PM calls on Panday to support crime Bills

IN THE wake of the brutal killing of the son of Naparima Opposition Member of Parliament, Nizam Baksh, Prime Minister Patrick Manning has appealed to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday for the UNC’s support for legislation to assist in combating crime. However, UNC MP Dr Roodal Moonilal says the latest killing merely underscores the heightened risk to all citizens and marked “a Colombia-like situation where politicians are at risk” and soon magistrates and judges will also be at risk. A statement issued yesterday from the Office of the Prime Minister said Manning, on receiving the news of the killing of Ashmead Baksh, “immediately sought to ascertain the facts, in order to determine the appropriate statement” he would have made.

The statement said the PM, in his address on Sunday evening to those attending the PNM’s Family Day at the Eddie Hart Ground in Tacarigua, expressed condolences to the Baksh family and gave “assurances that the police are working assiduously to investigate the death, and was doing all in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice.” It was during that address that the PM made his appeal to Panday to put aside “partisan politics and support this national endeavour.” The statement said a letter of condolence from the Government and “personally” from the PM had been sent to the Baksh family. Works and Transport Minister Franklyn Khan was expected to represent Government at the funeral. The PM also assured the public that it was doing its best to combat crime and called on citizens to “join hands with the police and authorities in this national undertaking against criminal activities.”

Speaking to reporters at a function at the Crowne Plaza yesterday morning, Moonilal added his sympathy to the family of his colleague, saying the killing was tragic and senseless. He said the killing represented the “recklessness and footloose manner in which criminals operate in the country.” He said it was regrettable that it was “high profile, but it really suggests that the criminal element is now out of control, with little respect for the police and the Government.” He said everyone was now at a more heightened risk and no doubt will have to take extra security precautions to protect their families and homes. “It is a very scary situation, not unlike Colombia, where politicians, and from now, regrettably, judges and magistrates will be at risk.”

The Oropouche MP added that the time had come to “act boldly with the criminal elements,” saying he personally did not have much confidence in Government policy. He said the new Anti-Crime Unit had obviously failed and there was the need for other initiatives. Moonilal said the PM’s call for the Opposition’s support of legislation was a matter for discussion between the parties’ leadership. But Moonilal stressed that before there can be reform, the police must be given both the financial and human resources to do their jobs. Also expressing condolences on the killing were the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and UNC chairman for the Barataria/San Juan constituency, Anderson Morris. The Chamber said it was saddened by the “tragic turn of events” surrounding Baksh’s disappearance.

It reiterated the need for an immediate and effective drive to get “guns out of the hands of criminals” and said a “speedy solution to the crime situation and the spate of kidnappings in particular” must be implemented now. The Chamber also called on both Government and Opposition to come together to pass legislation to deal with criminal activity saying “not one more life must be allowed to be lost to this type of barbarism and senseless violence.” Morris, meanwhile, has said he was traumatised by the death of Baksh and criticised the action, “...or lack thereof on the part of the PNM in reaction to this kidnapping and subsequent murder.”  Morris said it was clear that the Minister of National Security, Martin Joseph, had failed “like his predecessor to deal with the escalating crime situation.” The constituency executive has also called for Joseph’s resignation.