The Min­istry of Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment has re­ject­ed claims by Diego Mar­tin Cen­tral MP Symon de No­bri­ga that the Gov­ern­ment’s de­ci­sion to de­vel­op a na­tion­al pol­i­cy on gat­ed com­mu­ni­ties is a “po­lit­i­cal gim­mick.”

Min­is­ter of Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Khadi­jah Ameen de­scribed de No­bri­ga’s state­ment as “an in­sult to cit­i­zens who are des­per­ate­ly call­ing for safer com­mu­ni­ties.”

“For years un­der the PNM, crime spi­ralled out of con­trol. Mur­ders, home in­va­sions, prae­di­al lar­ce­ny, car theft, all reached un­prece­dent­ed lev­els, while com­mu­ni­ties were left aban­doned. Cit­i­zens begged for so­lu­tions, but the PNM had none. They ig­nored res­i­dents, starved lo­cal gov­ern­ment of re­sources, and of­fered ex­cus­es in­stead of pro­tec­tion,” Ameen said.

She said the new pol­i­cy would pro­vide a clear frame­work for com­mu­ni­ties that want to se­cure their neigh­bour­hoods.

“Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Cor­po­ra­tions are on the front­lines. Every day, coun­cil­lors hear from fam­i­lies who want their neigh­bour­hoods to be safer. Some com­mu­ni­ties, from Debe to Val­sayn to rur­al vil­lages, have al­ready sought to gate their ar­eas. But un­til now, there was no uni­form frame­work. This pol­i­cy is about giv­ing cit­i­zens and cor­po­ra­tions the le­gal clar­i­ty and sup­port they need to feel se­cure,” she ex­plained.

Ameen al­so dis­missed the Op­po­si­tion’s claim that the pol­i­cy would on­ly ben­e­fit the wealthy.

“Noth­ing could be fur­ther from the truth. Ap­pli­ca­tions have come from farm­ers, work­ing-class fam­i­lies, and sub­ur­ban res­i­dents alike. Crime does not dis­crim­i­nate by class or race, and nei­ther will this pol­i­cy. Safe­ty is not a priv­i­lege for the rich; it is a right for every cit­i­zen,” she said.

She stressed that the ini­tia­tive is be­ing de­vel­oped with tech­ni­cal guid­ance from the At­tor­ney Gen­er­al’s Of­fice, the Min­istry of Home­land Se­cu­ri­ty, the TTPS, and oth­er min­istries.

“This is a co­or­di­nat­ed and ex­pert-dri­ven ap­proach, not a gim­mick. While the PNM con­tin­ues to talk and crit­i­cise, this Gov­ern­ment is de­liv­er­ing prac­ti­cal so­lu­tions. This is not pan­ic. This is pol­i­cy. Not gim­micks, but gov­er­nance. Not fear, but em­pow­er­ment,” Ameen said.