State agencies — seeds of lawlessness says Prof Deosaran

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s  criminologist and  researcher, Professor Ramesh Deosaran, has blasted a number of State agencies in the country for their inefficiency and incompetence. In fact, he referred to them as suppliers of the seeds of lawlessness which he felt was far worse than crime. He named some of the suppliers of lawlessness as the police, courts, the EMA, Regional Corporations, TIDCO and the Town and Country Planning Department. He was careful not to say anything about religion. Professor Deosaran, who is Director of the UWI Centre of Criminology and Criminal Justice, spoke on the theme “Crime, Lawlessness and Politics” in another in the series of John Clifford Sealy Memorial Foundation lectures.

In his in-depth analysis of the state of the country today, the Professor dealt at length with lawlessness. He described “lawlessness” as a culture which embraced and nourished crime, a breakdown of respect, tolerance, obedience and civility in a society. He gave some startling statistics on the number of serious crimes in the country between 1962 and 2002. And as for minor offences, he found that many citizens stopped reporting them “and even the police turned the other cheek.” According to Professor Deosaran, “unreported crimes form a big part of our underground gangster and drug-trafficking economy and they also form the dark shadow of blackmarket and lawlessness.” Noting that a number of criminals were from poor homes, Professor Deosaran said they usually left behind an unskilled, unemployed woman with three or even seven children — a fact that contributes heavily to the growing culture of lawlessness.

He frowned on the fact that some of this lawlessness was tolerated, “ or even tacitly supported by politicians, especially in their quest for election honours.” Then he commented: “When everyday habits turn into lawlessness, when politics subvert public policy, when crime erupts in a fragmented society, then we know the country is in trouble.” Professor Deosaran was not oblivious of what he called “corporate lawlessness” where the rich thrived at a higher state of lawlessness. He referred to “over-priced bread, over-priced cheese, over-priced chicken and over-priced cars” which he said may not be statutory robbery, but is in effect robbery against the poor “when such free-market price impositions make the poor poorer and the rich richer.” He found that many laws and regulations which are broken by corporate boards and managers are forgiven by amending the laws and regulations, to correct those corporate wrongs. He said as a Senator in the Upper House, he had several times witnessed “this retroactive mercy in Parliament.”

According to Professor Deosaran, in the 1950s and ’60s, there were a few squatters, but today, there are some 30,000 who include not only the real poor, but those doing a profitable business by buying and selling State lands “illegally of course — and another group who have more than one house on State lands. The thing is a mess.” Professor Deosaran described the Land Settlement Agency “like so many other State agencies” as a sick, lame duck, allowing the squatting problem to swirl into perennial confusion. He found that lack of litter wardens and the proliferation of street vendors also posed major problems. “Lawlessness sits at the front door of several of our highly-paid State agencies,” said Professor Deosaran.

He was not amused that Maracas Bay is allowed to degenerate into a filthy state and asked “Where is TIDCO?” The professor also wanted to know what sense it made to make expensive trips to Germany to sell tourism when a tourist gem like Maracas Bay is in a state of chaos and filth. Professor Deosaran gave some meaningful advice. One is that the laws, from the police to the courts, must be applied equally and effectively to reduce lawlessness, and there must be law and order.... but justice, too. He also thought that politicians must take no action or give no signal that appears to encourage crime or lawlessness. As for the problem of PH taxis, he felt this must be dealt with once and for all. Also, teachers and police officers should be given more systematic training in crime prevention.