With violence surging above 2023’s crime statistics, The People’s Roundtable (TPR) will launch its final report of its Civil Society Crime Summit on Saturday with urgent recommendations to curb crime.
Not only will TPR shed light on the root causes of crime, but it intends to lay out its plans to compel State institutions to adopt its proposals.
In a media conference at the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Paramount Building in San Fernando yesterday, TPR convenor David Abdulah announced a virtual presentation of the report. The TPR distributed almost 500 invitation letters to those who participated in the crime summit and those who were invited but were absent.
On January 31, TPR hosted its crime summit, which included discussions, presentations and working groups on topics such as gender-based violence, education, community development, white-collar crime and corruption, business and the economy. Abdulah said the report would break down the recommendations into “immediate” and “medium term”.
“The last section of the report, which we will present on Saturday, will be the next steps because we do not intend to be a talk shop where we simply gather people and come up with a report. There have been tons of reports over the years, so this is not just another report. We will announce concrete actions on Saturday to ensure that what we have come up with is acted upon,” Abdulah said.
He said T&T’s crime situation had become significantly worse since the summit, with over 420 homicides, which was comparatively more than in 2023. He said this was despite Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher announcing the Police Service had a target for homicide reduction. He said that brutal murders, assaults on women, home invasions and extortion continued.
“We felt that now is an appropriate moment at which we should present our findings of the Civil Society Crime Summit,” he said.
Regarding Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s “Don’t blame him” response to crime, Abdulah said he was the National Security Council chair and leader responsible for bringing legislation to Parliament and implementing policies to deal with crime and violence. He said pumping more resources into national security did not mean more safety, so there must be an interrogation of the root of crime and violence to address it.
If nothing is done, Abdulah said, more businesses would close, people would migrate, and there would be a lack of investments, resulting in fewer jobs.
Joint Trade Union Movement General Secretary Ozzi Warwick said after Rowley told the country not to blame him, he further stated that citizens must hold the criminals accountable. Warwick said this was a major shift in what democracy was.
“As citizens, we must hold the Government who we left accountable for the security of life and property. We must hold the Government accountable for the security of our livelihood, and we must certainly hold the Government responsible for and accountable for security and a better quality of life for all the citizens,” Warwick said.