No travel advisory against TT

THE UNITED States, Britain, Canada and Germany have all dismissed media reports which alleged that their governments have issued travel advisories against Trinidad and Tobago. Canadian High Commissioner Simon Wade told Newsday his comments to reporters following a meeting of the Port-of-Spain West Rotary Club at Cascadia Hotel had clearly been misunderstood.  Wade said while safety and security information on the High Commission’s website indicates that “violent crimes including assault, kidnapping and murder have increased significantly,” this is “not startling” and is certainly not an advisory telling Canadians not to come to TT.

He explained that the information currently displayed on the website merely advises Canadians to exercise sensible precautions where crime is concerned. The website identifies petty crime as the major concern for Canadian visitors particularly “during Trinidad Carnival in February or March.” Wade said he is aware of several initiatives being undertaken by the Government to deal with crime and Canadian business interests in TT remain “buoyant” at this time. He added that evidence of this could be seen in the large number of Canadian energy companies participating in this week’s 2004 TT Petroleum Conference at the Hilton Trinidad and the fact that these companies bid for eight of 18 offshore petroleum blocks put up for auction recently by the Ministry of Energy. Last week, Wade refuted the contents of a Canadian newspaper report which alleged that Trinidadians were seeking refuge in Canada because of kidnapping and there was a terrorist presence in TT.

German Ambassador to TT, Ulrich Nitzschke, explained that German consulates worldwide issue regular travel information but as far as TT is concerned, that information is “not dramatic” and no mention is made anywhere about kidnapping. The German Ambassador said his government is not worried about the current levels of crime in TT and is simply advising all German nationals visiting this country to exercise sensible precautions in their daily activities. This is also the watchword contained in yesterday’s travel bulletin from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) about crime in TT. Meanwhile, yesterday’s security intelligence reports from the United States Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) indicated that all consider TT to be a safe global destination, there is no terrorist presence in the country at this time and as far as crime goes, American visitors should “exercise normal caution and good judgment.” The CIA maintains that TT remains “an excellent investment site for international businesses.”