Chamber puts its foot down on crime — ‘Enough is enough’

The TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce has issued a call to the Minister of National Security and the Acting Commissioner of Police to confront what it has called a “persistent decline in law and order” before the country becomes a “vigilante state.”

“The photo of blood-stained steps strewn with playing cards on the front pages of newspapers is enough to curdle the blood and raise the ire of the law-abiding as another innocent life is snuffed out, this time a 13-year-old,” a release from the Chamber stated yesterday. “Enough is enough.” The Chamber questioned the nation’s law enforcement agencies about when they were going to confront the fear and evil that presently plague the country. It also stressed the need for leaders who are able to take decisive action and have the fortitude to deal with the crime situation as it deserved. “We need those with strategic thinking, those who are able to devise ways and means of ensuring an adequate response to crime,” it asserted. “We need those in action to be fully equipped to confront the adversity that faces them.”

Although it noted that it was aware that all the clauses of the Kidnap-ping Bill were passed in Parliament on Wednes-day and that the Attorney General had given her assurance that there was no room for ambiguity and loopholes when prosecuting those charged with the crime, the Chamber expressed its hope that she was correct. “We want those criminals kept behind bars for a long time,” it maintained. Last week, it went on, Minister Howard Chin Lee identified tough legislation, proper detection and stronger law enforcement as solutions to the wave of crime. “When will all these solutions be implemented?” the business group asked, adding that the time for aggressive action was now.