Westmoorings: The Chamber of Industry and Commerce has welcomed the end of the State of Emergency.
As the country's biggest business association the Chamber was in full support of the State of Emergency and accompanying curfew but had later called on the government to consider ending the curfew, which the government did.
Now the Chamber is assessing the last 106 days since the State of Emergency was implemented on August 21st.
It says it welcomes the end of the State of Emergency and reminds the country that its initial support of it was because it signaled a determination by the nation’s leadership to finally reign in runaway crime – particularly with the upsurge in murders and gang-related violence that was taking a stranglehold on the nation.
The Chamber says it maintained its support of the State of Emergency during the ensuing months, despite losses incurred by several sectors of the business community especially while the curfew hours were in effect.
It adds that over the three-month it recognised some achievements in the fight against crime – including the drug hauls, the notable reduction in serious crime and gang warfare, and the increase in intelligence gathering from our security forces.
But it adds however, that it must also express a level of disappointment and dissatisfaction with the utilization of the Anti-Gang Legislation during the first months of the SoE, particularly since all persons detained under this piece of Legislation were subsequently released due to insufficient evidence – or none at all – with some now taking legal action against the State for wrongful detention.
The Chamber says it is their hope that coming out of this, the government and its advisory security forces will utilize the lessons learned from the past three months and will revisit and implement more effective legal and security measures to ensure that there is no repeat of what took place.
The Chamber says it hopes the government will be using its intelligence gathered to continue to make significant in-roads in thwarting gang violence in Trinidad and Tobago.
It adds that the constant policing and relentless enforcement of all the nation’s laws, which was evident during the SoE, must be maintained to ensure that we do not lose ground already won.
It says that with several new proposals put forward by the government to help reduce crime, it looks forward to hearing of a comprehensive National Crime Plan in order to sustain the current low levels of serious crime.
You must be logged in to post a comment.