There are many reasons why Trinidad and Tobago ended up a with a new government in power last week. As reported in previous columns, there was mounting dissatisfaction in the country over the administration of Patrick Manning. There were allegations about the mismanagement of public funds, exorbitant spending on high-rise buildings, and hosting world leaders at two expensive summits last year which ordinary folks felt were a waste of time as it did nothing tangible to improve their lives.
But one of their biggest disappointments was the failure of the former government, with all the billions of dollars at their disposal, to tackle the maniacal criminal gangs in the country which are responsible for the runaway crime rate.
The former Manning government boasted of having an air ship or a blimp, 360 degree radar system to survey the coast for illegal drug traffickers, more helicopters and speed boats, more police vehicles on the roads, and eye-in-the -sky cameras, yet all these have failed to make a dent on criminal activities, particularly murders — and adding up to zero in the eyes of the crime-scarred public.
How then can a government convince the people that it should be voted back into office, and even had the impudence to have an election campaign theme of a ‘caring government’ when blood continues to flow in the streets.
During the five weeks of campaigning in the run-up to the elections, billboards sprung up along highways and byways reminding potential voters about the 3,000-plus murders that took place over the last seven years under the Manning administration.
The United National Congress (UNC)-led coalition naturally made crime and security one of their main platform issues, tugging at the heartstrings of a population that has moved from being a very jovial, carefree people, hanging out, or liming as we call it, at all hours of the night to becoming suspicious of every strange person they encounter.
The new government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has promised a full assault on crime, and to return the country to a lawful state where people can go about their business without having to look over their shoulders all the time.
The government knows that if crime and gang violence is not curbed, we can end up like Jamaica, which is dubbed one of the most violent countries in the world, considering the size of their population and their skyrocketing murder rate.
The lawlessness currently unleashing in Jamaica also has lessons for all countries in our region to focus on eradicating gangs before they assume power even greater than that of a prime minister.
It’s well documented that the dons, or gang leaders, in Jamaica have been allowed to flourish as far back as the 1960s, and were used by the two main rival political parties to enforce their political agendas and drive fear and terror in the hearts of their opponents.
Over the last week, security forces in Jamaica have been battling a well-armed group of men intent on blocking the execution of a warrant for the arrest of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who is wanted in the United States on drug-and-gun-trafficking charges.
The death count has been put at over 70, but former prime minister, Edward Seaga and residents claim the figure is more than 100.
An ABC newscast last week quoted a U.S. government report, which refers to Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who was attempting to block the extradition, as a “criminal affiliate” of Coke.
US authorities also claim that Mr. Golding and other senior Jamaican officials have been electronically intercepted talking to Coke in his fortified hideout. Gangs are a worldwide phenomenon, with millions of members who claim marginalisation and being outcast of the government system.
In the United States, there are about 20,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with approximately 1 million members who are criminally active, according to the FBI.
Many are sophisticated and well organized; all use violence to control neighbourhoods and boost their illegal money-making activities, which include drug trafficking, robbery, theft, fraud, extortion, prostitution rings, and gun-trafficking.
In Jamaica, security officials point to 200 gangs who are responsible for committing 80 per cent of the island’s crimes. Trinidad police estimate that there are 81 gangs operating in this country, with 10 – 50 members with an average age between 14 and 44 years.
Guyana also experienced the bloody rampage of armed criminal gangs in 2008, which resulted in multiple killings in two separate events. Smaller islands in the Caribbean are not spared by criminal gangs. In tiny St. Kitts, with a population of 46,000, the government reports a pattern of criminal gangs and increase in the murder rate.
In Central America, there are 300,000 gang members, some of whom have killed as many as 10 people by the time they reach age 15.
New Trinbagonian Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has appointed retired Brigadier John Sandy to head the Ministry of National Security, and to take on the difficult task of shutting down criminal activities in the country.
Apart from the Attorney General’s office and the Legal Affairs Ministry to boost support, she created a Justice Ministry, headed by former High Court judge, Herbert Volney to help tackle the criminal element in the country through the legal system.
Her multi-pronged approach also includes cleaning up the police service to ensure its effectiveness in the fight against crime. Police officers who sit behind desks doing administrative work will be put on patrol duties on the streets.
There’s now a clear squaring off between the new government in Port of Spain and the criminal element in the country.
Unlike the previous government, which facilitated a meeting with gang leaders, describing them as community leaders, this new government has given the clearest signal that the criminal element in the country is an enemy of the state. They will not be embraced nor coddled.