The horror of kidnapping!

An impassioned plea from the President of the San Juan Business Association to kidnappers and the organisers of the kidnappings to stop hurting TT was made by Gail Merhair, in an interview with Sunday Newsday recently. She distanced herself from claims that members of the business community were involved in illegal activities such as kidnappings and drug-trafficking. The Anti-Kidnapping Squad team had reported that at least half of the kidnappings for ransom were drug-related. “If I had any information that my members were linked to kidnapping or attempted kidnapping, I would have gone to the police and from the information I have, there is no evidence of that,” she said. She said consumer confidence is at an all time low and the business sector was suffering from capital flight and a human resource brain-drain on the economy.

She is appealing to the kidnappers to stop thinking that business people have money, to stop thinking with jealousy and malice towards the business community and try to work hard for what they want just like everyone else. A top business official (who does not wish to be named) feels strongly that there are people employed in banks who are leaking out information to the kidnappers. Another source also alleged that there are well-placed people at TSTT who have access to people’s personal telephone lines and cellular numbers. He referred to an incident about two weeks ago in which his son was at a cinema when he received a telephone call on his cellular phone, saying that his father had a massive heart attack and that he should go to the hospital immediately. “Clearly, that was an attempt to kidnap my son,” he said. The business official said he does not know how they get hold of people’s cellular numbers.

He is disturbed by how the kidnappers can find out information about people. “All of this points to the fact that there are certain people in society who are masterminding this thing and this is of great concern,” he said. Merhair is also upset about people in general, including some politicians, starting propoganda that business people are the ones behind the kidnappings. “They have no evidence that these business people are involved in illegal activities, so how could they pass judgement,”said Merhair. In the San Juan and nearby districts alone, there have been several kidnappings including Mark Samlal, Darryl Chootoo (presumed dead), Sean Sam Chee (after an attempted kidnapping on his father’s life), Ryan Singh and just recently, Shamshoon Mohammed of Caroni, who is employed as an accountant at Mario’s pizzaria in San Juan. She said as a result of the kidnappings in their area alone, not only the businessmen are afraid but the taxi-drivers are running scared as well since they feel they can be held up at any time.

Merhair stated that it was a “great offense” that people should be linking successful business people to criminal activities since some of the people in her association were genuine people who worked hard for what they have achieved. “I am not going to put my head on a block and say that it does not exist because in all walks of life, things such as this do exist,” said Merhair. She said, however, the people whom she knew who had been kidnapped were from “reputable, well-respcted families.” “Most of the people who know these families can say that they are hard-working, well-respected people. So, it is unfortunate that this kind of propoganda is being spread because that is in fact, not true,” she said. Merhair is appealing to the people starting such information about business people involved in any criminal activities such as kidnappings and money-laundering, to go to the police with the information. “If in fact this is so, they should go to the police instead of  making statements that the business people are involved in drugs and money laundering,” said a passionate Merhair. “If they know who they are, they should have them locked up,” she added. Also supporting this view was Gregory Aboud, President of the Downtown Owners Merchants Association (DOMA), who felt strongly about statements made by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad that nearly half of the kidnappings were linked to drugs.

Aboud described the statement as “injurious,” saying a person is not proven guilty until there is evidence to suggest that. “Do they know how much pain and suffering the business community is feeling because of these kidnappings?” he asked. Referring to the allocations in the Budget in the war against crime and kidnapping, Merhair said the business community has accepted the initiatives, noting that anything to help fight the scourge will be helpful. “I think government has realised the harmful effects of kidnappings and criminal activities to the investment of local busninesses, so we welcome the introduction of Brigadier Peter Joseph to head a special crime fighting unit and hope he will have all the necessary resources to fight crime,” she said. On the issue of an increase in foot patrols, Merhair said she hopes it extends not just in Port-of-Spain but also the busy areas across the East/West corridor. “What we have found is that in criminal activities, when the criminals have exhausted a certain area, they tend to move to other areas, further along the outskirts,” she noted. Merhair said it was unfortunate that the business community will have to wait two years for the drug trafficking implementation to upgrade boats and helicopters. On Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s announcement of a Special Security Commission to act as a Think Tank on crime prevention and detection, she said even though it will be a team of senior people, she hopes it will be a resourceful team with skills in intelligence reporting and crime-solving techniques. However, she is calling on the Judicial System to play a more fundamental role in establishing stricter penalties against kidnappers.