Senior Political Reporter
The Opposition United National Congress will start its own anti-crime talks with the public, as a proposed discussion with the Government is yet to get off the ground.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar confirmed the move yesterday, following questions by Guardian Media on the future of the Government-Opposition talks. This as the country’s murder count stood at 508.
At the UNC’s Pavement Report in Penal on Thursday, UNC deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal slammed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s “jetting off” to Saudi Arabia and other places for almost a month, leaving the talks in abeyance.
Persad-Bissessar had said she made futile calls for such talks in April, but the Government only agreed after President Christine Kangaloo in September urged collaborative efforts in the anti-crime fight.
Persad-Bissessar confirmed her willingness to work with the Government. Rowley began correspondence with her, but it halted when she said he had not replied to her October 14 letter seeking clarification on several points. Citing protocol on this, Persad-Bissessar refused to meet the November 9 deadline set by Attorney General Reginald Armour to name her team for the talks.
Armour, who is the convenor, is out of the country like the Prime Minister and Ministers Stuart Young and Fitzgerald Hinds, who are among the Government’s team for the talks.
Acting Attorney General Marvin Gonzales was asked yesterday if the deadline would be extended and for response to the Opposition’s accusation against Rowley of “jetting off”.
Gonzales said, “I will allow the substantive Attorney General and Prime Minister to respond to the Opposition on this matter.”
However, Persad-Bissessar said the state of the talks “is the same as the Roadmap to Recovery, crime symposium, agriculture symposium and numerous ‘investigative committee’ propaganda gimmicks”.
“By now, everyone knows the Government was clearly on another PR gimmick with the talks and Rowley had no intention of accepting help from any stakeholder. His insistence on keeping Hinds as National Security Minister shows that he’s unconcerned about public safety and security. Added to that now, we have the very incompetent Marvin Gonzales as acting AG. It’s irresponsible to appoint him to act in such an important position,” she added.
On whether the talks are off, Persad-Bissessar said, “I’m always committed to working with anyone to improve security. Since the start of the year we’ve been having private anti-crime consultations with various groups. We’ll continue doing so but we’ll also begin anti-crime consultations with the public where citizens can engage.”
The Opposition plans to use the consultations to collect information and data, “to share with the Government whenever the Prime Minister decides to attend the anti-crime talks with stakeholders”.
“We’ll also be using the consultations to explain our plans to the public, especially to bring clarity to our proposed stand your ground laws and to explain why citizens should be given legal firearms,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar said the consultations will also offer some training on anti-crime measures which citizens can apply to protect themselves and their communities. “We’re also working to have communities gated within UNC-held corporation areas and we’ve received a number of requests for consultations with the public.”
The National Transformation Alliance, led by Gary Griffith, will be part of the consultations.
The consultations with the public will be similar to the UNC’s budget consultations but will be done in such a way that people will feel comfortable giving their views and they will not be broadcast publicly.