Illegal quarrying in east Trinidad has grown from a festering sore into a cancerous mass, suffocating legitimate businessmen, who in many instances, are being forced to pay hefty protection tax. In other cases, also revealed by head of Eastern Division, Senior Supt Margaret Sampson-Browne, legal businessmen were also pressured into "delivering" truckloads of gravel to illegal quarries, in exchange for the "safeguard" of their vehicles. Many of the illegal quarries, the senior cop added, operated under a host of "ghost companies" to elude detection. Declaring that she was "hell-bent" on shutting down illegal quarries which had "taken over" the rural eastern town, Sampson-Browne has also declared "war" on errant police officers who may be involved in illegal quarrying.
In an interview at Sangre Grande Police Station, Sampson-Browne said a special squad of Eastern Division police, working closely with the Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, had implemented measures to "drastically reduce" illegal quarrying by the end of the year. "We are relentlessly collecting data, and by the end of the year there will be a significant decrease in illegal quarrying in Eastern Division, if not before," Sampson-Browne said. Among the team of officers were Insps Phillip, Ramai, Joseph, Roy and Sgt Beverly Paul. Sampson-Browne, who assumed office last February, said she had "inherited" the problem of illegal quarrying. "Illegal quarrying is a thorn in our sides at Eastern Division. There are people doing legal quarrying, and very next to that is illegal quarrying." She said because of the sensitivity of information police were gathering, there had been hasty attempts to "cover up" by those involved.
"It may appear there has been an increase in illegal quarrying. "We are getting a wider perspective how illegal quarries operate: the times they are operating, the vehicles they use and the companies they allegedly operate under," Sampson-Browne said. Part of the strategy of law enforcement officers, the senior cop said, depended heavily on surveillance methods and information-gathering, which would then lead to arrests. "We have the names of people who are said to be extorting money from legal businessmen," Sampson-Browne said. Among the information gathered, she added, were names of police officers reportedly linked to illegal quarrying. "I am not going to hold a candle for anybody. There are names of police officers we are aware of and we are addressing that situation," Sampson-Browne assured. She declined to answer if any of the implicated officers were assigned to Eastern Division.
Vowing to be "relentless" in weeding out rogue cops," Sampson-Browne said the landscape had been "hideously scared" by the daily ripping away of large chunks of earth. "I hate a dishonest person. I more so hate a dishonest police officer, because they are not trained to protect and serve persons who are doing wrong things, and illegal quarrying is one of them. "When you take a view of Valencia, there are huge lakes of water where the earth once was, and that has resulted in severe flooding," Sampson-Browne said. To effectively eradicate the scourge of illegal quarrying, however, Sampson-Browne called on the community to work hand-in-hand with the police. "We cannot bring a closure to illegal quarrying. It has to be an exchange of strength.
"It has to be a show of force by the police and supportive strength by the community," Sampson-Browne said. Alleviating fears that information passed on to the police would be treated in strict confidence, Sampson-Browne said her officers were willing to "march into hell for a heavenly cause. "We have been hearing of people giving information, and that information comes back to them by the same persons who they give information about. "But we are going to see tangible responses because we are working on the ground and under the ground to bring some measure of relief, because everybody is supposed to exist in an environment that is safe, whether real or perceived."