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eliteauto wrote:Heard about the $100M on the news and my first thought was some kinda make-work programme akin to DEWD, LID, URP, Lifesport and CEPEP. These things are proven not to work and are fraught with corruption and crime. Seems the intent is to substitute the community leaders for TTDF community leaders. All I see is a capital injection to the gangs
Rovin wrote:kamla stop teefing out d treasury how it suddenly have 100mil to throw around
if yall eh readin d play, is $ for certain ppl to get contracts for construction & security , none of this $ will help\benefit d average person
also election coming up next year so it suddenly have $ for all kinda thing ...
'Seeing Griffith gone my biggest achievement'
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said that one of his biggest achievements was seeing the exit of Gary Griffith as Police Commissioner.
Speaking at the People’s National Movement (PNM) meeting in San Juan on Thursday, Hinds minced no words in castigating Griffith, dubbing him “G-string” and describing him as “half educated, egotistic, narcissistic, little noise maker,”.
Hinds cast blame on Griffith for fueling gun violence in Trinidad and Tobago as he slammed the thousands of Firearm Users Licenses (FULs) issued under Griffith’s tenure.
“While he was Commissioner and the Prime Minister already told us that was the biggest mistake that he has ever made, but one’s trouble is another man’s thing, because I can tell you one of my biggest achievements as far as I am concerned was to see the back of Gary Griffith as Commissioner of Police in Trinidad and Tobago, they could say what they want!” said Hinds.
“While he was Commissioner for three short dirty years, he granted close to 8000 firearm licences, that meant plenty plenty guns of all descriptions, that meant more guns and more licences than all the other Police Commissioners add up together since independence,” he said.
Hinds went on to read extensively from an affidavit of Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher in the legal matter between Towfeek Ali and the Firearms Training Institute and the Commissioner of Police.
He said Ali took the Commissioner to Court for not granting import licence for 3.7 million rounds of ammunition.
Reading from the affidavit, Hinds noted that Harewood-Christopher stated that there was disquiet in the public media of allegations of corruption in the granting of an increased number of Firearm Users License.
He said several fact finding inquiries were established into the FULs.
Hinds said the Commissioner’s affidavit stated that there were “grave concerns about the increasing level of gun violence in the country including civilians being licensed to have several high powered rifles in their possession,” he said.
He said there was an arbitrary granting of licences to people with convictions, deportees and even people who the senior superintendent of police in Divisions objected to.
The affidavit, he said, noted that Retired Justice of Appeal Stanley John, having assessed the situation described the FUL process as a well-oiled white collar criminal enterprise.
The Commissioner, he said, warned that the licenced firearms and illegal firearms have the potential to fuel gun violence in the country.
Hinds went on to provide statistics to show that during Griffith’s tenure from 2018 to 2021 there was a drastic increase in the granting of licenses to import guns and ammunition as follows:
2016-1620 imported
2017- 1666
2018- 5422
2019- 2720
2020- 64,553
Ammunition
2016- 6.1 million rounds
2017- 4.7 million rounds
2018- 2.6 million rounds
2019- 8.3 million rounds
2020- 57,194,173 rounds
2021- 18.8 million
Said Hinds “No wonder why when the police go on a murder scene now, it is no longer uncommon, it has now become a feature in crime scenes now, you finding 94, 100, 57, 7.63 military grade, that bussing through 10 people and killing the 11th and that is what kill a woman in Malabar some time ago,”
Hinds said there were about nine dealers in 2018 and it increased to 34.
He added that Griffith has been going to the courts to block the truth from coming out.
“A matter came up that Gary Griffith went to court with, because every time we want to tell you the facts, he run to court like a little sissy, he don’t want you to hear the facts, he don’t want you to know the truth,” he said.
Hinds said that a judge said that if the Prime Minister, as head of the National Security Council did not act on this, it would have been a “serious dereliction of duty”.
The Minister said the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) was investigating Griffith and his wife, Nicole but Griffith “run to court again like a sissy. What you have to hide?”
Hinds broke out in song singing “You can run but you can’t hide”.
He went further to note that two men died in police custody in the Andrea Bharath rape and murder matter under Griffith’s tenure.
Two men died in police custody following the Andrea Bharath rape and murder.
Hinds also criticised Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for cancelling the OPV vessels during her tenure and he suggested this was probably done because there was no corruption in this contract.
HE said the Persad-Bissessar Government ordered 12 Damen vessels which are under probe by the Dutch Government.
“WE have the vessels, we use the vessels, today they are need of repair and upgrade and I am happy as the Prime Minister announced today, we have settled a contract with Damen to repair the 12 of those vessels so very shortly they will all be back in service for the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
The Minister claimed that there was discrepancies in the purchase of these vessels.
“In that time, the big mouth one called Gary, who I hear some people calling G-string, he was her advisor, he was Minister of National Security for 14 months, he become some big expert you know….he was part of that decision (to buy Damen vessels). So since the fight was not at sea, they went and they get these vessels and they get them in 2014, UNC was in power, Kamla was Prime Minister, G-string was advisor and Nyree Alfonso was lawyer…So it is clear to me, that they engage in contracts to make deals like the Point Fortin highway, like the Curepe Interchange and of course these vessels,” he said.
The PNM, he said, purchased two brand new Austal Cape class vessels from Australia which are in service on the high seas around Trinidad and Tobago now, making “great impact” on our border security.
Hinds said they are in the process of procuring more scanners for the ports, mobile scanners, stationary container scanners to support Customs and Excise.
He said the police service established their riverine and coastal patrol section that look at coastlines and rivers that the larger vessels cannot attend to.
There is the transnational organised crime unit that pay attention to the ports and those transit sheds where importation and distribution of items, he said.
Hinds said guns were coming in these sheds “like rain” and they dealt with this problem.
He disclosed that Trinidad and Tobago is part of the Joint Inter Agency Task Force with the US South Com that patrols the Atlantic and Caribbean sea.
HE said every week the Trinidad and Tobago representative with this unit reports to him that they seize “10, 15, 20 tonnes of cocaine” on those high seas which would enter Caribbean countries.
Hinds said they also have a serious gun retrieval programme underway “mopping up” illegal guns.
He said they recently formed the Caricom Gang Intelligence Unit where Caricom countries share information and he disclosed that he received a report where a Grenadian national who committed murder absconded to Trinidad.
Said Hinds “This morning they went and collect him and he will be promptly handed to the Grenadian authorities.”
Chimera wrote:well yes
how much of these murder scenes they trace back to people registered FUL?
CRIMINOLOGISTS Dr Randy Seepersad and Darius Figuera welcomed the $100 million initiative announced by the Prime Minister.
Commenting on Rowley's announcement, Seepersad said, "Development is something that has really been stymied in these particular communities and it is something that is really needed."
But he added,"Development is a very, very broad phrase that could mean a lot of different things."
Physical development, Seepersad continued, is just one aspect of it.
He said it appeared that the development which Rowley is referring to in this initiative, seems to be mostly physical.
Seepersad added he was subject to correction on this.
He said there needs to be some explanation about how the $100 million mentioned by Rowley will be used.
Physical development, Seepersad continued, is very expensive.
He said there could be cases of going into a single community and fixing a road for $100 million.
"It really depends on how that $100 million is going to be used and for what things."
Seepersad said other forms of development are needed in crime hot spot communities.
"You need after school programmes, training programmes for families. You need things that provide opportunities for youths. Entrepreneurship training. Vocational training."
While giving a physical facelift to a community is a good start, Seepersad said, "You can give a facelift to a community but it does not change the community.It does not change the mindset. It does not change the level of skills. It does not change the opportunities."
Seepersad said he is not criticising Rowley.
While many communities need help, he continued, $100 million spent over too many communities will not benefit any of them.
"There has to be some level of choice involved."
Seepersad suggested that Rowley have Government partner with people coming to TT to do work in vulnerable communities.
He said USAid (United States Agency for International Development) has projects which are aimed at helping youth people crime hot spot communities.
Seepersad added that there may be a lot of good opportunities for collaboration between Government and these groups to achieve their common objectives.
"A coordinated effort might probably be better than each doing their own thing, not knowing what the other is doing."
Figuera said, "There is a grave, pressing need for the State to now exert its power over vast swaths of territory that are under the hegemony of transnational organised crime and its organised crime offshoot of gangland TT."
He added, "The alternate discourse with its worldview of the illicit trades has been allowed to socialise successive generations of citizens of TT who reside in these spaces constituting in effect a sustainable army of foot soldiers for gangland TT."
This impunity afforded criminality, Figuera continued, "has now ensured that gangland is now the most powerful alternate lifestyle and culture in TT today."
He said this has effectively generated "a crisis of social control for the State that since 2017 is now acute, threatening the very sustainability of the social order under the rule of law."
While welcoming the $100 million crime plan announced by Rowley, Figuera said this initiative by itself will not break the control which criminals have over certain communities.
"It must be backed up by a national security apparatus that is now capable of dismantling transnational and organised crime cells resulting in prison time etc."
Figuera said, "To accomplish this there has to be deep-seated, ongoing reform of the national security apparatus now."
He added, "The issue is not providing resources to the national security apparatus but deep seated reform, revisioning and reformulation ensuring that this apparatus is brought screaming into the 21st century."
Figuera said there must also be simultaneous improvements in the Judiciary and the prison system to assist in achieving the objective of curbing crime.
MaxPower wrote:Trinis feel FUL is the saving grace for T&T.
Trinis are too irresponsible and it may well make the situation worse and make it bad for the responsible population.
We need foreign assistance.
alfa wrote:Instead of spending millions on what will be a next lifesport the army should be called out not to patrol but antagonize the gangs and force them to engage in open combat and return effective fire. It doesn't have to turn into Gaza, Trini criminals not as valiant as those folks. Once they see the army mean business and take out a few of them they will put down their weapons. One light infantry platoon is all that is needed
TV6 GM: Snr Supt Alexander ordered not to appear on Beyond the Tape
SNR Supt Roger Alexander, the police co-host of the Beyond the Tape crime talk-show which is aired on CCN TV6, was instructed by the TTPS, not to appear on the Thursday edition of the show.
This was confirmed in TV6's 7 pm news on Thursday.
CCN TV6 journalist Juhel Browne reported that the station's general manager Richard Purcell had said the producer responsible for the Beyond the Tape show, was contacted by Alexander, who told her he was instructed not to appear in the Thursday segment of the show.
"The producer then contacted the TTPS' corporate communications department and this (the instruction for Alexander not to appear on the show) was confirmed," Purcell said during an interview aired on the TV6 news report.
The Beyond the Tape crime talk-show is co-hosted Monday-Friday by Alexander and TV6 journalist Marlan Hopkinson.
News of Alexander being instructed not to appear on the show, came a day after vice chairman of Parliament's Joint Select Committee on National Security, Independent Senator Dr Paul Richards, expressed shock that utterances by a "uniformed presenter" on the Beyond the Tape show were not in alignment with the TTPS.
At the time, Richards was directing his queries to Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher who appeared before the JSC on Wednesday. Harewood-Christopher later admitted to being concerned about the show's direction, and she also revealed that the show was now under review.
TV6 GM Purcell, according to the TV6 news report on Thursday evening, said the station is unaware if this instruction for Alexander to not appear on the show, was only for the Thursday edition, or for the rest of this week, or indefinitely.
Purcell added that efforts by TV6 to reach Commissioner Harewood-Christopher for clarification, proved unsuccessful.
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