Chief Sec fed up, wants 'radical response' to Tobago murders

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said the murder rate on the island is "more than out of control" as he called for a "radical response" by the authorities to the problem.

Augustine was speaking to the media after the commissioning of the Shirvan/ Store Bay connector and roundabout project on August 6. A day earlier, Tobago recorded its 19th murder for 2024 – the third in four days.

He described the situation as alarming, as the island is now rivalling Trinidad for murders.

“That is extremely worrying, because that trajectory will lead us to having a higher level of criminality – murders – than our neighbours, when you do the comparison on a per capita basis.

"Our population is small and so because our population is small, although I am worried about the path that we’re on, I am confident that our smallness in terms of geography and population size gives us an opportunity to nip this in the bud and to respond forcefully and have the impact across the entire island.”

He said he is exasperated and eagerly awaiting for police to arrest the problem.

“It is out of control," he said, and had been since last year.
"I am at the point where I am saying to the TTPS that the island as a whole is becoming a little impatient and really want to see the fruits of their strategy, and we need to see the fruits of their strategies sooner rather than later.”

Augustine attended a National Security Council meeting in Tobago on July 9 where CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher promised to deploy additional officers on the island. More CCTV cameras were also assured, as well as a Tobago-based E999 hotline.

Augustine said he visited the area in Lammy Road, Argyle where Victoria Guerra, also known as "Dolly Boss," was shot while liming on Monday. Guerra died while being treated at the Roxborough Hospital.

Augustine said he was at the scene about two hours after the shooting, but police were yet to arrive. He said the ground was littered with spent shells strewed over the hopscotch boxes where the children in the community would play.

The assemblyman for Parlatuvier/L’Anse Fourmi/Speyside said parents told him their children were nearby playing when the shooting occurred and they could have been innocently shot.

“Not a single soul claimed to know the persons who were shot. Everybody said, 'Well, we don’t know them, we don’t know where they come from' – nonsense. They won’t just show up in your area to sit and lime if they did not know anybody there; clearly they have friends, they have associates, business partners in the community.”

He said while he continues to support the police and provides all the resources that the THA has available to them, the general public is interested in seeing a lot more results faster. He said before the latest incidents, he had scheduled a meeting with all the security forces on the island on Thursday, which will go on as planned.

“But quite frankly, I am fed up with the meetings, I am fed up of how much we talk about this issue and I think what is needed is a radical response. I know a radical response may end up with us getting complaints in some quarters, but we cannot treat lightly with what might be criminals of organised syndicates – these are more than just gangs, these are syndicates.”

He said there is a notion that unemployment is the cause of criminal activities. He said over the last two and a half years, he has ensured that more than 30 people have secured employment. They go to work and at the end of their day’s job, he said, they just spend the rest of the day on the corner.

“They get involved in things they should not be involved in; they start participating in this illicit trade as opposed to learning a new skill.

"I’m saying that we have to become stern with our young people, parents have to take decisive actions in their own household, and when you see or you suspect some of your young people – your boys, the youth men are participating in these activities – I say, put them out of your house. Don’t harbour them home by you. We have to take firm action.”