Couva crime meeting called

According to Ashmeer Mohammed, president of the Chamber, “crime has reached alarming proportions in the area and only on Wednesday last, a teller at the Couva Branch of Scotiabank was robbed of $17,000 by a well-dressed bandit who whipped out a revolver and told her to hand over the cash.”

The bandit subsequently escaped in a waiting car. Some three weeks ago, a customer at the same bank was robbed of $40,000 while he was entering the bank to make a deposit. A gambling club on La Croix Street was robbed by a lone unmasked gunman on Wednesday night also.

That bandit escaped in a waiting car parked a few yards away. Reports have also reached the police of bandits who have been robbing passengers and assaulting the drivers of cars.

The Chamber’s president said that “the business community has reached a point where they can take it no more and we have to do something about it with the help of the police.” Mohammed agreed with Chaguanas Mayor Dr Suruj Rambachan that the $33 million to be spent in camera surveillance equipment in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando should be spread to other economic “hotspots” in the country including Chaguanas and environs.