Trinidad considers declaring violence a public health emergency
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago – Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr Keith Rowley has expressed concern over the twin island republic’s crime situation and says the time has come for the country to declare violence a public health emergency.
Speaking at the Piarco International Airport on Saturday before leaving for Heads of Government of Caricom meeting in Suriname, Rowley said: “Every single day there is a spate of violent crime largely driven by, but not only driven by firearms, and defying logic … It is something we are going to focus on more.
“I think in Trinidad and Tobago the time has come for us to declare violence as a public health emergency and we need to find solutions to treating with violence in our population,” Rowley said.
The prime minister said the government had been considering the move prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. He could not immediately provide a timeline or details on the proposed measure.
“I just raised it as a matter that we have to focus on, it’s a specialist area, and it involves the entire national community seeing it that way. I don’t think we are ready for the timeline yet,” he said.