MINISTER of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young must account for what he did to stop illegal quarying since Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is now blaming it for crime in the country.
This was the call being made by Pointe-a-Pierre MP Dr David Lee in a release on Wednesday.
He said, “I thought illegal quarrying was a thing of the past given the big grand charge by Minister Young when he took office as Minister of Energy.”
Lee said in May 2021, Young stated that he was “driven to tackle illegal quarrying”.
The Opposition MP said, “He told us since he was minister of national security he wanted to deal with illegal quarrying. He even viewed it as ‘Gangsterism’.”
Lee cited an address Young made at the T&T Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) in May 2021, when he said: “Intelligence that I have been building in this area, is going to benefit the tackling of illegal quarrying.”
He said, “If Minister Young was delivering on the ‘big talk’ and ‘grand charge’ he promised on the illegal quarrying in May 2021 there would be no need for the prime minister to specifically point this out as a main issue influencing criminality in our nation.
“In light of the Prime Minister’s statements that illegal quarrying is one of the factors fuelling crime, Minister Stuart Young must account to the population how he has dealt with this serious illegal element since he promised to do so over one year ago when he became Minister of Energy. “
Lee said, “For seven years significant stakeholders, from the TT Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) to legal quarry operators, have called on this administration to take action due to the dangers, the criminal element and threats which Illegal Quarrying has presented to citizens, the business community and environment but this Government has only offered lip service as evident in the present approach by the Minister of Energy.”
He asked, “How long will the Government keep pointing to illegal quarrying as part of the scourge of crime without taking action or presenting a proper plan to deal with it?”
