Business welcomes hangman’s return

The business community also welcomed statements from UNC MPs Gerald Yetming and Ganga Singh which seem to suggest a willingness on the part of the Opposition to cooperate with Government on the issue of crime, but were disappointed that most of the measures mentioned in Parliament require the enactment of legislative process and a "marked element of time," which according to a prepared statement from business organisations, are scarce commodities for most law-abiding citizens.

Jeremie stated that Government would take on the Privy Council (including the Pratt and Morgan decision) to ensure that every murderer on Death Row is hanged. Among the other initiatives listed by the AG were the strengthening of the powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions to expedite the judicial process for certain crimes; institute no bail for repeat offenders or for those charged with kidnapping, drug-trafficking or firearm possession; bring the Police Reform Bills back and amend laws which allow corporal punishment to only be administered to criminals within six months of their conviction.

TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce Christian Mouttet yesterday said the business community was "very encouraged" because this indicates Government’s seriousness about addressing crime in TT and the pressure exerted by the private sector seems to have had a positive impact on "the urgency with which the issue is now being addressed."

Mouttet said the last time executions were carried out in TT, it served as an effective deterrent against crime and he saw no reason why this could not be the case again. He also welcomed Government’s move towards no bail for perpetrators of serious crimes, and improving the efficiency of TT’s judicial system. Mouttet said statistics show that countries with effective police forces and courts have lower crime rates.

Mouttet said it was good that Government and the Opposition seemed willing to discuss the Police Reform Bills, and he hoped those discussions would be sincere. He reiterated that while Government must continue to fight crime outside the passage of legislation, the Police Bills remained an important component in reforming the Police Service to effectively fight crime.

Mouttet reminded the population that in 1999, the PNM and UNC (their current political roles reversed) worked together to draft the Police Bills.

"They (Government and Opposition) are 90 percent there. It’s just the remaining ten percent," Mouttet said.

He said Joseph had previously briefed business persons about the existence of 66 criminal gangs (with 500 "hard-core members") and it was good to see that law enforcement agencies were employing strategies to deal with the problem.

Mouttet reiterated that implementation was key to the success of all the announced anti-crime initiatives and while it would await clear evidence that Government would "walk their talk," the business community would reserve its options to pressure the authorities if it believes that insufficient action is being done to deal with crime in TT.

Mouttet’s statements were supported by a subsequent statement from the organisations representative of the private sector of TT.