Kamla: PNM ministers, family roll with armed security, none for you

Your Vote, Your Future

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar will cut the security assigned to public officials if they continue to fail to improve public security, announcing her plans for a future UNC government, at a UNC anti-crime town hall meeting at Chaguanas on April 3.

She lamented that one person was murdered every 16 hours and one goes missing every 12 hours, amid brutal home invasions, robberies, rapes, woundings, and shootings besieging the nation.

"There have been about 5000 murders under this government in ten years. The slaughter continues despite being in a state of emergency (SOE).

"PNM Ministers and their families roll around with blue lights and armed security while you remain unprotected."

Persad-Bissessar made a promise.

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"Tonight, I give the commitment that within six months of returning to government, if there is no improvement in the efficiencies of the justice system and national security, I will give instructions to begin the reduction and removal of all taxpayer-funded security details (both police and private firms) of all those in authority.

"If citizens must face criminals unprotected daily, those in authority will have to do the same if they cannot perform their jobs."

She said those "unnecessary security details" would be reassigned to actual police work.

"With no security details and no bus route pass, those in authority and their families will face the same risks of crime and traffic as everyone else if they cannot perform their duties."

Persad-Bissessar said the nation was now facing death by a thousand cuts, each cut inflicted on citizens by one specific fear or experience of criminal acts.

"Everybody in this country is lying on a bed of needles because of the fear and terror of crime."

Every day, people are burdened by increasing stress, which strips them of peace of mind and happiness in their lives.

"You must have heard the phrase' Death by a Thousand Cuts.’

"If it's 10 pm at night and you see a strange car stop in front of your home for a few minutes, you instantly become stressed. You feel a heaviness in your chest because you become fearful. That is a cut.

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"Then, a few minutes after the strange car leaves, you wonder if they were scoping out your home to return later to commit a home invasion, and the heaviness returns. That is a cut.

"When you must open your front gate in the morning to leave home, you are fidgety until it's closed and you are in your vehicle. That is a cut."

Persad-Bissessar said if you knew businesses in the community are being extorted and you fear that gangs will extort you too, that is a cut.

"When the criminals extort your business every week, but the government is talking about the coat of arms and refusing to give you legal firearms and stand-your-ground legislation, that’s a cut.

"When your wife and children go out to work or school, and night-time approaches, and they have not returned, a million terrible thoughts go through your mind. That is a cut.

"When you send your children to school, they are bullied every day relentlessly, and the State does nothing to stop it. You see your child go from a happy, bubbly child to becoming reclusive, suicidal, depressed and terrified. That is a cut. You feel the pain as a parent to see what became of your child."

She said amid the death by a thousand cuts, the government did not want to listen to the people about their problems or fears.

"They don’t listen to you to understand what real everyday life is for real people."

"This government has misplaced priorities and lacks the intellectual capacity and operational capability to implement any plan.

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"No amount of mamaguy will change the fact that our country's money is not being used to benefit citizens. "

She accused the PNM of hours of talk but no real action on lowering food prices, helping senior citizens, generating more revenue, or job creation.

"It is time for people-centred UNC governance to return, so citizens of Trinidad and Tobago can have a safe and secure society."

Persad-Bissessar said in her term prime minister (2010-2015), a primary goal had been to substantially improve the crime situation, by reviewing TT's laws, operational strategies, social policies, and more. To address crime extended beyond policing and legal actions alone, she said.

Her strategy was to also encompass social welfare, healthcare, business development, employment opportunities, and education.

"Much of the positive progress achieved due to working policies implemented between 2010 and 2015 has been lost."

She lamented the loss over the past decade of measures such as the Community Comfort Patrols, the National Operations Centre, and the CCTV system.

"The UNC envisions a collaborative effort that will result in the development of a clear, implementable plan with specific details for moving forward."

Persad-Bissessar highlighted management and resource challenges in national security agencies, legislative deficiencies and civil and criminal justice reforms, crime prevention and rehabilitation strategies, multi-sectoral initiatives for crime reduction, and addressing political interference in formerly independent institutions and the national security apparatus.

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"Any progress to be made for the future security and safety of our population requires all of our society to buy into any proposed plans and policies.

"The average citizen may be cynical, but I truly believe that progress will be made once the collective of stakeholders are involved."