Panday: Manning must lock down TT

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday yesterday scoffed at Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s latest assurance that Government would deal aggressively with crime in Trinidad and Tobago. The UNC leader also accused Manning of using crime as an excuse “to militarise” the nation so he could “crush any opposition” against him. At a PNM public meeting in Tunapuna on Friday, Manning vowed there would be no safe haven in TT for criminals following Thursday’s murder on the Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain. The Prime Minister said Government will accept a proposal from Israel to provide TT’s military forces with a new hi-tech vessel which will be used against drug traffickers and gun runners who operate in TT’s coastal waters.

Manning also said some of the crime in TT was “politically motivated.” Panday told Sunday Newsday that if Manning was serious about addressing crime in TT, he would have to lock down the entire country. The UNC leader, who has publicly alleged that Government has been purchasing surveillance equipment from Israel to be used against its political opponents, said he was very concerned about Manning’s revelation of new initiatives to acquire military hardware from Israel. Panday claimed TT’s military was already suitably equipped to deal with international narcotics and gun runners and the only reason for Government to be importing more firepower was to achieve a political agenda.