IDA: Farley's anti-crime plan would harm Tobago's tourism

INNOVATIVE Democratic Alliance (IDA) political leader Dr Denise Tsoiafatt-Angus has warned Chief Secretary Farley Augustine that the anti-crime plan to keep track of people renting cars and guesthouses in Tobago may be counter productive and infringe on people's rights to privacy.

During a news conference at Shaw Park on August 8, Augustine said the THA intends to create a system through which those in the accommodation and transportation sectors can put into a database everyone that rents a room or a car on the island.

It was among a suite of measures aimed at addressing Tobago’s worsening crime situation, he said. Tobago has registered a record 19 murders this year.

At a news conference at the IDA headquarters in Scarborough on August 13, Tsoiafatt-Angus asked how does one create a safe space where everyone can experience freedom again.

“It wouldn’t happen by developing databases to track down criminals staying at guesthouses or those who may be renting cars.

"The IDA has continually said without data and expertise to analyse it, the road to hell will be paved with good intentions. Whilst this step on gathering databases may sound appealing, it infringes on people’s rights to privacy and could very well harm the Tobago’s tourism industry more that it helps.”

She said if the administration truly had their ears to the ground, they would know the predicament of some landlords who haven't had a tenant in nine months and suddenly get a year's rent upfront.

“Do they call the police or go to the bank and say, 'I can finally pay my arrears, don’t take my house.'

"Similarly with getting a database from renting cars, would that work, as we assure that we’ll have more administrative-cost implications for businesses to implement, and yet we’re seeing more reports of car thefts and even the opportunity for cars to come up on the boats."

Tsoiafatt-Angus said this new plan is similar to Augustine's recalled $10,000 bounty for the capture of the shark responsible for the April 26 attack on a tourist on Turtle Beach.

She said she has seen videos of Minister in the Ministry of National Security Keith Scotland and Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher walking through Crown Point on Monday.

She said people are asking why they didn’t walk through Roxborough/ Argyle where the latest murder was committed. She even singled out the absence of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Tobago Collis Hazel.

“It doesn’t seem like the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. What exactly was the goal here? These are all the questions and comments in the public domain.

"One would have expected that after the Prime Minister’s National Security Council meeting in Tobago, Chief Secretary Farley would have endorsed a budget specifically allocated for fighting crime in Tobago; minister Scotland should have been sent to Tobago to meet with the chief secretary and assure him that the budget is on the way. Instead, what do we see? The minister walking in the middle of the road with the commissioner and that the chief secretary is using Tobago’s meagre resources to fund the TTPS and to rent pirogues for the coastguard.”

This budget, she said should be about equipping the TTPS, the coastguard and increasing the number of social workers, psychologists and putting a research unit together to work with the TTPS, “that is really the bulk of where we want to see the crime-fighting initiatives happening.”

She said the IDA has consistently advocated for meaningful conversations between the chief secretary and the prime minister on behalf of the people of Tobago.

Fighting crime at this level, she said, requires extreme collaboration between the two along with resources that are not limited to boots on the ground but more so, equipping them to adequately do their jobs.