PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley says his administration is not prepared to give up the fight against the criminal element as Trinidad and Tobago recorded 564 murders so far this year, the highest in the country’s history.
Addressing the 50th annual convention of the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) on Sunday, Rowley said, “this year, we already have a record number of murders even though there is an overall decline in general criminal conduct.”
Rowley, who is expected to be declared winner of the leadership battle when the results are released on Monday, said that crime here is “driven by the too-easy availability of firearms, gang engagement, turf protection, and revenge killings.
“The police and other security agencies are permanently engaged in crime detection and suppression, but clearly, the current methods are not sufficiently robust enough to bring the level of safety and security that the population demand and deserves,” he said, noting that persons have suggested rotating ministers or seek to politicize the crime-fighting efforts.
“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,” Rowley said, warning, “this PNM government is not prepared to give up the fight against the criminal element.
“We will continue to improve and use the whole-of-government approach by resourcing the security agencies so they can perform more effectively,” he added.
Rowley told supporters that the government would invest in border protection and improve the quality of the country’s police agencies “by weeding out corrupt and worthless officers from these various departments.
“(We will) resource and encourage the judicial system with more court and technical infrastructure and more judicial officers so that they can be more effective in dispensing justice on time as we take steps to improve the conditions and use of our prisons….”
During his address, Rowley spoke of the party and government’s achievements and promised that the government would also support the education system, community development, and sports programs to “give people of all ages the opportunity to engage in positive activities for self-improvement and career development.
“We will continue to grow the economy, so that job opportunities 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.”
Rowley spoke of his government’s social programs and protection for vulnerable groups announcing the release of TT$260 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) for healthcare workers, which will come before Christmas, as well as the TT$1,000 one-off payment for every pensioner or anyone on public assistance or receiving a disability grant and food support.
“This payment is to offset any anticipated rise in expenses due to the increase in fuel prices associated with the reduction of the fuel subsidy,” he said.
He told supporters he was pleased with the recent announcement of the “healthy” performance of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF).
“From 2009-2021, the facts are this country operated without a budgetary surplus. Even with oil prices at well over US$100 a barrel in the period 2012-2014, no attempt was made to balance the budget or to put the fiscal account into surplus.
“Instead, what we saw was that every effort was made to spend every cent that was earned, and even when the law required that the sums of the surplus be put into the HSF, to the extent that deposits were made into that fund, it was done by borrowing to meet the legal obligation,” he said, adding “in short, they borrowed to put money into the savings account.”
Rowley also took a jab at Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar, who, during a recent forum of the main opposition United National Congress (UNC), accused the government of “hiding and lying” to avoid questions concerning a lack of contributions to the HSF.
But Rowley told supporters, “today, from the purgatory of the Opposition benches, they have appointed themselves heavyweights of fiscal and monetary policy, who are constantly crying down everything in the country, and how everything should be done,” he said, adding, in fact, the government has saved the country considerable sums.
“We had the Spotlight on Energy, where we exposed value leakage in the energy sector, and we set out to negotiate with the major companies to get better returns for Trinidad and Tobago without breaking contracts or litigating a single existing contract.
“We have earned, since July 2018 to July 2022, TT$11.4 billion in additional revenue, which we would not have earned had we not initiated and successfully completed these negotiations,” Rowley added.
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