Business community demands action on crime

THE BUSINESS community yesterday demanded that immediate action be taken to curb crime in Trinidad and Tobago in the wake of Thursday’s murder on the Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain. The business community also declared that it was high time that both the Government and Opposition put partisan politics aside and work together to address the nation’s crime problem. TT Manufacturers Association president Paul Quesnel said Thursday’s incident suggested that gang warfare was spilling, and the whole crime situation in TT was cause for grave concern. Quesnel said it was the duty of all 36 members of the House of Representatives (Government and Opposition) “to deal with crime,” and they must put aside their differences to find solutions to the problem.

San Juan Business Association president Gail Merhair said the daring manner in which criminals perpetuate their nefarious activities in TT made it increasingly difficult to see “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Merhair said the business community was not concerned about who was responsible for crime, and was demanding “action with results.” Bankers Association of TT (BATT) president Larry Howai said Thursday’s shooting “confirms that the current actions being taken to deal with crime in our society need to be supplemented for this fight to be more effective.” Howai called on Government “to step up its activities to prevent this continuing escalation” and on all citizens and organisations in TT to play their part to win the war against crime.

Howai said the BATT supported calls made by the American Chamber of Commerce of TT for Government and Opposition “to act responsibly and in a non-partisan manner on behalf of the citizens towards resolving this crisis.” Howai said the BATT supported calls for the reintroduction of the Police Service Reform Bills in Parliament and the recommendations made by the Ken Gordon Task Force to the Minister of National Security. The TT Chamber of Commerce expressed horror at Thursday’s shooting, warning that gang warfare appears to be spilling out of the traditional “hotspots” into commercial centres like Port-of-Spain, and will not stop unless the police “seriously clamp down on escalating violent crime and murders and stop the bloodshed that has occurred for far too long.”

The chamber said the reported Unemployment Relief Programme’s connection to Thursday’s murder must be addressed immediately by the Government. “The police must step up their measures and resources to get guns out of the hands of criminals now,” chamber president Christian Mouttet said. Meanwhile, Republic Bank corporate communications manager Anna Maria Brooks said a counselling session was offered yesterday at the bank’s Independence Square branch for any employee who felt traumatised by Thursday’s murder. She said only three of that branch’s employees were on the Brian Lara Promenade when the crime took place and they were sent home immediately afterwards. Other commercial banks based at Independence Square declined to say if any of their employees received counselling after Thursday’s events.