MSJ leader: Crime in Trinidad and Tobago 'past stage of alarming'

MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MJC) leader David Abdulah has said the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is past the stage of alarming.

He said 18 murders in four days is "madness," and is calling for the Prime Minister to take responsibility and relinquish his position.

“The situation has become totally untenable and we’ve had no assurances from either the police high command or the government, the Minister of National Security, Prime Minister, and others,” Abdulah said during the MSJ’s virtual Tuesday Talk on July 16.

Abdulah reminded the audience that the PM chairs the National Security Council and would have a measure of control over actions and policies by the State to address crime.

The year-on-year increase in murders is an indictment on Rowley’s performance, Abdulah said.

“The situation is past worrisome and some people are scared for their lives and business people are, of course, concerned about their livelihoods…Many are considering (doing so) if they have not already migrated.

“Certainly, this has caused significant capital flight, which has always (affected) us.

“But that capital flight, no doubt, has been accelerating as people move their money out of TT, placing it (abroad), and then they will follow the money subsequently.”

Abdulah spoke with Malcolm "Jai" Kernahan, a community activist and former National Union of Freedom Fighters (NUFF) leader. NUFF was a short-lived revolutionary group active in the early 1970s.

Kernahan previously stated he grew up in a “PNM family.”

He and Abdulah agreed the government had abandoned the development of East Port of Spain and neighbouring communities, which they believed would positively affect the scourge of violent crime.

He has lobbied since the early 2000s to have East Port of Spain transformed into a heritage city as a sustainable cultural site for citizens and to create economic opportunities by marketing it as a tourism product.

Kernahan noted that criminal gangs are nothing new to Trinidad, particularly Port of Spain and its environs, recalling some that operated in John John, Nelson Street, Duncan Street, Upper George Street, San Juan and many other communities in and around the capital, as early as the 1950s and 60s.

“In those days, the gangs fought with cutlasses, bottles, daggers, home-made shotguns, and we had an untenable situation then like we have now. But the response that we have now, I think, is a bit different to the response we had then.

“Objectively, I would believe that people were making a statement to the State to say, ‘We out here and we suffering.’"

He said East Port of Spain has suffered from continuous broken promises.

“(In the 2005) national budget, the PM (Patrick Manning) declared East Port of Spain a special development zone.

“And he said that Laventille and environs were among the most depressed areas in the country, characterised by high rates of crime and unemployment, and with many of its residents living in substandard conditions.

“East Port of Spain was, therefore, declared a special development zone."

The government formed the East Port of Spain Development Company a year later to deal with the disparity of the poor communities.

The company hosted 19 consultations with each East Port of Spain community, where village councils, sports and culture groups, shared their views and suggestions.

A $611 million budget was developed from the consultations, in which some $4.7 million was allocated for planning, studies and survey; $63 million for sports and recreational development; $135.1 million for “sustainable communities”; $407.8 million for a project titled Beetham Urban Village Development Plan.

However, Kernahan said the company only received $30 million from the Central Government.

Abdulah interjected, noting that the country was experiencing a “gas boom” in the mid-latter 2000s.

“In fact our national income was doubling, if not close to tripling from 2000 to about 2008, 2009,” he said, when oil and gas prices were high.

That was also when Manning invested in massive infrastructural projects, such as the Diplomatic Centre, Prime Minister’s residence, the National Academy of the Performing Arts and the Southern Academy of the Performing Arts, among others.

“But East Port of Spain was starved of resources,” said Abdulah.

“And that’s my major issue with the problems in East Port of Spain,” Kernahan responded, noting that the government could have invested the full sum from the development company’s $611 million budget if it could afford to bail out CL Financial, using $30 billion from taxpayers.

“So I am saying that the disparity that Manning talked about in his 2005 budget speech, they never addressed it.”

Kernahan said he empathised with the plight of the unemployed, but did not promote violence.

“I'm not supporting the guns, but when you look at it, it’s so sad that these young people have to resort to that type of behaviours. It is a sociological problem. I don’t want to get into the policing aspect of it, but I think the economic aspect needs to be addressed.”