What about white collar crime?

THE EDITOR: For far too long we have only looked at the blue collar crimes in Trinidad and Tobago. We have talked about the spate of kidnappings, murders, robberies and the cache of illegal guns. We have not talked about the extent of white collar crime. White collar crimes are committed by big business. Businesses in the stock exchange, import/export, roll on/roll off and other businesses are at fault. They are involved in insider trading, false accounting practices, stolen vehicles, under-marking of taxes and any other ways to fool the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago. What we end up getting is one or two sponsorships of charitable organisations in an attempt to pull wool over our faces.

My thesis is white collar crimes are manifested in the spate of blue collar crimes. One goes hand in hand. There is a symbiotic relationship between white collar crime and blue collar crime. I am therefore amazed when the Ministry of National Security publishes the names of felons who can help them in their “current drive to reduce crime in our country.” This drive is directed at the wrong people. These people are pawns or puppets. Those who are pulling the strings are the ones who can reduce crimes in this country.

ORIO NGUMA
Fyzabad