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Kamla to Prime Minister Rowley: Do your job; deal with crime
Posted On 14 Jun 2018
“How many more must die before the Prime Minister and the Government take their jobs seriously and take action on crime?” This is the question asked by Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP, at the funeral service of 19-year-old Eric Ganesh on Thursday 16th June 2018. Ganesh was shot and killed near his home on Saturday night.
The Opposition Leader expressed condolences to the family of the murdered teenager, offering words of comfort as friends and family gathered to mourn his tragic death.
Speaking with reporters after the funeral service Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said, “Today so many sons and daughters have been killed; Prime Minister you told us you had all the solutions, all the answers, so why don’t you do your job?”
“What is to be done, when there is a Government in power who has failed the people, and continues to act as though there is no problem?” she asked. “We have a Prime Minister who spends his day writing letters to the newspaper and wrongly accused the head of the Maha Sabha on a matter; we have Ministers Stuart Young and Colm Imbert also busy writing letters but why can’t they just do their jobs?”
“Not a single person in Trinidad and Tobago is safe under this Government, and they have nothing to say” the Opposition Leader noted. “There is not a single anti-crime measure that they have put in place.”
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said, “They touted the Anti-gang legislation, saying that the blood was on the UNC’s hands – the legislation has been in place for weeks, but what have we seen?”
“I am demoralized and disheartened but I am not giving up, the Opposition has a motion of no confidence coming up in Parliament against the Minister of National Security and we will hold him to account,” the Opposition Leader said.
“The time has come where we say enough is enough, this Government has failed, they cannot do their job effectively and they must get out of office,” Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said.
Noting that the Opposition has met on several occasions with members of the Government, including the Prime Minister, on a way forward to address crime, the Opposition Leader pointed out that the promises made in those meetings have not been kept.
“All of our suggestions have been ignored, and they will not accept our help,” she said. “So we do not expect that anything will change, and the people will continue to suffer.”
