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Vol. 30, Issue 30 BROOKLYN EDITION July 26–Aug. 1, 2019
‘Untamed’
By Bert Wilkinson
Successive governments and
administrations in Trinidad
have blamed everything from
weapons and drug smuggling,
the activities of radical Islamic
groups in the country to the
state of the economy for nearly
two decades violent crime,
assassinations and abductions
but officials are putting a new
periscope on the issue that may
well trigger a decent reduction.
In a country, which is used
to a gun murder every 20 hours
or so, security officials openly
bragged this week that a
deliberate effort to arrest several
gang leaders has resulted
in zero murders between Sunday
and Wednesday, an unusual
development in daily island life.
Police have on file 298 killings
for the year so far, slightly
behind that of last year.
But more importantly,
authorities including Prime
Minister, Keith Rowley are now
admitting that governments
have made serious political
mistakes in the past by allowing
gangs to bid for state contracts.
This in turn has resulted in
serious infighting by gangs trying
to muscle out rival groups.
There is also evidence, the
prime minister said, that some
gang leaders have been engaging
in extortion, using their
influence to demand a share in
state road repair and other contracts.
Some of the money from
these very contracts help to
fund criminal activities. Rowley
said this practice will soon end.
The move to divorce gangs
from state contracts and cut
off their money supply, comes
about a week after Police Chief,
Gary Griffith angrily demanded
an abrupt end to this, saying
everywhere else in the world
enforcement agencies try to cut
off the money supply. In Trinidad,
this is the opposite but
police now seem to have the
agreement and backing of Rowley’s
cabinet.
“It’s been with us for quite
some time,” Rowley told reporters.”
It is not a simple problem
to get rid of because it has
worked into our administrative
systems. And we have to work
our way out of it. And we will
certainly do so.”
Elaborating, he contended
that contract pro grams such as
the Urban Rehabilitation Relief
Program (URP), Communitybased
Environmental Protection
and Enhancement Program
(CEPEP) and to a lesser
extent other small pro grams
including the Housing Development
Corporation (HDC)
were handed to various community
groups instead of being
handled by the state “under the
hands of public officials. We
moved into this new environment
of awarding contracts.
We jumped from the frying
pan into the fire. Remember
ghost gangs, the gangs that
didn’t exist but only on the pay
sheet,” he said.
Jahdisha Sterling portrays “Ferocious Jezebel” for the
band “Untamed” presented by Antoine International. See
story on Page 33. Photo by Nelson A. King
FOCUS ON
T&T CRIME
T & T to ease dollar contracts for gangs
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