Senior Reporter
akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
The Opposition United National Congress (UNC) has no confidence in the newly unveiled crime-fighting initiatives for Tobago. Despite the Prime Minister and National Security Minister outlining plans to strengthen the human resource and technological capacities of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) in Tobago, opposition MPs remained unimpressed.
Barataria/San Juan MP and shadow minister of national security Saddam Hosein told Guardian Media that after yesterday’s media briefing, he concluded that there really is no plan for Tobago.
Hosein took issue with Dr Keith Rowley’s assertion that there may be too many Tobagonian police officers working in Tobago, and therefore officers from Trinidad may be needed to disrupt that familiarity.
Hosein posited, “Recently in the Parliament, we would have passed the polygraph testing bill; the Prime Minister, with great fanfare, said that will assist in weeding out corruption and illegal activities within the TTPS, so with respect to that issue with intermingling with Trinidad police officers, we ought not to make a distinction between Trinidad police officers and Tobago police officers. At the end of the day, it is one police service.”
He added that while there have been studies on what affects the performance of police officers, residency was never an issue.
“What I can tell you is that you have to give police officers better wages and treat them equally in terms of the regulars and the SRPs to motivate the TTPS,” Hosein said.
The opposition MP said he would also not be holding his breath to see if the Government does deliver more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. “For about nine years now, we have been promised CCTV cameras, and they cannot do it. And they will not be able to do it within the last year; they are holding on with their fingernails to Government,” Hosein postulated.
Hosein said he hoped the Prime Minister would have used yesterday’s platform to answer allegations made against him that he used his influence as the head of the Government to fast-track a firearm user’s licence (FUL) for businessman and friend Allan Warner.
Hosein said, if true, he had hoped Dr Keith Rowley would use that same influence to help Tobago business owners to protect themselves.
Meanwhile, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh took issue with the Prime Minister’s call for Tobagonians to bring more information to the police.
“This broad phrase of see something, say something, people are very apprehensive and afraid to come forward based on the shortcomings of the witness protection programme,” he said.
Indarsingh, who has been highly critical of Dr Rowley’s response to crime in Tobago, added, “We have heard about boots on the ground and cameras and the installation of cameras, and when you do an audit, sometimes half of the cameras are not working.”
The Opposition Leader could not be reached for comment.