Business blasts Govt on crime

Addressing a news conference called by the leaders of 17 local business organisations at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel at Invaders Bay, TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce President, Christian Mouttet said he would support a State of Emergency if it will bring the country’s crime situation under control.

"Promises are not enough. We have heard tough talk for the past three years yet the situation continues to deteriorate. The citizens of TT can take no more. We have seen a number of crime plans, many of them have been ineffective. We are not here to deliver a crime plan to the Government. We are here to say the situation has gotten out of control. It is our opinion that it is the Government’s responsibility and all 36 Members of Parliament’s responsibility to deal with the crime situation," Mouttet declared.

Stating that the business community wants to see significant and immediate decreases in murders, kidnappings and road fatalities, Mouttet said business organisations will use all legal means at their disposal (including a possible shutdown of business operations) to pressure the authorities into action if they fail to deliver. The Chamber president added that many anti-crime recommendations made to Government over the last three years are not "impeded by lack of legislation and should be implemented immediately to bring relief to the population."

Asked if he believed a State of Emergency would reduce crime in TT, Mouttet replied: "If that’s the action that’s necessary to bring the crime situation under control, yes." None of the other business leaders expressed a similar sentiment. Prime Minister Patrick Manning and National Security Minister Martin Joseph have said that a State of Emergency was a last resort to deal with crime.

Lamenting that the police seem unable to protect the population from the criminals, Mouttet underscored the need for Police Service reform and the key role which the Police Reform Bills would play in that process.

"We feel that it is an important mechanism and we feel that both sides of Parliament think it is important because the now Opposition had originally introduced that legislation. We need to accept the fact that both sides feel that it is one important component to deal with crime," he said.

However, Mouttet declared that "fighting crime cannot await the passage of legislation" and the business community was not making crime a political issue. "Let’s forget the politics. We have a serious crime problem and everyone has to come together to deal with the problem," he declared.

Mouttet said crime was mostly affecting local investors and that there was some concern expressed by international investors. However, he said it must not be allowed to reach the epidemic proportions that it has in other regional nations.

In response, National Security Minister Martin Joseph said law enforcement agencies are now using problem-oriented policing strategies to allocate resources to fight crime. He said special emphasis is currently being placed on gang-related homicides and kidnappings and police officers are being exposed to advanced levels of training to deal with crime. Joseph said it was unfair for anyone to say that Government was doing nothing to curb crime in TT, and he will be meeting on Monday with members of the business community to update them on the ministry’s anti-crime operations.

Opposition Leader, Basdeo Panday said the business community should urge Government to quicken the pace of constitutional reform in TT and this would allow the Police Reform Bills to be passed in Parliament faster.

Panday added that the business community has been ignoring his calls on this issue. The UNC leader also said the declaration of a State of Emergency in TT would be an admission of the PNM’s failure to govern TT and crime would not be solved until the Government severs its alleged links with criminal elements in the society.