Eye in the Sky blind during the KFC blast

POLICE sources yesterday confirmed to Newsday that the highly touted, multi-million dollar anti-crime “Eye in the Sky” high-tech camera, stationed along the Brian Lara Promenade, a stone’s throw away from KFC’s Independence Square branch, was unmanned during Saturday’s bomb blast inside the popular fast food restaurant. A police source added that the Eye in the Sky camera is fully functional but no officer was manning it when the bomb blast went off, thus eliminating any possibility of the bomber being caught on video. No one was at the controls, the police source said, because there exists a manpower shortage at the Port-of-Spain police division.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, acting police commissioner Glen Roach assured that the person or persons responsible for the three bombings in the capital, will be arrested soon. Roach who is acting as commissioner in the absence of police commissioner Trevor Paul (who along with National Security Minister Martin Joseph is in the United Kingdom attending security meetings), said police were working along certain lines and he believed arrests are imminent. Saturday’s bombing came mere hours after the capital was thrown into panic on Friday, with rumours of an impending coup, along with several bomb threats.

However, Roach assured that the police would continue to work relentlessly to restore the public’s sense of safety and security. The Eye in the Sky camera, which is mounted on a hydraulic lift system, allows officers to take photos of areas while several feet in the air. Because no photos were taken by this camera, Special Branch officers had to take photos with handheld digital cameras after the bombing occurred. Newsday understands that officers spent the weekend examining these photos to see if they recognised potential suspects. Roach noted that since last week, security forces were on high alert and this mode of heightened readiness will continue indefinitely.

He said the work of the security forces has increased and the police will stop at nothing to ensure the citizens will be able to go about their business without fear. However, his words were of no comfort to several persons working in the capital, who spoke with Newsday yesterday. People at several fast food outlets in Port-of-Spain said they were working under duress and added they were afraid to come to work since the next time a bomb explodes, they may be injured or killed. On Saturday a caller telephoned the Independence Square branch of Royal Castle around 11 pm and claimed that a bomb had been planted there. Employees and customers were immediately evacuated. Officers of the K-9 Unit and bomb squad carried out a check but nothing was found.

That business reopened. Saturday’s bombing was the third such incident to occur in the capital within recent times. A blast on Frederick Street left several persons injured with the most serious being an elderly woman who had to have one of her legs amputated. Days after this blast, a similar explosion occurred along George Street. No one was injured in this blast. (See Page 4 story)