No rest for the wicked

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning declared there will be no safe haven for criminals anywhere in Trinidad and Tobago in the wake of Thursday’s murder on the Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain. Addressing a PNM national meeting in Tunapuna on Friday night, the Prime Minister also revealed  that Government will accept a proposal to acquire several high-tech naval vessels from Israel to wage war against drug and gun smugglers who operate along TT’s coastal waters. Identifying Morvant, Charford and John John as three main criminal hotspots in the Port-of-Spain area, Manning said the Inter-Agency Task Force has successfully locked down those areas but Thursday’s murder showed that “the fellas beginning to move out.

I will give TT the assurance tonight that in same way we locked down East Port-of-Spain... if we have to lock down Tobago, we will lock it down...if we have to lock down Chaguanas, we will lock it down...and we will pursue them relentlessly... wherever they go in TT...there shall be no rest for the wicked...the Government will be on their heels,” he declared. The Prime Minister said the coastal radar system Government purchased from Israel is already making a dent against the illegal drug and gun trades and will be fully operational by July. In addition to three Offshore Patrol Vessels which Government is already in the process of purchasing from Israel, Manning revealed that Government will accept a proposal from the Israelis to purchase another hi-tech naval vessel which has unlimited military capabilities.

“The boat is well armed, 30 mm cannon in front, .20 mm cannon in the back, ports on the sides for machine guns. We are going to purchase a sufficient number of them to ensure that  not a man move in the Gulf of Paria when Government of TT says that we are going to stop the drug trade,” Manning declared. The Prime Minister said the new helicopter squadron that will be based at Carlsen Field will be operational within five to six months. The National Security Council has already agreed to spend US$6.1 million to purchase two of the four gunships for this unit and  Manning said a turnkey arrangement has been made with the suppliers.

This means the gunships will come with combat-trained pilots and crews who will conduct initial drug interdiction operations while simultaneously training local military personnel to eventually take over the operations. He said Cabinet will soon consider proposals to reintroduce corporal punishment within the nation’s penal system and a training programme “for those who have led a life of crime and who wish to move away from it.” “In other words, we provide you with the carrot. If you don’t take the carrot, then you getting the stick,” he stated.