Trinidad: Government to seek state of emergency extension

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government is to seek an extension of the state of emergency that was imposed on the island over a week ago, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has said.



Speaking at a function in south Trinidad on Monday, Persad Bissessar said that her five-member coalition People’s Partnership government will be tabling a motion in Parliament on Friday to seek the extension of the state of emergency and the curfew that has so far been used to detain more than 800 people including nearly 300 gang members and leaders.



Persad Bissessar said that the duration of the extension of the state of emergency, which the administration imposed as a means of dealing with the rising crime situation in the twin island republic would be decided upon by legislators, who will also decide on whether to reduce the eight hour curfew.



Earlier, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan likened the situation to that of Jamaica where the arrest and extradition of reputed gang leader Christopher “Dudus” Coke had resulted in a significant decline in criminal activity on that Caribbean island.



Coke was extradition to the United States in June last year following an exercise involving the security forces and men loyal to the reputed drug lord, resulting in the death of a number of people.



“But just by way of example, you will recall in Jamaica, the Dudus Coke incident, we are advised that since the extradition of Mr. Coke, violent crime and in particular murders in Jamaica have fallen by almost 40 per cent,” Ramlogan said.



“That is the information that has been provided, but it just goes to show one gang leader could significantly impact and contribute to the overall crime and murder statistics in an entire country and that is what we have been saying in terms of the breakthrough that we have been having,” Ramlogan told reporters at the daily news briefing on the work of the security forces during the state of emergency.



Two of the men charged under the anti-gang legislation were denied bail when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers Caesar, on Monday.



The men, who were arrested at a local hotel over the last weekend, were charged under the anti-gang legislation that provides for no bail for up to 120 days for people presumed to be members of a criminal gang.



On Monday, former junior national security minister Shubas Panday, described as a “double whammy” the use of the anti-gang legislation and the state of emergency to arrest people allegedly involved in criminal activities.



Panday, the former leader of the Government Business in the Senate, who piloted the legislation, said it was necessary now for the anti-gang bill to be amended.



Panday, the younger brother of the former prime minister Basdeo Panday, told radio listeners “you can’t draft legislation and see everything …you have experts…look at the bail act see how many times it has been amended.



“As a matter of fact that is the reason why you can amend bills in the event that you have to change it,” he said, adding “when you sit on that side (government) of the fence you have all those experts talking to you…and you hardly look at the other side.”



Roman Catholic priest Father Clyde Harvey is also calling on the government to immediately publish the names of people detained during the current state of emergency.



"We need a full list of detainees and their ages and why they were detained,” he said, adding that a number of families have reported either their sons or daughters as missing.



"They do not know whether they have been detained or dead in a ravine," he said, calling on radio or television stations to operate a hotline to receive the names of missing persons.



Harvey said he is concerned whether young teenagers are being detained alongside hardened criminals.



"This is not a political State of Emergency where most of the detainees can read books or engage in stimulating conversations."



Meanwhile, the security forces Monday continued their demolition of several scrap iron yards on the outskirts of the capital confiscating tons of scrap iron after the authorities said that they had received information that some of the materials have been used to manufacture home-made firearms.



Ramlogan said that dealers who were lawfully authorised to operate and sell scrap iron will be compensated.



But even as the Attorney General and the Minister of National Security retired Brigadier John Sandy were insisting that the exercises carried out by the security forces during the state of emergency had been a tremendous success, one of the partners in the government – the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) – was questioning the results.



MSJ, whose members include the Labour Minister Errol Mc Leod, said that while it supports the seizure of illegal firearms from the streets during the state of emergency “to date this has not been evident” adding “citizens also need to see that the emergency yields results in terms of the arrest and conviction of key players”.



The MSJ said that among other issues include the “the length of time for which the curfew in limited areas would be maintained” noting that it is concerned “about the impact that this is having on many thousands of decent law abiding workers who are losing pay”.