The Opposition leader, Kamla Perad-Bissessar is calling on the government to institute immediate practical measures to protect the citizens from ruthless criminals.
In a media statement on Wednesday, she said, “Over the past couple of days, there have been multiple ghastly murders, brutal home invasions, shootings, and audacious threats from gangs to harm our courageous police officers.
“The raw reality is that Trinidad and Tobago is in the early throes of anarchy, with unrelenting horrific crimes, a low detection rate, no government crime prevention plans, and an overburdened judicial system leading to social decay.”
Persad-Bissessar noted that a decomposing female body was found dumped, a corpse was discovered down a precipice, people were killed while conducting transactions, an elderly business family was savagely attacked, and a teenager went missing.
That, she said, is a mere snapshot of the rampant and unchecked violence and disorder.
She said while the country awaits an official response to her letter to PM Dr Keith Rowley, where she outlined plans to secure the citizenry and also requested the addition of stakeholders to proposed talks, she is hard-pressed to speak on behalf of our besieged nation.
“The government seems to erroneously believe they have a license to do nothing to reign in the runaway violent crime crisis until the proposed anti-crime talks. I call on the government to immediately implement some practical anti-crime initiatives in the interim to stem the bloodshed and terror,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She is urging Rowley to listen to the call of citizens, the business community, and civil society to remove Fitzgerald Hinds as National Security Minister and institute immediate practical measures to protect the citizens from ruthless criminals.