With still no word from the government on the much-talked about anti-crime talks, the Opposition United National Congress has decided that it will start its own anti-crime talks with the public.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in a GML interview, said the state of the talks “is the same as the Roadmap to Recovery, crime symposium, agriculture symposium and numerous ‘investigative committee’ propaganda gimmicks”.
“By now, everyone knows the Government was clearly on another PR gimmick with the talks and Rowley had no intention of accepting help from any stakeholder. His insistence on keeping Hinds as National Security Minister shows that he’s unconcerned about public safety and security. Added to that now, we have the very incompetent Marvin Gonzales as acting AG. It’s irresponsible to appoint him to act in such an important position,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar said, “I’m always committed to working with anyone to improve security. Since the start of the year we’ve been having private anti-crime consultations with various groups. We’ll continue doing so but we’ll also begin anti-crime consultations with the public where citizens can engage.”
She said they will use the consultations to collect information and data, “to share with the Government whenever the Prime Minister decides to attend the anti-crime talks with stakeholders”.
“We’ll also be using the consultations to explain our plans to the public, especially to bring clarity to our proposed stand your ground laws and to explain why citizens should be given legal firearms,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar said the consultations will also offer some training on anti-crime measures which citizens can apply to protect themselves and their communities. “We’re also working to have communities gated within UNC-held corporation areas and we’ve received a number of requests for consultations with the public.”
The National Transformation Alliance, led by Gary Griffith, will be part of the consultations.