PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – President of the Supermarket Association of Trinidad and Tobago (SATT), Rajiv Diptee, Monday called on the police to provide business owners with a gun license after shooters shot and killed a 49-year-old supermarket owner over the last weekend.
Diptee, speaking on a radio program here, said that the association has been working closely with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) “to see how more resilient crime-fighting measures can be put in place because we have been noticing this increase in robberies and thefts since the reopening of the economy last year.
“What we will suggest is that law-abiding business owners who are suitably qualified within the remits of the law be granted their (firearm user’s license). The most complaints we get are from supermarket owners who have applied and need approval.
Police said that Bing Zhu Zhang, 49, the owner of the Golden City Supermarket, was shot and killed on Friday night as three armed bandits attempted to rob his business place. Police later said one of three men was shot and killed by law enforcement officers while two other suspects are in custody after being intercepted near the San Juan River, on the capital’s outskirts.
“We have a situation where there are not enough, near enough patrols to cover all the hot spots across Trinidad and Tobago. This lends a particular vulnerability to those whom the criminal elements regard as soft targets when they go after these establishments,” Diptee told radio listeners.
“So what we are simply asking for is the consideration being made with urgency for members of the business community who have the means to defend themselves at this time,” he said, noting that “the stark reality of the crime situation facing members of the business community today is one in which we cannot afford 24/7 armed security personnel at these types of establishments.
“We have a crime situation where criminals are coming out in numbers, each with more sophisticated firearms,” he said.
Trinidad and Tobago has recorded 156 murders so far this year. Last year, the country recorded 605 murders, the most in
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