Manning: Crime Squad is legit

Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday said the new Anti-Crime Unit he proposed in his Budget speech could be lawfully established under valid legislation. He was addressing the PNM National Women’s League’s 37th Annual Conference at Port-of-Spain City Hall. Hitting back at critics of the Special Crime Fighting Unit to be headed by Brigadier Peter Joseph, Manning assured that the unit could be established under one of either two laws. He said these were the laws governing Special Reserve Police Services and the Joint Operational Command Centre. Saying the Government was committed to the rule of law and was not naive, he declared: “We will do what we have to do to preserve the security of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. If that (ie unit) is what is called for, then that’s what we will do.”

Manning then cited several recent so-called kidnappings which had in fact turned out to be bogus, including persons trying to extort money from their own relatives. What was worse, he said, was that these incidents had given rise to threats of civil disobedience. Recalling a particular “kidnapping” in Central Trinidad, Manning said: “The mark go buss one of these days. “Ipso facto we find out these things are not kidnappings at all. You might find out things you are not aware of before”. Manning reiterated: “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has a responsibility to preserve the social fabric of the country and will not allow anybody, particularly those unable to win elections, to turn to civil disobedience and disturb the stability, tranquillity and security of Trinidad and Tobago. The Government will do what it has to, within the framework of the law, to preserve the social stability of Trinidad and Tobago. Don’t test us, please”.  

He then said the country needed constitutional reform, and this would be preceded by widespread public consultation. Saying the PNM’s Vision 2020 document had taken over three years to compile and that a new national constitution was infinitely more intricate, he foresaw such consultation taking years to occur. Manning said that central to constitutional reform was local government reform, and he displayed a draft document made by Ministry of Local Government which would be reviewed and published as a green paper.