Barataria San Juan MP Saddam Hosein believes Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, as the head of National Security Council, should have spoken to the population by now as the country’s murder count approaches 600, the highest in its history. He also gave him and acting Commission of Police Mc Donald Jacob a “B-S” rating on handling crime.
“The buck stops with the Prime Minister when it comes to keeping our citizens safe,” Hosein said at an Opposition press conference at the Office of the Opposition in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
Hosein said under the People’s National Movement-led Government’s tenure (the last seven years) 3,574 people were murdered and to date they have no action plan moving forward.
He said a day of prayer, which Dr Rowley hosted last Sunday at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, without strategy is useless.
“God helps those who helps themselves,” he said.
Hosein said this country now records approximately two to three murders daily and had 10 to 12 murders over the weekend, while Government statistics show just how many gang members, gangs and illegal guns are on the street.
This information, he said, the Government can use to curb crime.
“There are over 1,462 gang members in Trinidad and Tobago, operating 134 gangs with 12,000 illegal firearms on the street...You just provide these statistics in a vacuum and you don’t tell us what the action plan is,” he said.
Hosein asked if the Government will implement a firearm amnesty to get illegal guns off the street, as was done in other jurisdictions. He said firearms and detection are two of the biggest issues facing this country. He noted that Stuart Young, when he was Minister of National Security, announced that there were 190 illegal entry points in T&T.
He also questioned why the Dr Rowley continued to protect Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, saying he does not believe Hinds is fit for the job.
“He has proven to be one of the most incompetent ministers, Minister Hinds has sat in the Parliament probably since I was in primary school and I cannot even identify a single achievement of this man,” Hosein said.
Hosein said Dr Rowley should put as much effort into fighting crime as he has done to lay the TTPS FUL Audit Report in parliament.
“Why don’t you have the same fight to fight the criminals in court, why don’t you have the same amount of enthusiasm to fight the criminals on the street through the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service,” he said.
He also did not agree with acting Commissioner of Mc Donald Jacob giving himself a B-plus for performance this year. He gave Jacob and others responsible for fighting crime a different grade.
“Today, I want to give them a B-S in crime fighting,” he said.
Hosein added that there is no leadership because Dr Rowley is absent and urged citizens to exercise extreme caution this Christmas season because they are on their own.
“Now there is a time of a bit more economic activity,... the criminals are lurking and the government has failed to keep us safe,” he said.
Chief Whip David Lee meanwhile sent condolences to Kristiana Ramdial, the mother of three-year-old Allon Ramdial who drowned in the Ortoire River last week. He also asked the public not to judge her, as we don’t know the life she lived.
“Let us not judge her, let us have our hearts, our warmth or love or caring for her.”