UNC to unveil second act

DESCRIBING the UNC’s march on Sunday against crime, oppression and discrimination as a resounding success, party chairman Wade Mark advised Trinidad and Tobago to stay tuned for “act one, scene two”as the Opposition ups the ante against the Government. Thousands of persons participated in the march from Rienzi Complex, Couva to the Mid-Centre Mall in Chaguanas to voice their concerns about crime and other social ills affecting TT today. At a rally at the Mid-Centre Mall, Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday warned that if Government does not take steps to seriously address the crime situation, the UNC will stage another march along the East-West Corridor with Port-of-Spain being the final destination.

At a news conference two weeks ago, Panday said Sunday’s march would indicate to the UNC whether the population was ready to engage in a civil disobedience campaign.  While declining to say whether Sunday’s march gave the UNC that information, Mark said the persons who turned out were “a reflection of the growing revulsion of the Government’s inability to handle crime”. “The Government ought to take cognisance,” he declared. Mark also dismissed a call by Prime Minister Patrick Manning on Sunday for unity in the fight against crime, claiming that “his words do not match his deeds”.

The UNC chairman said while the Opposition was willing to meet with Government to address the crime situation, it was not prepared to support any corruption on the part of the ruling PNM. Mark also said there were mixed signals from National Security Minister Martin Joseph and Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs about the crime situation in TT.  On Friday, Snaggs indicated that while the murder rate for 2004 has increased by 5.3 percent, the level of serious crimes in TT had decreased. Mark claimed that Joseph was saying something different and there was “a clear effort” by Snaggs and the Minister to mislead the population.