Top Security men assure safe Carnival

THE Nation’s top security officials, including National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee, Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Ancil Antoine, Commissioner of Police Hilton Guy and ACP (Crime) Oswyn Allard, have all expressed confidence that this year’s Carnival Season would run smoothly.

Newsday spoke to the top security officials yesterday during a Carnival brunch held at the Commissioner of Police’s residence, St James Barracks. “You cannot stop people from committing crime, but we have the necessary man-power out in full force to deal with any and all incidents and reports,” Commissioner Guy assured. “All contingency plans are in place...all security measures have been implemented and I can safely say that this year’s Carnival will be a safe one,” Minister Chin Lee told Newsday. Brigadier Ancil Antoine went further and said that the police service would be supplemented with resources from the TT Regiment. “Officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment have been deployed and are working the streets with their police counterparts,” Antoine said.

Top Government Ministers headed by Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his wife, Education Minister Hazel Manning were present at the brunch, which also saw a wide-ranging list of VIPs in attendence. US Ambassador Dr Roy Austin and his son Roger, mingled freely with the crowd. Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Sandra Marchack was seen in animated discussions with CoP Guy and Director of the Forensic Sciences Centre, Yolande Thompson, during the function. Local dishes with an East Indian, Spanish and Creole flavour as well as grog aplenty, were enough to keep the happy crowd near the food and drink tents. And while his security colleagues spoke among themselves, Commissioner of Prisons Leo Abraham walked around filming the activities with his video camcorder, prompting ACP (Crime) Oswyn Allard to jokingly ask Abraham if he had gotten permission from the Copyright Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) to record the activities. Prime Minister Manning, his wife Hazel and National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee, limed together while the PM’s security detail kept a close watch. Also invited to the brunch were retired senior police officers.