Crime off front pages will not make it go away

THE EDITOR: I was quite surprised and somewhat concerned by a recent statement made by the Mayor of San Fernando Mr Ian Atherley with regard to the reporting of kidnapping and other serious crimes in the news media. Mr Atherley in a recent TV interview suggested that such incidents should be relegated to some obscure section of the newspaper (presumably in very fine print) where hopefully the public would not see it and therefore conclude that crime in TT had ceased to exist, instead of giving prominence on the front page of the newspapers. It was not very long ago that the same Mayor of San Fernando suggested in all earnest that he intended to close off the lower section of High Street, the busiest section and main thoroughfare in the city of San Fernando, to create a street vending mall and prohibiting the flow of motor traffic entirely.

Perhaps the Mayor has erroneously concluded that because the Prime Minister has declared that the government has the crime situation well under control, the Minister of National Security has assured the public that all measures have been put in place to deal with crime and the Commissioner of Police has assured the public that there has been a marked reduction in serious crime except murder (which is not serious), there is no necessity to give the crime situation any prominence in the press, even if it is still taking place and even on the increase. In other words, just pretend that it does not exist and hopefully it will go away. Meanwhile, there have been two kidnappings and one attempted kidnapping during the space of one week and two murders within the space of seven hours, apparently nothing serious or a matter for concern.

Of course the junior Minister of National Security has assured the public that all police vehicles will soon be equipped with computers that will have a direct link to a main computer base, providing immediate access to all information. My first question is, how many members of the Police service are computer literate and my next question is, if the Police Service is incapable of maintaining their vehicles in roadworthy condition, which only requires the use of an auto mechanic, how do they intend to maintain all those computers which require the services of highly trained and experienced computer technicians?

Some of us may well remember just a few years ago when every licencing office in Trinidad and Tobago was equipped with computers that were directly linked to the data base at the main office in Port-of-Spain and where all relevant information relating to every single vehicle in the country could be accessed at the touch of a keyboard? Well we all know that after investing millions of dollars in that project, it did not last very long as the proverbial snowball in hell. One of the results is that if you live in Toco or the deep south, you have to take a day off, drive over one hundred miles to and from Port-of-Spain to apply for a certified copy of registration and repeat the trip some days later to collect your copy. Perhaps some of the individuals who persist in making all these wild statements and promises should remember the old maxim that goes something like this, “It is better to remain silent and be thought to be a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Where and what do we hope to be in the year 2020?

MARTIN KAVANAGH
La Romaine