Parliament to debate State of Emergency next Friday

The debate will be held in the Red House

The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet next Friday to discuss the State of Emergency, which has been declared for 15 days.

National Security Minister John Sandy will lay the presidential statement as a House paper. The sitting begins at 10 in the morning during which MPs will debate the issue.

On Wednesday President Max Richards sent a statement to House Speaker Wade Mark in which he stated that the "present unprecedented escalation in murders and other serious acts of violence and lawlessness warrants the adoption of more decisive and stronger action to ensure the safety of the public."

It added: "There is an urgent need to address this threat to public safety and the upsurge in violent crime in the shortest possible time."

The President's statement pointed out that the majority of these murders were occurring in specified geographical areas across the country, often committed by members of criminal gangs or persons involved in the drug and arms trade.

The statement said: "Our criminal intelligence gathered by national security agencies shows that the escalation in violent criminal activity is linked to recent success of the police in certain drug trafficking and interdiction exercises which led to the seizure of large quantities of drugs with a street value of several millions of dollars. Drugs with a street value in excess of $20 million were seized in just one raid on 16 August 2011."

It added: "There is a real risk of reprisal and retaliation by gangs that will compromise and can continue to compromise and endanger public safety, law and order. Innocent citizens going about their daily business have lost their lives as a result of the actions of these gangs, merely being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The President said he was satisfied that public safety was endangered to an extent that warrants the declaration of a state of public emergency.