As regional leaders prepare to meet today for the Caricom Crime Symposium launch here in Trinidad, the opposition United National Congress is appealing to Caricom leaders to get Prime Minister Keith Rowley to remove National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds.
At UNC’s media briefing on Sunday, senator Wade Mark said, “Barbarians are at the gates. Everyone is living in mortal fear in T&T. No one’s safe. Nowhere’s safe—all are affected. Gangsters are telling people ‘pay up or face death’—that’s where we reach.”
“It’s now clear the Prime Minister has abandoned his post and is literally running for cover, afraid of reporting on crime to the people, hoping a regional symposium will save him…. ducks, runs and hides behind regional colleagues,” he also said.
Mark appealed to Caricom leaders, “Please convince the Prime Minister to get rid of this ‘tombstone’ around T&T’s neck where the letters read ‘H I N D S’ , who says he’s not responsible for safety, security or a crime plan.”
“This man isn’t fit for purpose, he doesn’t understand his role,” Mark claimed.
A UNC team will be attending the symposium launch, opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Mark and MPs Rushton Paray and Dinesh Rambally.
Mark said the symposium was “a brazen attempt and cop-out by the Government to buy time so Prime Minister Keith Rowley “can provide an excuse for his ineptitude on crime.”
Mark asked, “How will a symposium equip T&T with more body cameras when we hear police switching theirs off —what’s the Police Commissioner doing about that?” he asked.
He also asked how Rowley could want to solve crime following a Special Branch report alleging a Senator’s involvement with gangsters yet the person was promoted.
Mark said “No symposium can save him (Rowley), he must call elections—let the people decide. If this Government remains in office ‘til August 2025 every community will have to find money to hire security to protect themselves.”
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