Treating protesters as criminals?

THE EDITOR: “I had enough,” was the response of the Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) Oswyn Allard not to the crime situation but to the protest on the streets of Chaguanas.

“The Government will not tolerate acts of civil disobedience, either from criminals or Members of Parliament. I am not threatening anybody but I’ll tell you we are not going to allow anything to develop here that could lead to other things elsewhere in the country,” was the response of Prime Minister Patrick Manning to the same event. These quotes emphasise that the Government cannot or will not control the crime situation. It does not take a genius to figure out that the recent upsurge of kidnappings only affects one particular ethnic group. One could say by bringing up this fact the Opposition is playing its race card. But let the critics put their feet in the shoes of the families that live this nightmare on a weekly basis, then answer the question.

The Manning Administration has made its views clear, people who engage in civil disobedience (protests) will be treated as criminals. So the MPs who lead protest in their constituencies about the failure of the Government to provide security for its citizens, beware, a jail cell or worse awaits you while the purveyors of crime are free to roam! I want to ask Senator Satish Ramroop (a man who the Prime Minister rates as his Indian trump card), Lenny Saith and Diane Seukeran what are they going to do for the people of Central and by extension Trinidad and Tobago with respect to kidnapping?

COLLIN J PARTAP
Port-of-Spain