Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is not yielding to calls to replace National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, after he presided over the country’s highest ever murder rate in a calendar year.
Delivering the feature address at the People’s National Movement’s (PNM’s) 50th Convention at the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday evening, Dr Rowley acknowledged that the country’s record murder count this year was a cause for concern for his Government and citizens but claimed that a Cabinet reshuffle was not the solution.
“I have seen it said that this can be rectified by simply rotating ministers or politicising the crime-fighting efforts,” he said.
“All this will do, as it has been doing, is to embolden the criminals who believe that the rest of the country does not have what it takes to bring the lawlessness under control,” he added.
Despite his statement on the issue, Dr Rowley did admit that new crime-fighting policies and initiatives were needed to address the perennial issue.
“The police and other security agencies are permanently engaged in crime detection and suppression but clearly the current systems and methods are not sufficiently robust to bring the level of safety and security that the population demands and deserves,” Dr Rowley said.
Stating that his government was not prepared to concede the fight against criminal elements, Dr Rowley said that he and his Cabinet would continue to provide resources to law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary.
He also promised to continue to improve the education system and provide positive activities for vulnerable young people.
“We will continue to grow the economy so that job opportunities will continue to become available and we will encourage and support families to steer their siblings and progeny away from a life of crime and away from the clutches of the recruiters to a life of crime,” he said.
Dr Rowley spent the majority of his little over an hour-long speech focusing on his government’s numerous “achievements” in their two terms of office, which began in 2015.
He made special emphasis on the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its fiscal policies, and its stance on increasing the range and reach of social programmes despite economic challenges.
He also claimed that his government’s efforts to bring a final resolution to the billion-dollar bailout of CL Financial and its subsidiaries were its biggest achievement in office.
Dr Rowley also did not steer clear of his usual sharp critique of the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), who he accused of repeatedly attempting to derail and sabotage his government’s initiatives.
“We know that they have an overflowing reservoir of negative vibes to draw from. There is also their copious streams of disrespect, vulgarity, insults, and invectives but where are their useful alternatives?” Dr Rowley said.
In his wide-ranging speech, Dr Rowley also sought to address salary negotiation with public servants, which is currently before the Industrial Court.
While Dr Rowley admitted that the government’s four per cent offer for 2014 to 2019 was not received with enthusiasm by trade union leaders, he expressed hope that the matter would be quickly resolved so that thousands of public servants can receive the updated benefits.
“I am personally grateful that more and more members of the government employee groups are seeing it possible to accept the offer on the table as the best for the moment, in the hope that the next period could be negotiated quickly and if the national fortunes continue to improve then a better offer may be on the horizon to get us all back to the hopeful end of a relatively difficult period,” Dr Rowley said.