(Trinidad Express) Law enforcement yesterday told the Cabinet that it wants more time. And so Government has decided that the State of Emergency (SoE) and the 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew will remain.
The Prime Minister, who returned to work at her St Clair office yesterday to chair the weekly Cabinet meeting, made this announcement to the media.
The State of Emergency—first declared on August 21—was extended by three months to December 7 by Parliament. It therefore remains in force till then, unless Government ends it before that time. There have been calls to lift the curfew, in particular.
But the Prime Minister (who is still wearing sandals after having swollen feet) said the Cabinet was briefed yesterday by security heads— Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs, Deputy Commissioner Mervyn Richardson, Brigadier General Kenrick Maharaj and others—on what has transpired so far since the state of emergency.
The Cabinet had sought their advice on whether the SoE should continue and whether the curfew hours should be changed.
“They have said that they are able to achieve far more with the State of Emergency than prior to the State of Emergency. They see it as a valuable tool and weapon in the arsenal in the fight against crime,” she said.
“They have advised us that they want more time with the State of Emergency, and we have accepted as a Cabinet their recommendation that the SoE continues. They have advised that they need the curfew hours as they are…in the areas identified. So the State of Emergency would continue until we are advised otherwise by law enforcement officers,” the Prime Minister said.
She said Government would continue to review this decision from time to time.
The Prime Minister said the homicide rate for this year was currently the lowest in a decade. She said in the first month of the SoE, there were 15 murders, a 70 per cent reduction. She added that there was a similar reduction in serious offences.
The Prime Minister said law enforcement was putting an exit strategy in place for when the SoE is over to try and contain criminal activity in the country.
She said one of the very good things that had come out of the SoE was the establishment of the National Security Operations Centre (NSOC), which had been pledged in the People’s Partnership manifesto.
“It puts all the various law enforcement agencies at the same table, so that they can share information. Brigadier General Maharaj said to the Cabinet today that previously, they—the army and police—would have had joint operations. But they didn’t have joint planning and joint sharing, so the NSOC is providing that platform for joint planning and for joint execution and joint implementation,” she said.
