Guest feature: State of Emergency is working

The State of Emergency as now gone for ten days during which we have not had one gang linked murder. The crime rate has also subsided as gleaned from the newspapers where there has been a visual decrease in the amount of crime being reported. 

The deaths by road accidents also appear to have witnessed a halt. This is perhaps due to the fact that fewer bars are opened late at night and that people have to go home earlier. It could also be due to the fact that the SoE has brought about a level of overall discipline that was missing in the society. If this is so then we are seeing the value of applying the law without fear, favour and affection.

It will be interesting to know also to what extent the Accident and Emergency Departments have been receiving fewer patients due to violence and road accidents. There are people who are arguing that the SoE was not necessary and that the existing laws could have been used. Let us answer this accusation.

Firstly, the Police Service does not have the amount of Officers required to attack with full force this problem of gangs and homicides. 

We would have seen according to figures published by the Police on the day the Police threatened to strike that 1411 Officers were rostered on the daylight shift. Of this number 271 were absent. Assuming the same numbers are rostered daily, then only 1140 Officers are available on any shift. You cannot arrest the crime situation with a depleted Police Service. 

The State of Emergency allowed the Government to make available 5000 soldiers and the intelligence of the Defence Force to join the battle. Further, with powers of search and arrest, and the relaxation of the need to get warrants, the task of making a tough assault on the gangsters and criminals was made easier. 

That in ten days over 300 alleged gang members and leaders have been arrested is a major achievement given that it comes just after the $22 million drug bust and eleven murders in a matter of four days. This could not have been done without a State of Emergency

Secondly, the SoE and the determination of the Prime Minister to deal surgically with this matter of crime demonstrated to the criminals that it was not business as usual. It is for this reason that they hid in the Hyatt and at Woodbrook Place as well as in a hotel in Tobago. 

Without a SoE the criminals were laughing their way to the bank and as well, were, according to many rumours, being assisted by elements in the Protective Services. The SoE also pushed back these elements. 

Further, one still has to analyse the series of fires that were being lit mainly in Opposition areas where at least two Opposition MP”s found themselves most present and the threats to public safety and national security. I am reliably told that another MP who lost his seat was planning the same in Central Trinidad.

Let us ask whether these fires and protests were meant to trigger an “Arab Spring” in Trinidad. Let us also note that these protests were coming in the wake of the protests in London. 

Let us look at the areas: Point Fortin, St James, Laventille, Tamana, Tarrodale Heights, and Enterprise. It will be a sad day if the Opposition MP’s were to have either overtly or covertly supported action that would have prompted a chaotic situation. 

What we do know is that the MP for Point Fortin said she was sympathetic to the peoples’ protests and Mrs Marlene MC Donald was most present in St James where there were protests over the closure of the youth facility.

Thirdly, the SoE was signed by the President of Trinidad and Tobago who had to be satisfied that there was a clear threat to public safety. The President could have refused to sign. He did not refuse. Further, he agreed to amend the fines for breaking the curfew hours from $500 t0 $3000 and six months. This demonstrates further support for the action taken.

Fourthly, the Ken Gordon Committee had recommended that a SoE be used in order to arrest the crime situation. Let us not forget what happened in this country in 1990. It appears that there was some knowledge that something untoward was being planned. The Government did not act on it and this country suffered immensely. 

It is now better to err on the side of caution. For those who are claiming that this action was meant to halt trade union activity, this is a non-starter from the beginning. 

The Government continued to negotiate in good faith and never used the law to suppress union activity, even during the marches by the PSA and others. No one has been charged for any act relating to trade union activities. Instead the government used an information campaign to let the people judge the situation. 

So for those who claim that this government is intent upon breeding a “totalitarian state” you ought to disabuse your minds of such thoughts of grandeur.

Indeed if this were a totalitarian state in the making, a number of talk show hosts would have already been detained especially on radio stations bitterly opposed to the PP Government and who have been showing their biases. 

It is interesting that amongst these talk show hosts are some who have come from other Caribbean islands and work here as a result of having skill certificates. This govt has not locked up any talk show hosts. The PM has even forgiven the 14 year old who was to say the least disrespectful and obnoxious to the Prime Minister and further abused the use of the internet. In the UK people have been jailed over the last few weeks for internet abuse.

In a totalitarian state this would not have been allowed. Yet it is an Opposition MP who is loud in condemnation of the AG for saying that the law must be respected by big and small, child and adult. 

It was the PNM who called States of Emergency to deal with unions, CLR James and Occah Seapaul. Let the records speak for themselves. It is because of the use of kids' gloves towards criminals by the PNM that we have the mayhem which the PP govt now has to deal with.

The government has stated over and over that the reason for this SoE has to do with the threat to public safety and the criminal gangs. It has to do with the proliferation of deadly guns that could be used for more than just criminal activities. 

This is a fully functional democracy, in which the government subscribes to law and order, practices respect for the rights of citizens, is part of the United Nations and therefore subscribes to the principles of the UN, is part of the Commonwealth and also subscribes to the Commonwealth values, is a member of the OAS and subscribes to the Inter American Democratic Charter, and above all is bound by conventions of the ILO. 

There is nothing sinister in the way this government has dealt with trade unions in the past, nor shall its commitments and philosophy enshrined in the process of collective bargaining be undermined in the present and in the future.

There are those who argue that the SoE was not necessary because there is legislation available to deal with criminals. There has always been legislation. This government with the help of the Opposition has been able to put in place within fifteen months of coming into Office legislation which was hitherto only spoken of. This legislation is also being used especially the Anti Gang Bill. 

However, the ability to rein in the criminals and gang members required extra action and human resources. It required a contraction in time in terms of sustained activity by the Protective Services if the job that had to be done could be done in the shortest possible time. The SoE provided for this contraction in time.

Let us also be fair to the Protective Services. They have done their jobs professionally and from public reports have been conscious of the rights of persons being dealt with. The Government has established a Tribunal to hear cases of abuse from persons detained. How could they have moved to set up this institution so quickly if they had ulterior motive. 

 Persons arrested as well as persons who feel that they have been abused by the Police can appeal to the Police Complaints Authority. None of these institutions have been shut down. The Judiciary remains independent of the Executive.

The truth is that under a SoE certain freedoms are curtailed. However we must ask and answer courageously whether we want a safe TT or do we wish to live with the mayhem that preceded the SoE. How many of our decent hard working citizens have been robbed, maimed, murdered in cold blood, kidnapped, raped, their bodies dismembered due to criminal action? I am sure that the majority of law abiding citizens want an end to this mayhem and that is why they are prepared to make the sacrifice. 

Yes, as the government has admitted there has been an impact upon the economy and business. However, what will have been the impact if this matter is not dealt with NOW? This country is seeking investments. Investors go where they feel personally safe, where there is political and economic stability. All of this was threatened by the level of crime being experienced.

The other point of opposition to the SoE is the cry that only persons of African descent are being targeted. Crime does not have a face! The Government cannot pick and choose. We must be fair. The authorities have locked up people of both Indian and African descent though admittedly more of African descent have been arrested. 

However if we unemotionally look at the statistics of those murdered by gang violence it will be seen that the majority are of African descent and that these also occurred in areas where the predominant population is of African descent. 

It is unfair to make this into a racial affair because it is not. I have read where an Indian gang leader was also arrested as head of the Devanand gang. The Police went into Bangladesh which is mainly Indian dominated and arrested people of Indian descent. Members of the UNC had fought on behalf of the residents of Bangladesh. However, the law is the law and the Government does not discriminate. 

This is one of the first times that I have witnessed in TT where across the political and racial divide there has been unanimous support for the action of the Government. Let us remember that this PP Govt was voted into Office and given a mandate to rid the country of crime and make the place safer. They must carry out the mandate for we are going to judge them in the next election on this.

With respect to the SoE and its impact on the business the Govt has already indicated that it is prepared to review the curfew hours given economic dislocation and based on the advice it gets from the law enforcement authorities. 

This is a Government which is responsive to the sacrifices being made but it is a govt that also has to weigh carefully its options so as not to affect the Police and Army from completing the job given to them. Now that the criminals are on the run they should be kept on the run.

For once the people are united behind the Prime Minister and the Government. The Government has said through the lips of the PM that they have a plan to rehabilitate the areas where the criminals lived. This plan should also include training people to be real community leaders and working with them in the task of transformation.

The Government must not be deterred in their quest to make this country safe.

Chandra Harnanan | St John’s Road via Cipero Road, San Fernando