The Trinidad and Tobago

Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC) is calling for “urgent action” to be

taken now to deal with the crime situation in the country.

In a statement, the private sector body said it is of the opinion that National Security Minister, Stuart Young, “in his leadership role must acknowledge that we are not just in a difficult situation, but in fact, in a crisis regarding crime and we do not have the luxury of time to deal with it.”

It said that it is of the

view that “the present state of affairs dictates that urgent action must be

taken now” and that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), despite its

best efforts, “does not by itself have the capacity to deal with the crime

situation, and other arms of the security infrastructure must be mobilised.

“We also recognise the

Minister’s reference to technology in the fight against crime and endorse this.

We fully support a strong presence of security forces in high-crime areas.”

So far more than 20 people

have been killed since the start of the year, and last year, Trinidad and

Tobago recorded more than 520 murders, surpassing the previous figure of 517 in

2018.

In its statement, the

TTCIC said that the law “provides for the Defence Force “to cooperate with and

assist the civil power in maintaining law and order,” and “to assist the civil

authorities in times of crisis or disaster.

“We thank the Minister for

his commitment with regard to upping the collaborations between the police and

the defence force and trust that this is part of an overall plan and strategy

that is being executed on a sustained basis.”

But the private sector

group said it believes that there were several options open to the authorities

to deal with the crime situation, adding that a list of the most wanted

criminals should be circulated in the media, at every police station and all

police posts.

The private sector grouping is calling for international experts who can be brought in to support the crime-fighting effort. It also wants the authorities to ensure that the technology infrastructure, including drones, air support, digital fingerprinting, the CCTV cameras with facial recognition, the National operations Centre among others “are fully operational and utilised.”

“While we are in a

difficult situation, it can be solved if the government accepts the reality and

makes solving/reducing crime a priority. The Minister has signalled his

intention to meet with chambers of commerce and other stakeholders, and we look

forward to a meeting as soon as possible.”