NPTA wants meeting with Scotland to discuss crime in East Port of Spain

NATIONAL Parent-Teacher Association (NPTA) president Walter Stewart is calling for an urgent meeting with Minister in the Ministry of National Security Keith Scotland to discuss the crime situation in Belmont and parts of East Port of Spain.

He made the call on September 28, a day after police flushed out two suspects from a drain during a manhunt opposite the St Francois Girls’ College, Belmont. One was apprehended and taken into custody but the other was reportedly killed in a shootout with police.

The suspects, who were hiding in the drain, were believed to be responsible for shooting two men – Curtis Jones and Pafawa Roberts – on Serraneau Road, Belmont, around 11 am, on September 27. Roberts and Jones were taken to hospital.

Police are on the hunt for a third suspect.

The dramatic showdown led classes at St Francois’ Girls to end prematurely as teachers and students feared for their safety. Parents, who picked up their children after school was dismissed, were also distressed and lamented the worsening crime situation.

Stewart commended the police for their speedy response in apprehending the suspects. But he told Newsday the incident, which unfolded close to the school, warranted Scotland’s intervention.

“I want to make an appeal, because we have asked before, to meet with the Minister of National Security (Fitzgerald Hinds). So now we are making the appeal to the minister in the ministry, Mr Scotland, to meet with us, because especially in the Belmont and East Port of Spain area in particular, there have been a plethora of issues taking place with regard to crime and criminal activity.

“We want to be able to have the TTPS address these issues by us sitting down with them and offering to them some recommendations and suggestions as to how we can mitigate, not only the crime and criminality, but also the school indiscipline as well taking place in some of our schools.”

Stewart said Scotland, Port of Spain South MP, is also directly responsible for the operations of the TTPS.

“So we can now meet with this minister in the ministry and discuss how we can come up with measures, mechanisms, procedures to deal with crime and criminal activity and school violence and indiscipline.”

He said the NPTA was very concerned about the violence that erupted outside the school.

“We are very concerned about what now seems to be commonplace, the acts of violence and criminal activity taking place within the hallowed halls of our schools and learning institutions.

“It is very disconcerting. And of course, we are very concerned about the fear and the trauma being experienced by these students.”

Stewart also believes there is a direct correlation between fear and trauma and children’s ability to function properly after such an ordeal.

“Almost every time you go into the school, based upon the trauma that the child experienced, they are going to remember those gunshots, they are going to remember seeing police running down the road behind bandits. This could affect their results and their performance at the school. So we have to be concerned about that.”

Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Martin Lum Kin, in a WhatsApp voicenote, also commended the police for their quick action. But he said the incident has left both staff and students traumatised.

He urged the Ministry of Education and the Victim and Witness Support Unit of the TTPS to provide counselling for staff and students.

Lum Kin reiterated the association’s concerns about the increasing incidence of gun violence, some of which is being perpetrated outside of the nation’s schools.

“We look forward to a whole society and whole governmental approach to dealing with violence and indiscipline in Trinidad and Tobago. The sanctity of our nation’s schools is being breached and eroded on a regular basis,” he said.

“TTUTA is calling on all of the relevant agencies to ensure that our schools have a safe and secure environment which will promote effective teaching and learning. Our nation’s schools, our nation’s educators and our nation’s children deserve a safe and secure environment.”

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, in a WhatsApp response to Newsday on September 27, said she was grateful the situation did not spill onto the school’s compound.

She said the ministry’s Student Support Services Division will assist in counselling any student affected by the incident.

The incident occurred two days after two men were shot dead and three others – including a four-year-old boy – were shot and wounded in front of a preschool in Malick.