PORT-OF-SPAIN – The Trinidad and Tobago government today upgraded its limited state of emergency to a full scale one even as opposition legislators called on the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration to reconvene Parliament to debate the issue.
National Security Minister retired Brigadier John Sandy told a news conference that “a state of emergency exists in Trinidad and Tobago”.
“The criminal element, who would want to migrate to other areas in the country, let it be known that a state of emergency exists in the entire country and the powers given to the police and the military exist in all areas of Trinidad and Tobago.
“I wish to thank the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago for understanding what we are trying to do and for supporting us in this venture. In most instances we have had positive feedback and we ask our citizens to continue in this vein and assist us in making Trinidad and Tobago a better place in which to live,” he added.
On Sunday, Persad-Bissessar said that the limited state of emergency would be for “hot spots” across the country.
“The situation cannot continue like this without a response commensurate with the wanton acts of violence and lawlessness; it must be a response as well that will halt the current spike in gang activity and crime in general in the shortest possible time.
“After much deliberation with the National Security Council and members of the Cabinet, it has been agreed that the government consider the imposition of a limited state of emergency in hot spots across the country,” she said.
Deputy Police Commissioner Stephen Williams told a news conference that six firearms and 825 rounds of ammunition had been seized during the first night of the curfew, and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan urged citizens to use the various police and other law enforcement telephone numbers to report criminal activities.
“I would want to salute those persons who have come forward with intelligence that has assisted in the operations thus far.
“This is your time Trinidad and Tobago, for all those persons who whined, bitterly complained and questioned what they were doing given the fact that you know what was going on in your backyard, in your own village and in your own community, I want to thank all those who stood up….,” he added.
On Monday, the government announced an eight-hour curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. and former prime minister Basdeo Panday today questioned the motive behind the state of emergency saying that government needed to inform citizens why their freedoms have been curtailed.
Panday, who served as prime minister from 1995-2011, described the state of emergency as a ‘knee jerk” reaction to the crime situation here that has so far resulted in the murder of 280 people, including 11 over a 48 hour period last weekend.
“Why have they (government) called it? What it is they want to do that they can’t do outside of a state of emergency?
“A state of emergency is a very serious thing. If the state of emergency fails then the criminals have won and you have played your trumps. And not only that the international repercussions, people who wish to come here will not, people who wish to invest will not.
“I believe the state of emergency was a knee jerk reaction. The prime minister has said that there had to be a response to the killings over the weekend. So this is the response which was not very well thought out,” said Panday.
He said that the coalition government had been “releasing information about the state of emergency in glimpses as if they were making it up as they go along. I wish them luck, I merely ask what it is they are going to do,” he said.
But Communications Minister Suruj Rambachan told reporters that the state of emergency was being considered by the government for a long time and that the idea was not pulled from a hat.
“People are in support of the action of the government. People are fed up living under the siege and this government is determined to free people from this siege and this is why this action is required,” he said, adding “now that it has come it has come in response to the people”. (CMC)
