Stop the emergency, return country to normalcy: Rowley

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley wants the government to end the State of Emergency and return the country to what he calls 'normalcy'.

Rowley called a media conference Friday to demand the end of the emergency and to allow the police commissioner to "exercise full non-political control of the Police Service."

He said what is needed from the commission is independent "aggressive policing activities with or without joint patrol involving the Defence Force, all of which can be done with the same objective, without a SoE".

Rowley said the deliverables from the event are almost imperceptible and the disruption painful. He added that the opposition is firm in its view that a State of Emergency in unnecessary at this time.

"That intervention has definitely outlived its crime fighting usefulness and all that is happening now is normal policing intervention, in fact even less than normal," he said.

Rowley added, "The reports are now about one person being arrested for gang membership, people being charged for violating curfews and other day to day policing activities. We see no unique benefit for now having the country under a SoE."

Rowley said the emergency is hurting the economy.

"Persons in business in Trinidad as well as in Tobago are now seeing the negative effects. Persons who are directly affected with respect to those jobs and their income are complaining about a hurt that is no longer explainable.'

He suggested that the government is using the emergency for political expediency claiming that "it gives the Government a domination of the activities of Trinidad and Tobago which it normally would not have, if it is open to normal transaction of political and union business and other things."

Rowley said no one who is a threat to national security has been detained in the five weeks since the emergency was declared, noting that in his view everyone who has been detained, has been detained without emergency powers.

The opposition leader said he is thankful for the seizure of arms and the reduction of crime since the emergency started. However he also said there should be no "crowing" about "picking up some marijuana here and some cocaine there".

He said there were drug hauls before the SoE and there would continue to be drug finds. "Because of the country's location and the nature of the illicit trade, expect always to be under threat by those engaged in the trade and its ancillary—gun-running," he said.