A Nation In A State of Emergency

On August 21, 2011, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago announced the implementation of a State of Emergency and curfew “hotspots” in the country to deal with the escalation of crime.

Since then, there have been several wide-ranging debates, by our Parliamentarians, business community, and the average citizen as to the merits and demerits of implementing a State of Emergency. There have also been many discussions as to the need for a State of Emergency at all.

Whilst the Chamber supports the SoE we were admittedly disappointed with the poor dissemination of, and at times conflicting, information as well as numerous procedural mis-steps by the government during the days immediately following the announcement of the State of Emergency. We were also concerned that no clear basis was initially enunciated for implementing such an extreme security measure, and the real objective remained unclear for some time.  Despite this, and despite the fact that the Chamber views any suspension of citizens’ civil rights and liberties seriously, our continuous dialogue with Members has found that this State of Emergency is considered something of a “necessary inconvenience” at this time. As such, the security forces must be careful to exercise their powers judiciously, since to do otherwise may open the State subsequently to among other things, legal action.

The Chamber agrees wholeheartedly with the People’s Partnership manifesto position that “Economic progress on a sustainable basis and meaningful democracy are not possible unless crime is brought under control and there can be some assurance of human safety and security.” We are of the strong belief that for far too long, our beautiful nation has been at the mercy of the criminal elements in society. In the recent Global Competitiveness Index Report 2011/2012, “Crime and Theft” has once more been cited as the most problematic factor for doing business in T&T. In fact, we continue to rank at the very bottom in the “business costs of crime and violence”, and this is a major deterrent to conducting business in T&T.

With the crime situation escalating seemingly out of control, it was clear that strong measures needed to be put in place.

Evidently, a State of Emergency is not a measure, in and of itself, to bring long-term relief to our crime situation.  It must be part of the comprehensive long-term crime fighting plan.  We recognize that some of the crime reduction initiatives of which the Prime Minister spoke, have already been launched. There have also been several useful proposals on crime fighting put forward over many years by the Chambers and other parties. We look forward to seeing how these will be combined with existing plans to once more bring crime down to manageable levels.

The long-term gains of this State of Emergency would depend on the maintenance of sustained and targeted police action, and the ability to have the criminals convicted expeditiously.  We welcome the appointment of the legal team of prominent attorneys to prosecute persons charged during the State of Emergency.

The ball is now squarely in the Government’s court.