Hinds: Government provided patrol boats to Coast Guard

IN light of criticism of the coast guard's losing a mystery boat containing several dead bodies, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds defended the Government, saying it had provided adequate patrol boats to secure the waters around Trinidad and Tobago.

He spoke in a radio interview on January 27.

On January 25, workers on Cassia oil rig off Trinidad's east coast spotted the boat which resembled a pirogue and contained five decomposing bodies, apparently those of people of African descent.

The coast guard said a line was attached to the "ghost" boat at 12.45 am on January 26 to tow it to the Trinidad mainland, but at about 4 am the line separated from the boat. A ghost boat is one found with no living crew or passenger aboard.

It was presumed to have sunk with its dead occupants, owing to its delapidated state.

Radio i95.5 FM reported on January 27 Mayaro MP Rushton Paray's allegation that the Government had not provided the coast guard with a long-promised base at Galeota, but Hinds retorted hat Government had consistently provided adequate patrol boats.

Paray alleged the recovery of the ghostboat had been impeded by the lack of a nearby coast guard base, which delayed the response time.

"This is negligence," he said, accusing the Government.

Paray also lamented the lack of any air support to the vessel that tried to secure the mystery boat.

"The Coast Guard was working diligently under trying conditions to address critical gaps in our maritime operations. Why was there no air support?"

He said air support would have led to faster response times, better situational analyses and a better chance to fully recover the mystery boat instead of it ultimately sinking.

"The coast guard can only do so much. The Ministry of National Security and the minister must take responsibility for these shortcomings."

Hinds, in reply, said the Patrick Manning Government had ordered offshore patrol vessels but the People's Partnership (PP) government had cancelled them and they were then sold to Brazil.

"When they (PP government) got the money back, we don't know what they did with it."

Hinds noted the current two K-Class boats supplied by TT from Australian firm, Austal.

He said the Government had paid for coast guard staff to go to England to learn everything about the operations of these vessels and to develop a transfer of technology. He added that the Prime Minister had focused on developing a local ship-repair capacity.

"The bottom line is, we have two vessels and they are in the water on patrol around TT."