Tag Archives: Crime in T&T

All of T&T Under State of Emergency

State of EmergencyAll of T&T under state of emergency—Minister
The state of emergency, and powers of the security agencies under this, applies to all of T&T and not only the six “hot spot areas”, according to National Security Minister John Sandy. He stressed that yesterday during a media briefing at the Ministry of National Security, Port-of-Spain. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Sunday night announced a “limited state of emergency” and a 9 pm to 5 am curfew in “hot spot” areas. Sandy said there had been a misconception that the state of emergency applies only to the six “hot spot” areas where the 9 pm to 5 am curfew was in force. Sandy said criminal elements who would want to “migrate” from “hot spot” areas to other parts of the country to avoid being nabbed, should be warned that the state of emergency applies all over T&T. He added: “So let it be known that the state of emergency exists in the entire country and the powers given to the police and the military exist in all areas of T&T.”
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State of Emergency Nothing to Do with Crime

By Gerry Kangalee
August 23, 2011 – workersunion.org.tt

State of EmergencySo in the midst of the joint unions’ mobilising for the general strike, the government has declared a state of emergency under the guise of dealing with crime. It is clear that this latest desperate act by the PP government has nothing to do with reining in crime, but everything to do with beating back the rising tide of working class discontent. On July 21st the website of the National Workers Union published this article.
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Breakdown of State of Emergency ‘Hot Spots’

State of EmergencyAs part of the state of emergency announced by the Prime Minister a curfew will be in effect from 9 pm to 5 am for the next two weeks in a list of hot spots.

Residents in the designated areas engaged in activities that require them to be outside during those hours can seek a permit granting the necessary clearance by making an application at the police station nearest their residence. (trinidadexpress.com)

Affected areas are as follows:
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PM Declares “Limited State of Emergency”

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has Announced a “Limited State of Emergency” in Crime Hotspots from Midnight

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarThe PM said that this decision was made “after much deliberation with the National Security Council and members of the Cabinet,” and that the current crime spree must end.

The limited state of emergency is part of a plan using the police and army in response to the “spate of murders over the past few days”.
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Police kill 3 in Moruga: ‘Justice not in the road’

‘Justice not in the road’

By Cecily Asson
July 31, 2011 – newsday.co.tt

Moruga ProtestShortly after a candle ritual and a two-mile peace walk in Moruga to mark the end of several days of fiery protests over police killings of three friends on July 22, the funeral for the first victim was held in San Fernando yesterday.
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Mom, 2 sons throats slit in La Horquetta

LEFT: Melik, eight, Makasi, four, and Vonetta Haynes-Reyes

Husband finds wife and sons murdered
Residents of La Horquetta were in shock last night following the discovery of a 31-year-old mother and her two children, found dead with their throats slit open. The discovery was made by the woman’s husband and father of the children. There were no arrests up to late last night.
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Wage war to win peace

By Raffique Shah
July 17, 2011

Raffique Shah“‘Tis strange—but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!”
(Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1823)

IN Frederick Forsyth’s 2010 novel, Cobra, the central character, Paul Devereaux, a former CIA agent, is tasked by his President (mucho resemblance to Barack Obama) to put an end to the cocaine menace that is strangling America. Devereaux demands, and is given, $2 billion plus a carte blanche instrument of authority to launch his war on the Colombian Cartel and its global tentacles. He hires as his operations officer a former foe, Calvin Dexter, and within one year they put together a powerful machine of personnel and equipment that attacks Don Diego and his overlords with extreme prejudice, as such exercises are described.
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Stealing the soul of the nation

By Raffique Shah
Jun 05, 2011

Raffique ShahBRIBERY and corruption are a global phenomena that permeate almost every country in the world. The only variant is the level or intensity of such malpractices, and the amounts of money involved, as they vary from country to country. Forget Transparency International’s Corruption Index, which addresses the perception of corruption, not the reality. Think real. Think Trinidad and Tobago, where from the ordinary citizen seeking to get a driver’s permit or a job, to a big contractor making a legitimate bid for a contract with a government agency.
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Strangers in our land

Newsday Editorial
May 1 2011 – newsday.co.tt

ChineseThe recent kidnapping for ransom of a citizen of China who owned and operated a restaurant at St Helena has brought to the fore, once again, the question of illegal immigrants living and working in Trinidad and Tobago.

Speaking in Senate recently, Independent Senator Rolph Balgobin raised this issue.
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Chinese Kidnapping – Slain Restaurant Owner

Kidnapped Chinese restaurant owner Xue Hua Shan
Kidnapped Chinese restaurant owner Xue Hua Shan

Cops step up search for kidnapped woman
Police probing the kidnapping of Chinese restaurant owner Xue Hua Shan said her relatives told them that the woman’s mother, in China, received a text message saying her daughter was released. The text message, police said, was sent in a Chinese dialect to Shan’s mother who lives in China. Investigators said they had not contacted Shan’s mother and did not know if the message was true or a hoax. But detectives said yesterday that they were still looking for Shan and had no concrete evidence she had been released by her kidnappers. The lawmen said they have stepped up their search for Shan after also receiving a message from someone who called the Piarco Police Station around 6.30 am yesterday, claiming she had been dropped off near a bridge in St Helena.
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