated: "...if the government can't deal with it (crime), then the government itself is part of the problem."

Crime in Trinidad and Tobago is in its current, untenable position because the PNM and the UNC have funded criminals and their gangs, with full protection from the State. Even police officers involved in human trafficking have had state protection. An "elephant" comes to mind.

There are other factors as well, including absentee fathers, unemployment and a whole host of social issues that must be considered in any battle to reduce crime.

In a press conference on January 18, Dr Rowley said "the Government has no policy to hand government contracts to criminals." He went on to say, however, that the criminals are very smart in how they get the contracts. They may use second and third parties to apply for contracts.

So you know about it but you have no strategy to neutralise it.

What is unbelievable is the failure of the Government to act on known information. For example, Finance Minister Colm Imbert recently said that guns went missing from transit sheds at the Port Authority. The sheds are owned by private entities. But how did the "bandits" get into the Port Authority after hours? These guns were being monitored and no one knew when or how they disappeared.

Rowley mentioned that a partial state of emergency (SoE) is not being considered.

On August 4, 1995, the PNM, under Patrick Manning, declared a partial state of emergency to remove Occah Seapaul as Speaker. The PNM felt that Seapaul had gone rogue on them.

The SoE was "...limited to the City of Port of Spain. Subsequently, an order of detention was served on the Speaker...Madam Occah Seapaul. Madam Seapaul will remain in detention at her residence, 9 Mary Street, St Clair, until further order" (Hansard, August 11, 1995; page 547).

Essentially, that SoE was issued for the occupant at 9 Mary Street, St Clair. Nowhere else. Rowley was an MP at that time.

He recently mentioned the massive increase in arms and ammunition granted to FUL holders by former police commissioner Gary Griffith. What is the PM suggesting?

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in a meeting in San Juan on January 19, said that in 2020, "57,194,000,173 rounds" of 5.56 and 7.62 ammunition were imported into the country under Griffith. Griffith said it was ammunition destined for the Defence Force.

Firearm-licensed users should be restricted in the number of guns they can have. Maybe two at maximum and certainly not any military-type guns.

My family was a victim of crime when Griffith was police commissioner and whatever strategies he had in place worked.

Suddenly, $100 million is to be used to fund the Defence Force in a crime-fighting initiative by hiring retired and reserve officers and new recruits to intervene in crime nursery areas. Election 2025 is nigh.

My head hurts from all the noise.

LINUS F DIDIER

Mt Hope