What in the hell is going on, Trini Massive?
A couple of weeks ago, 11 people were killed in Trinidad & Tobago over the span of four days. And so the government put the entire country on lock to prevent more violence.
IF EVER there was a time to celebrate our Independence, this is it—a time where, for the first time in over a decade, the criminals are the ones on the run and not innocent citizens.
This was the statement made yesterday by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as she delivered her Independence Day message to the citizens of this country as we celebrated our 49th year as an independent nation.
Persad-Bissessar was referring to the current State of Emergency, which she said had become necessary in order to regain the country from the grip of the criminal elements.
“Just days before the celebration of our nation’s Independence Day, I was advised by the Minister of National Security (Brigadier John Sandy) that intelligence that had come before him suggested the urgent need for the imposition of a State of Emergency.
“On the basis of what we knew, while this was certainly neither the time nor option we wished to pursue, in defence of our very democracy and in the interest of all Trinidad and Tobago, we took the only course of action that any responsible government could have taken at the time,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said over the past few years, the quality of life of citizens had been deteriorating under the crime scourge. She said, ironically, during those periods, the State revenues from the energy sector grew, but yet “the economic burgess did little to alleviate the deep social concerns.
“This phenomenon of high State revenues, coupled with a spiralling crime rate, was met with a global economic downturn and megaconstruction projects undertaken here that had negatively impacted on our local economy and drained the Treasury. These were some of the challenges that faced my Government when we took office just a year and a half ago.”
As a remedy to assist in the solving of those challenges, Persad-Bissessar said the Government would continue to invest in youth development programmes, which would give the younger generation an option away from a life of crime and delinquency. She said under the People’s Partnership Government, a historic $9 billion was invested in education.
In addition, last week, an initiative was launched for the construction of 18 new police stations, 13 fire stations and an Air Guard facility.
“We have brought the Police Service under new management, recruited more law enforcement officers, provided more technical resources, expanded training, placed new legislation before the Parliament, and these are merely some of the measures in our war on crime”.
And the global media didn’t feel this worthy of mentioning until Nicki Minaj threw a prayer up for her country on Twitter last night. SMH.
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