Prosperity despite crime in 2006

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning predicted that Trinidad and Tobago will experience “an explosion of increased economic activity” in 2006 despite the current crime situation. He also said that his Government will not rest until it  significantly reduces the level of crime in the country. In his New Year’s message, Manning paid tribute “to that vast majority of our law-abiding and industrious citizens” who contributed to the development of TT in 2005 and would continue to do so in 2006. Manning said the level of criminal activity continues to be the country’s “most obvious difficulty”. “The drug trade and its turf wars have pushed the murder rate to a very high level and we continue to be faced with the problem of kidnapping by some evil predators in our midst,” he noted.

The Prime Minister said his Government has pledged to improve the crime-fighting capabilities of law enforcement agencies with more manpower, equipment, training and technology and the country is also “benefiting significantly from the cooperation with our friends at the international level”. He said while Government continues to do its part to improve the Police Service, it was heartening in 2005 to see the willingness of the Police Service Commission to listen to its views and gain Opposition support for passage of critical pieces of anti-crime legislation. Manning expressed optimism that Government will receive “more enlightened cooperation and collaboration” from both groups in 2006.

The Prime Minister said Government continues to wage war against crime through a social agenda to eliminate poverty and underdevelopment. He added that these efforts are very important given “the level of criminal activity that we now face”. “We shall relentlessly pursue our present strategies and develop new ones and we shall not rest until we have succeeded in our efforts to significantly reduce the level of crime in TT,” he declared. Outside of crime, Manning said 28,000 jobs were created in 2005 and the projected unemployment rate for the fourth quarter is 7.8 percent. He was optimistic of full employment in 2006.

Manning also predicted 19,000 construction jobs and 3,300 permanent jobs being created from US$8 billion investments in several energy sector projects. He anticipated significant employment in the construction sector with Government meeting its target of building 10,000 houses annually, as well as the continuation of other building projects such as the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront, Government Campus and Tarouba Sporting Complex. He announced that six ports will be constructed, including relocation of the Port-of-Spain port and new ports at Cap de Ville, Brighton, Galeota, Pt Lisas and Moruga to make TT “a major transit hub in the region”. Manning also promised the start of free tuition for all citizens at public tertiary institutions from New Year’s Day, greater social service delivery to the needy, more attention to health care and the environment and more money being available to ordinary citizens through new tax measures in the new year.