Morris: Chief Sec not serious about crime talks

THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris remains pessimistic about THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine's willingness to hold discussions on the escalating crime situation.

There have been ten murders in Tobago in less than five months this year. There were a record 13 murders in 2023.

Morris spoke at the minority briefing at his office in Scarborough on May 27, after Augustine had said the two had spoken unofficially and were expected to meet to delve further into the issue.

The Minority Leader said since then he had not heard from Augustine.

“At this point in time, I take absolutely nothing the chief secretary says seriously any more, because the chief secretary has proven that he is not a man of his word. Put a camera in front of him, he would say all the lovely things, all the things he thinks you would want to hear.”

However, he said in the interim, he remains open to any kind of discussion on crime.

“We have made ourselves available – said it on record, said it to him – and to date I have had absolutely no communication and therefore, I am not going to waste my time with the chief secretary again.

“What I would do, in my space and within the cusp (sic) of control that I have, includes reaching out to the ACP to share my ideas because crime is an issue that affects all of us and it's an issue that I believe needs to be addressed frontally. We need to address it firmly and we need to treat with it right now.”