PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar: SoE and curfew to continue

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said the State of Emergency (SoE) and the curfew (11 pm – 4 am) implemented in several areas of Trinidad will remain in place, until so advised by the security agencies.

Speaking at the Post Cabinet press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair she said the members  of the security agencies spent several hours addressing Cabinet.

She said both measures instituted on August 21, 2011 will be constantly reviewed. The three month SoE will officially end on December 5, 2011.

The Prime Minister said the security agencies have said the SoE and the curfew have been “valuable tools in the fight of crime”. She said the agencies were putting measures in place to deal with crime after the SoE.

The Prime Minister also announced the National Security Operations Centre (NSOC) which allows for all members of law enforcement agencies to share information. She said previously there was no joint planning or sharing of information.

Quoting statistics since the start of the SoE to 6 am on Thursday, the Prime Minister said there have been 3932 arrests. She said 57 persons were arrested for homicides. On a figure of 500 murders a year, she said it meant there were 45 murders per month. Noting that although there were 15 murders in the first month of the SoE, “15 too much” it equated to 70 percent reduction in murders.

Other statistics given by the Prime Minister included 449 for gang related incidents; 745 for drugs; 769 for serious offences; 200 for other offences; 418 for enquiries and the seizure of 1243 ammunition, 29 magazines and 125 firearms. Additionally, three quarter billion in drugs have been seized or destroyed.

Curfew murder in Diego

Jeffery Joseph, a 38-year-old father of two was found murdered in Diego Martin on Monday October 3. The murder occurred while the curfew was still in effect.

Joseph’s relatives — sister Sophia Joseph, cousin Eastlyn Farrell, niece Teneisha Joseph and aunt Sylma Maughn — reported that they were contacted shortly after 8 am and told that “Green Man’s” (Joseph) body was found at an abandoned house at Agostini Trace, Diego Martin.

Police and relatives reported that there were chop wounds to Joseph’s head, face, hands and upper body. An autopsy found that he died as a result of the wounds. Joseph’s family said that on September 20 he got into an altercation with some persons over a cellphone and was beaten later that day. Joseph was at home washing clothes on Sunday when he left his Green Hill home at about 3 pm saying he was “going to make a spin”. 

When 11 pm reached and Joseph did not return home, his relatives became concerned but did not think anything bad had happened.

Residents of Green Hill reported hearing someone crying out at about 2 am yesterday but they did not investigate because of the curfew.

At about 7 am persons in the neighbourhood made checks and found Joseph’s body at the abandoned house. The police was subsequently alerted.

National Security Minister John Sandy said, on September 28, the National Security Council met to discuss the curfew which was first introduced when the government announced a State of Emergency in the country on August 21.

The curfew was introduced then from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. but was later shortened to 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Sandy said the curfew was being reviewed constantly and it could be adjusted again to the original 9 p.m.  to 5 a.m. timeframe or it could be removed.

“There is the possibility it could even be removed,” he said.

Letter from the Publisher

Nirvan Balkissoon

Undoubtedly the situation in Trinidad and Tobago is not getting any better. The crime plan that the PM has put in place is not working as many of the people held are being released due to a lack of evidence to convict.

Kamla’s crime plan is nothing more than a method of diverting the people’s attention from current mess that the PP Government find themselves in and that being there’s no real crime plan.

T&T just celebrated Republic day on September 24th, although Trinidad and Tobago became a Republic on August 1st, 1976. The event is celebrated as a public holiday on September 24th because this is the date when the first Parliament met under the new Republican Constitution.. so, after 35 years we still can’t get it right, the country continues to be plague with corruption and criminals and still no concrete crime plan from Kamla and the PP Government.

Some of you may think that I am hard on the PM and the Government but they are the ones who promised to make changes and correct the problems that have plagued the country for years. People are frustrated and I am seeing another migration of people leaving Trinidad and Tobago, but it’s the rich who can afford it and escape, the poor will stay and face the reality of what Trinidad and Tobago has become.

Last Saturday’s march in San Fernando was clearly a sign that people are not happy, these are the facts, I am not making these things up. Michael Harris of the Trinidad Express who has been for many years a writer and commentator on politics and society in Trinidad and the wider Caribbean wrote about his assessment of the Government performance.

As far as my assessment is concerned, the most remarkable fact about the tenure  of the People’s Partnership Government after 16 months in office is just how little  has changed in terms of policies and programmes from those pursued by the previous administration. The biggest change has clearly been in the cast of characters. From the Ministers down to the members of the board of the lowliest state enterprise there has been comprehensive change in personnel. But in terms of the script which is being followed it is as though the Manning administration never left.

In whichever sphere of public administration we care to examine, there is not to be discerned any significant change in policy or direction. It is as though the steering mechanism of the ship of state is welded into one position and no matter whose hands are on the helm the direction remains the same. 

This is so whether we look at the overall style of governance or examine each of the functional areas of administration. As far as the overall style of governance is concerned nothing of significance has changed. The dominance of the central executive is still intact and transparency, accountability and consultation are still only terms to which lip service is paid. 

Nothing has been done with regard to even beginning the process of local government reform. Nothing has been done with regard to changing the public procurement processes or even implementing any of the provisions of the Uff report. Nothing has been done with regard to opening up the channels of information. 

And on the issue of constitutional reform the silence from the Government has been deafening. The economy is in stasis. After a short flurry of activity from the previous Minister of Planning on the issue of innovation, economic planning has been reduced to inviting proposals for the development of Invaders Bay. If this proceeds it is going to be no different from Mr Manning’s grandiose waterfront projects.

The Minister of Finance is content to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor in office and rely more and more on deficit financing to keep intact a structure of expenditure which long ago ceased to be sustainable. Not a single one of the hundreds of state enterprises has been shut down; not a single one of the welfare subsidies has been reduced; and CEPEP and URP have more employees today than in the hey-day of the Manning administration.  

In the sphere of education absolutely nothing has changed. The Minister threatened to make the teaching of religion compulsory in schools and secondary school pupils now get laptops. That’s it. No discussions on revamping the curriculum, no discussions of the fact that so many of our students are functionally illiterate, no discussions on how the education system must be overhauled.

In health the story is the same. In fact wherever we look, whether it is in social services, community development, works and infrastructure, transport, tourism, what have you, it is all the same ole!

The only significant difference introduced by this Government as compared to the last is in the area of tackling crime and, in that regard, the introduction of the State of Emergency. And while there may be grave doubts that the State of Emergency will achieve the stated objectives at least it represents a departure from the policies of the previous administration.

It is a well known saying that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and to expect different results. How could this government which campaigned so vigorously against the PNM and all its works, simply come into office and continue with all the structures, the policies and the programmes of the PNM without skipping a beat? And, given that fact, how could anyone declare themselves to be satisfied with the Government’s performance? 

The answer has to be that the different views of the performance of the Government start from different premises as to what is expected of government. Now there was clearly a lot to be said against the style of that administration. So that it is not to be expected that a new government can come into office purporting to have a different style of governance and maintain the same old policies. If the style does not guide the substance then sooner rather than later the substance will surely guide the style.

DPP made right move

Dwayne Gibbs

“The DPP has to do what’s right, and he’s done that,” was Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs’s comment in response to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision to drop the charges against 21 men from Nelson Street.

In a rare move on Monday September 12, DPP Roger Gaspard went to court himself and dropped the cases, saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute the men.

In an exclusive interview on Saturday September 17, Commissioner Gibbs agreed with Gaspard’s move.

“It’s up to us to provide enough evidence to take the case through the court, and we haven’t gathered enough evidence to meet that threshold,” he said, noting, “The new legislation came in a week before.”

Gibbs was referring to the Anti-Gang Act, which was proclaimed on August 15. “We’re trying to feel our way through the legislation,” he said.

“A lot of people were picked up on intelligence we had with regard to their being in gangs. But the intelligence we had before August 15 couldn’t be used for those charges,” he explained. “It could be used to pick them up, but not to charge them. Now we’ve got them in custody, we can put the evidence together.”

Asked about claims that the police had been told to round people up first and find evidence afterwards, Gibbs said, “I’ve heard that too.”

He added that police officers knew what was right and had no obligation to obey if they were given illegal orders.

Unlike the DPP, Gibbs welcomed the announcement that the Attorney General is to supply teams of lawyers to work with the police to prosecute those held during the State of Emergency.

“They’re consultants,” he said.  “They’re here to help us with their legal expertise, and we’re learning so that we can present better evidence.” Gibbs said the police were in consultation with the DPP “almost on a daily basis.”

He said the police were unable to use the videotapes of Nelson Street residents apparently carrying out robberies, because there were no complainants. “It’s not that we did nothing,” he said. “We talked to the victims and they didn’t want to give evidence.” He admitted that it was frustrating when witnesses were too frightened to give evidence.

Gibbs was in favour of the State of Emergency, saying, “Good things may come out of it. It gives the country an opportunity to settle down, a respite. It lets the police regroup as an organisation, build relationships with the communities, get social development going. We can gather more intelligence and more understanding of the criminal world.”

Asked why a State of Emergency had been necessary in order for the police to make some of the arrests, he said: “We can do searches and seizures without warrants, it gives police powers to the Defence Force that weren’t there before, so there’s an increased number of people doing policing work.”

However, numbers alone were not enough, he said.

He cautioned that the State of Emergency would “not give the public the immediate end to crime that they expect. Crime will continue. But we intend to bring the levels down. We  have a remit to ensure they stay down and decrease further.”

Looking back at his first year in office, Gibbs said there had been achievements.

“There has been substantial change. There’s been a 20 per cent drop in serious crime and a 20 per cent drop in homicides, up to the (start of the) State of Emergency.”

Cops, bandits in highway shootout

Motorists proceeding along the east and west-bound lanes of the Beetham Highway were forced to stop their vehicles and pull aside to safety as Cpl Thompson and PC Gomez of the Besson Street CID traded bullets with two bandits on the highway.

Police, on Monday September 19, launched a manhunt for the two bandits.

The incident, police said, caused a massive traffic pile-up as scores of police vehicles later raced into the area in search of the two armed bandits who managed to escape in the mangrove.

Around 11 a.m., police said, Richard Thomas and Elijah Daly, two employees of a solid waste company, were at the Beetham landfill when they were approached by two armed men who robbed them of cash and jewelry totalling $6,620.

The men made their way to the Besson Street CID where a report was made to detectives and then later accompanied Cpl Thompson and PC Gomez to the scene.

They immediately pointed out the two suspects who were in the vicinity of Hell Yard.

Police said they called on the suspects to surrender but the men ran across the highway and began shooting at the officers who had decided to pursue them on foot.

Officers reported they were forced to stop at the centre of the highway and engage the suspects in a shootout.

Police radioed for backup and a contingent of officers led by Insp Sahadeo Singh quickly arrived at the scene and went in search of the suspects but they could not be found. Police said one of the suspects is known to them and that an arrest was imminent.

Some comments on this incident made by citizens were:

“These criminals have no kind of respect for authority and also no regard for human life firing shots while innocent drivers passing by. The TTPS has really stepped to the plate after the SoE was declared by the PM and their efforts are duly noted by members of the public.”

“TTPS response time to crime sincethe SoE has been really amazing. The SoE should have been declared a long time ago. Just to note if those road saying they were good boys." guys were shot by police some people would have been blocking the

Crime down with State of Emergency

At midnight Monday morning, T&T was placed under a limited state of emergency to facilitate anti-crime curfews in hot spots, as announced a few hours earlier by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The measure specifically allows the 5,000 Defence Force powers of search and seizure, and of arrest, so they will be able to better supplement the work of the TT Police Service, she explained.

The areas in which the curfew takes effect in so far are: Arima, Arouca, Beetham, Carenage, Cunupia, Diego Martin, Enterprise, Felicity, Gasparillo, Grand Couva, Hermitage, Icacos, Laventille, Maloney, Morvant, Sea Lots, Trincity, Pigeon Point, and Crown Point.

The aim of emergency rule was to halt the current spike in gang activity and crime in general in the shortest

possible time, the prime minister said in a televised address. “The nation will not be held to ransom by marauding gangs of thugs bent on creating havoc on our society. The limited state of emergency in hot

spots across Trinidad and Tobago is merely part of a larger aggressive reaction response by the government.”

The measures include a 9:00pm to 5:00am overnight curfew. At a 15 minute news briefing at her Phillipine home at 8 pm, she said the documents to effect the state of emergency — a proclamation and regulations

— were already on their way to President George Maxwell Richards to be signed.

The measure follows two recent instances of mass killings, namely four persons shot dead at Jonestown,

Arima, on Thursday, a woman killed at Pt Lisas on Friday and three killed in Laventille and another in El Socorro yesterday . 

The 2011 murder rate is about 261 persons. Persad-Bissessar said the State  must respond to a very tragic spate of murders. Persad-Bissessar said on Monday August 22 that criminal activity had ground to almost zero since the limited state of emergency was declared on Sunday night.

Persad-Bissessar said weapons and ammunition were seized, bandits who resisted law enforcement officers were killed (in Arima on Monday) and gangs were on the run. 

She was speaking to the media during a tour of the Chancery Lane Complex in San Fernando.

“I am pleased to report that the results are already coming in that critical information has been gleaned,

weapons and ammunition seized and bandits who fought with our law enforcement units have been killed.

“Already, criminal activity has ground to almost zero, and gangs are on the run. I am quite aware that this lull is due to the limitations imposed upon the criminal elements but which is also confining the freedom of innocent

citizens,” she said. 

Persad-Bissessar said although it was only day two of the state of emergency, all indicators show the strategy

was delivering positive results. “Let us be grateful to the joint services carrying out these dangerous exercises. It would be well worth it if we could bring back some measure of security to our nation. The nation

salutes each and every one of you,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar noted it was mandatory to go to Parliament for an extension to the state of emergency,

“and if we decide to go that way, it has to be done within 15 days”.

Persad-Bissessar said she was willing to meet Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, but her priority was

to ensure the first leg of the state of emergency was a success. “In due course, I will meet the Opposition

Leader. No date has been set yet as my priority right now is this first leg to get the operations and logistics

going to the best that we can,” she said.

The spike in murders, she said, was ironically due to the police’s success in seizing large drug hauls, saying

such sums won’t disappear from the drug-trade without such consequences. 

“There comes a time in the history of a nation when we have to take very strong action, very decisive action.”

She said Government has spent more money on crime than its predecessors, noting this problem is the

result of years of neglect and would not disappear overnight. “The current crime spree indicates that more must be done and stronger action must be employed now. The situation cannot continue like this without a response that is commensurate with the wanton acts of violence and lawlessness,” she said.

Such a response must halt gang activity and lawlessness in the shortest possible time. “After much deliberation

with the National Security Council and members of my Cabinet, it has been agreed that Government impose a

limited state of emergency in hot spots across the country,” she said.  

Saying this measure needs the nod of the President of the Republic, she said as she spoke the proclamation

and the regulations were on the way to him for signature for a limited state of emergency, under section 8(1) and 8(2) of the Constitution. She said a limited state of emergency would allow a number if things to be done, but she declined to spell these out, citing grounds of security. 

Admitting the state of emergency would affect the lives of law-abiding  citizens living in the affected areas, she asked them to bear with the Government in its anti-crime fight. “We  have the will. We will succeed. The nation must not be held to ransom by groups of thugs bent on creating havoc in our society,” she said. “We

will hunt them down. We will search them out, and we will bring them to justice.”