Time to stand up and fight

Balgobin said this may be a good place to start in tackling the crime problem. He said unlike other societies of the world, where crime was faceless, this was not the case in TT.

"To make a start we don’t have to go far, we just have to go right there. Tell the police to go there. Tell the Attorney General who has been courageous to date to continue being courageous and have the DPP be courageous and do something about it."

This statement drew desk thumping from members on the Opposition UNC benches who echoed his words — "go there."

"What we need to do is stop these people down there from frightening the country. It is a stain on the national character when every time you hear these people are mobilising, the whole of Port-of-Spain get jittery." He said it affected productivity and the mindset of people.

Balgobin said all needed to commit and say it would be better to die standing than to live on our knees.

In the 2006 Budget debate in the Senate yesterday, Balgobin highlighted the actions being taken by the Government to deal with crime — allocation of financial resources, purchase of vehicles and enlisting of technical expertise from abroad.

Balgobin said there have been changes to the commissioners of police and ministers of national security, but all of these have made no difference. He said one way forward was for the authorities to ask — "Who do we fear?" Answering his own question, he said it was not an organisation in Laventille, but at Mucurapo Road. "We fear an organisation that is based out there."

Balgobin said money, marching around the Savannah, new motorbikes and petitions "no matter how well intentioned," would not deal with the issue.

He also said a solution or accommodation must be found for the less fortunate in society.

Society has become so inured to crime that when bad things happened to people, there is the tacit assumption of guilt and corruption. Balgobin said while such thinking may be socially acceptable, it could harm long-term investment both locally and from overseas.

Although he praised the provision of free tertiary education, he said a knowledge-based economy was not just a question of degrees, but having an education system with beneficiaries who are driven by original thought, research and applying their knowledge.

Emphasis for the medium to long-term should be on pushing local and regional institutions to make a difference through unique knowledge generation. Balgobin said education is one of the largest industries in the world and, done properly, TT can make it a large export industry.