THE Caricom Crime Symposium at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain last week seems to be another talk shop.
Will it make a difference in the lives of the average citizens in Trinidad and Tobago?
The information in the public domain stated that according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the homicide rate in T&T in 2019 was 29.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, this is much higher than the global average of 6.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Information on World of Statistics stated placed T&T in 6th position in ranking for the “world’s most criminals countries list” in their database, providing information that 71 crimes occur per every 100,000 persons. Can you believe this? Small T&T ranked 6th in the world?
Dr Rowley kept saying that the then government wasn’t doing its job on crime when he was in opposition, he kept beating the the People’s Partnership over their heads about crime and saying they could not stop the scourge yet his administration record has spiraled way above anything under the previous government.
In the last eight years we have seen so many murders, attacks on the vulnerable (especially women and children), car jacks, the following of people from the banks to rob them and robberies that we are now ranked 6th in the world as the world’s most dangerous country ever.
His attacks on the then government and fight for dealing with crime back then doesn’t seem to hold water under his current administration.
He doesn’t hold his minister of national security to the same standards that he held the previous government to. It’s really just a pappy show. Dr Rowley said the war on crime is one that we can afford to lose because “violence is destroying our paradise in the Caribbean Sea.” He made this comment during the welcome address at the Caricom Regional Symposium but it just seems to be for lip service because what has his team really done to deal with the crime scourge?
I support the view from the opposition leader point that she does not see crime as a public health emergency. Yes, crime is costing the country a lot of money for medical treatment of violence as thousands of wounded victims and perpetrators in our public hospitals, yes, this costs this country dearly in medical treatment but is it a public health emergency? In my opinion no, it is a competent person’s emergency. You can’t keep hitting your head against a brick wall with Minister Hinds at the helm and expect things to change. Hinds needs to go as it’s very clear he is not the right person for the job!
People are afraid in this country and with this government we are only paying lip service. They continue to do the same thing every single time to tackle crime with the same minister of national security and this gives us no hope that anything will change.
Yes we applaud the efforts of Caricom being here to give ideas but this will not help the law abiding citizens of T&T.
Only removing incompetence and getting competent people in the right position will allow us to move forward in the right direction.
Dr Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.
Commentary: Caricom Crime Symposium – Another Talk Shop
THE Caricom Crime Symposium at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain last week seems to be another talk shop.
Will it make a difference in the lives of the average citizens in Trinidad and Tobago?
The information in the public domain stated that according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the homicide rate in T&T in 2019 was 29.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, this is much higher than the global average of 6.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Information on World of Statistics stated placed T&T in 6th position in ranking for the “world’s most criminals countries list” in their database, providing information that 71 crimes occur per every 100,000 persons. Can you believe this? Small T&T ranked 6th in the world?
Dr Rowley kept saying that the then government wasn’t doing its job on crime when he was in opposition, he kept beating the the People’s Partnership over their heads about crime and saying they could not stop the scourge yet his administration record has spiraled way above anything under the previous government.
In the last eight years we have seen so many murders, attacks on the vulnerable (especially women and children), car jacks, the following of people from the banks to rob them and robberies that we are now ranked 6th in the world as the world’s most dangerous country ever.
His attacks on the then government and fight for dealing with crime back then doesn’t seem to hold water under his current administration.
He doesn’t hold his minister of national security to the same standards that he held the previous government to. It’s really just a pappy show. Dr Rowley said the war on crime is one that we can afford to lose because “violence is destroying our paradise in the Caribbean Sea.” He made this comment during the welcome address at the Caricom Regional Symposium but it just seems to be for lip service because what has his team really done to deal with the crime scourge?
I support the view from the opposition leader point that she does not see crime as a public health emergency. Yes, crime is costing the country a lot of money for medical treatment of violence as thousands of wounded victims and perpetrators in our public hospitals, yes, this costs this country dearly in medical treatment but is it a public health emergency? In my opinion no, it is a competent person’s emergency. You can’t keep hitting your head against a brick wall with Minister Hinds at the helm and expect things to change. Hinds needs to go as it’s very clear he is not the right person for the job!
People are afraid in this country and with this government we are only paying lip service. They continue to do the same thing every single time to tackle crime with the same minister of national security and this gives us no hope that anything will change.
Yes we applaud the efforts of Caricom being here to give ideas but this will not help the law abiding citizens of T&T.
Only removing incompetence and getting competent people in the right position will allow us to move forward in the right direction.
Dr Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.