Manning: Chin Lee stays

Howard Chin Lee stays — this seems to be the position of PM Patrick Manning. Manning at a post-Cabinet news conference yesterday was adamant that no good purpose would be served by moving his National Security Minister.

“I would like to know exactly how that would bring about new levels of security in the country,” he said, responding to a question on whether he was considering moving Chin Lee in the face of public protestations about the crime wave. Pressed on the issue, Manning said no prime minister could give a definite answer on whether he planned to move a minister or not.  However, he completely dismissed reports in the Guardian newspaper about an extensive reshuffle. On the issue of a state of emergency, however, Manning, who was previously resolute about not calling a state of emergency, moved just a notch, saying that if everything else failed, he would “have no choice” but to go that route. He said Government was using other means to try to control the crime situation. “As of now, we prefer to try everything else before suspending the human and constitutional rights of citizens,” he said. The Prime Minister stressed that he was well aware of the anxiety which existed in the national community on the issue. “The Prime Minister has a very good sense of the mood of the population on this matter,” he said.

On concerns about where the State would get the 1,000 policemen to put on the streets, Manning said it was the Commissioner of Police who brought this proposal to the table. It was not done “on an ad hoc basis but following discussions with the Executive of the Police.” Manning said that as Minister of Finance, he had given the assurance that whatever financial resources were required in the battle against crime, would be made available. “That is not a problem,” he said. Manning again laid some blame on the door of the Opposition, saying that the criminals felt that they can do what they like because “they feel that the politicians are too foolish to get together” to pass strong legislation. He said the PNM recognised since the Deochand Ramdhanie issue that crime needed a collaborative approach. However, Manning said he left the meeting with the Police Commissioner and the business community on Wednesday quite confident that new initiatives were on the way and that there was a better chance that there would be higher levels of security for the country.  He said on the basis of what the Commission of Police had to say, he felt that Everard Snaggs and the Police Service understood and appreciated the circumstances and were moving aggressively to address it.

On the question of changing the police’s 40-hour week to maximise the time that they spent patrolling the streets, especially on nights, Manning said Government would have to assess the costs of “buying out” the time of police officers. Saying that the trade unions tend to resist such a move, Manning said this was nevertheless a long-term objective. The Prime Minister said crime could not be solved overnight because the problems were rooted in fundamental social deficiencies. He said this was why Government had embarked on  extensive social programmes, but the solution could not come in “five minutes.”