Sando Business Association supports State of Emergency

EVEN while their counterparts in North Trinidad were reportedly supportive of a limited State of Emergency to deal with the escalating crime situation, there were mixed reactions among southern businesspersons, with one businessman calling for an extension of the joint police/army patrols to include rural communities, while another supported the SOE.

President of the newly formed San Fernando Business Association (SBA) Daphne Bartlett said while the Association was supportive of a limited State of Emergency, the implementation of social development programmes was also “a necessary component” in the fight against crime. “The criminal elements seem to be coming from a particular area of Trinidad and a limited State of Emergency would allow the police to go into those areas and curb the crime wave, so on that note, we would support a limited State of Emergency,” Bartlett said. “However, we are not only looking at measures to catch criminals, but we are also concerned that Government implement social development programmes that will offer hope to our young people so that they would not feel compelled to go into a life of crime,” she added.

The outspoken businesswoman said school-leavers and other unemployed young persons, instead of gravitating to a life of crime, could be placed into marketable job-training programmes and paid a cost-of-living stipend. “We are urging the Minister of Education to put in place a system where the names of students who did not go on to further their education could be easily identified and placed into these programmes,” Bartlett said. She cited junior secondary school drop-outs and O’ Level students who, due to negligible success or other reasons, opted out of both the educational system and the work environment. She said funds from the CEPEP programme could then be funneled into the job-training programmes. Meanwhile, Penal/Debe Chamber president, Leo Doodnath disagreed with the call for a State of Emergency saying the measure would have a counter-productive effect on business.

However, Doodnath called for the expansion of the 24-hour joint police/ army patrols to include rural communities. “When you have these patrols only in the urban areas, then there will be a migration of criminals to the rural areas,” Doodnath pointed out. He cited the three Malick teenagers who were charged in connection with the robbery and shooting death of a La Romaine teenager at a San Fernando store two Saturdays ago. “Unlike places like San Fernando and Princes Town the crimes here are confined to mostly petty crimes, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything remains quiet here,” Doodnath said.