By Sue-Ann Wayow
WHAT has Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley done to deal with the illegal sex trade in Trinidad and Tobago?
This is the question being asked by Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West Dinesh Rambally.
In a press release on Saturday, Rambally said instead of offering solutions to the social ill, Dr Rowley sought to politically shame the borough of Chaguanas by singling out the area as a sex den as though the persons in these areas are the sole contributors to the high incidence of human trafficking in the country, in the Parliament on Friday.
MP for Caroni East Dr Rishad Seecheran and Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit have also expressed outrage at Dr Rowley’s statements which were read from a Venezuelan report.
Rambally added that Dr Rowley also failed to mention that the Gender and Crimes report was issued one year ago.
“The report is authored by the Venezuelan Investigative Unit. In exposing the contents of it and having knowledge of the problems therein, he made no reference to what, if anything, his government did to act on the said report and its findings during this past year. A simple perusal of the report reveals that it is based on a compilation and/or analysis of several other reports including articles from the media both locally and internationally. In some cases they purport to document the state of affairs going back to the period July 2019 to February 2020,” Rambally stated.
He also asked, “If Dr Rowley is himself convinced that the human trafficking situation is somehow dangerously linked to Central Trinidad, as head of the National Security Council, how come he has never invited and/or instructed other Members of Parliament, including myself, to join in finding solutions of mitigation measures which would ease or eradicate human trafficking?”
He further asked, “Was any more personnel from the TTPS engaged to investigate and treat with this scourge?”
Rambally, while adding that the issue of human trafficking was not new, an unacceptable level of harm now exists in a society where locals were now being smuggled to other countries.
He said, “Obviously this merits an all hands-on deck approach to finding solutions which ensures perpetrators of these crimes are caught and punished.”
Investigate hotels
Rambally suggested that an investigation be launched into hotels.
“While there are several approaches to be discussed moving forward, I wish to refer at this time to just one. There is an obvious nexus between sex trafficking and hotels. Recognising the links between this crime and the hotel industry (inclusive of guesthouses etc.) is one critical area of concern and one which should be a subject of investigation.
“It is important to show leadership and innovation in the drive towards ending the scourge of human trafficking and holding those responsible, be they transporters of illegal immigrants or hotel operators is a good place to start,” Rambally said.
