Panday: Manning knows ‘traditional kidnappers’

According to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister Patrick Manning knows who the “traditional” kidnappers in Trinidad and Tobago are. And the UNC leader wants to know why these individuals are not already in police custody. Speaking to reporters at his Port-of-Spain office yesterday, Panday said he was still confused about what Manning meant about “new” and “traditional” kidnapping groups in TT. “It seems as though Mr Manning knows of a group of kidnappers in the country and that he now recognises there is another group emerging. That displays a certain amount of familiarity. If he knew the traditional group why aren’t they in the hands of police. If this is a new group, how does he know this is a new group? Is the modus operandi different from the group he knows so well. Or is this collateral damage?” he declared.

Meanwhile in a statement yesterday, the UNC claimed the kidnapping and murder of businessman Vernon Roopnarine and the abduction of Tricia Shirkissoon Suryadevera show that TT is “on the fast track to Guyana and Colombia where thousands of businessmen have migrated in frustration to escape crime and kidnapping only to leave behind an entrepreneurial vacuum and precipitate capital flight.” The UNC called upon Manning to tell the nation and the police how to distinguish between these two groups of kidnappers. Panday dismissed reports that the UNC had softened its position on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and said the party is currently educating its members on the matter. “The question of softening the stance does not arise because no other decision has been taken other than the one taken by the party. It is widening in that we are hearing from the lawyers. Our own position is that you can’t trust this Government without constitutional reform,” the UNC leader stated. Panday also insisted that there was no rift in the UNC over the contents of a 12-page report submitted by St Augustine MP Winston Dookeran, suggesting a way forward for the party.  “TT is not accustomed to a democratic political party. We encourage a discussion of views,” he said. Panday quipped that unlike the UNC, the PNM was not a democratic party.