CBTT: Most kidnappings drug-related

THE majority of kidnappings and murders in Trinidad and Tobago today are related to the illegal drug trade. This was the view expressed yesterday by the non-governmental group Citizens for a Better TT (CBTT) in its New Year’s message. CBTT president Harrack Balramsingh said: “Many of the kidnappings and murders were drug-related and the longer we take to recognise this fact, the more the crime situation will worsen.” In an address at Howard University in Washington DC last month, Prime Minister Patrick Manning told nationals resident in the United States that the spate of kidnappings in TT were not all that they appeared to be on the surface. Manning is also chairman of the National Security Council.

Balramsingh said the bite can be taken out of crime in 2004 and beyond “if a concerted effort is made to crack down on the drug lords and traders.” He added that increased police patrols would help to reduce the kidnapping and murder rate in TT. The CBTT president also said there was an urgent need “for the removal of corrupt cops from the Police Service” because all officers must be above reproach in the war against crime. Balramsingh stated that while the recent increase in police officers’ salaries was a step in the right direction, “higher academic qualifications and exemplary efficiency must be required from people entering the Police Service.” He lamented that not enough was being done in communities, schools and homes to teach young people about the dangers of substance abuse. Balra-msingh advised adults to adopt a New Year’s resolution to first set their home in order “before trying to lecture others about values and morals.”