Trinidad and Tobago (TNT) is definitely a state that is always in a state. The latest state is one of emergency, which was initially stated to be “limited”, but a correction was made that stated that the status is as was stated in the proclamation but the curfews were limited to several crime “hot spots” or states within the state.
A state of public emergency exists in Trinidad and Tobago. The Trinidad Prime Minister adamantly declared when she addressed the state: “The nation will not be held to ransom by marauding gangs of thugs bent on creating havoc on our society.”
Of course, being Trinidad, the first comment that came out was: “Who she talking about?”
One could say that the comment reflects the cynicism of Trinidadians who will now once again hold “curfew” parties as they did during the Muslimeen mess of 1990.
While the army was shelling the national television station, and the Prime Minister and other representatives of the people were held at gunpoint in Parliament, many people found a way around the “dusk-to-dawn” curfews that were in effect. At the appointed hour, these people left the streets and spent the night in selected locations where they “feted” or partied until the next morning when the curfew was lifted.
A joke that came out of the previous state of emergency period is instructive. The scene is an area called the “Croisee” (pronounced “Qwayzay”) on the Eastern Main Road, which links Port-of-Spain to the heavily populated northern towns and cities.
With ten minutes to go before the curfew took effect, a few people were just sitting doing what Trinis do best regardless of the state of the country. They were “liming”, taking a last breath of freedom before being confined to their homes.
At the same time the police had already started coming out with their heavy artillery and were preparing to chase everyone off the streets. From the far west they all heard the whine of a powerful vehicle coming at high speed towards them.
As the car came close, the police opened fire and a barrage of bullets hit the car from all angles. Tyres burst, the windshield shattered and the car skidded off the street, hit a concrete barrier, then a lamp-post and the smoking wreck ended up right in front the police station.
The people, initially scared, were now angry.
“It’s not curfew time yet. You had no right to shoot the man,” they protested.
A policeman, searching the wreckage, took out a driver’s permit and showed it to the crowd: “The man living quite in Arima. He wouldn’t have reached.”It is this sense of discomfort that affects even those who most support the need for the state of emergency. As one commentator said, Trinidad is supposed to be a democracy but it is really an ad-hocracy. The police commissioner and assistant commissioner were out of the country when the prime minister declared her intentions. The functionary who signed the Curfew Order as “acting commissioner” was not duly appointed at the time when he did it, so the order was illegal. Then he was hastily appointed.
People were stranded awaiting transport which never showed up possibly because of what would happen if they were caught on the roads after the curfew took effect.
Most people are willing to give the government a chance since the state of emergency amounts to a temporary stay of executions and the murder rate might come back to a healthier figure, one-a-day, like the vitamin brand.
The problem, though, is the police.
A man who had painted a primary school all day and took a rest on a bench before leaving for his home claimed that at 8:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the curfew went into effect, a policeman “flick out he steel baton and start to beat me all over my body. He said: ‘We in charge now.’” Essentially, there are marauding gangs of thugs in TNT, but stopping them is not the problem. The question is, how do you identify which is which?Tony Deyal was last seen explaining that the TNT Prime Minister did not flee to the Philippines and declare the state of emergency from there. Her home is in a rural area of Trinidad named “Phillipine”, where the curfew is not in effect.
