: Time to stem kidnapping tide
EDITORIAL
Trinidad Express
October 20, 2003
Last August, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce publicly expressed profound concern regarding the wave of kidnappings across the country and said: “Enough is enough”.
Calling on the Government to confront the breakdown in law and order with tough legislation, proper detection mechanisms and stronger law enforcement, the business grouping said: “The time for aggressive action is now.”
Almost three months later, and with the list of kidnappings well over 170, the brutal reality is that the Government has been unable to eradicate the despicable crime of kidnapping and punish its perpetrators. What is even more worrisome is that many fear the situation could become even worse.
At the beginning of this week, the Minister of National Security Howard Chin Lee was quick to take this newspaper to task for what he labelled a “misleading” and “irresponsible” news story we published regarding the seriousness of kidnappings in this country.
In doing so, Mr Chin Lee danced around the fundamental issue of kidnapping and, consciously or unconsciously, missed another opportunity to explain to the nation why the Government has miserably failed to successfully address the matter of kidnapping and to give the citizens some real assurances that no one will fall victim to kidnapping, or any other crime for that matter.
Thus far, the “rapid response” from Mr Chin Lee, and the Government as a whole, has been ineffective anti-crime plans with fancy names, and more recently the creation of a so-called Special Crime Unit to fight kidnappings, drug trafficking, murder and terrorism.
While it might be an easy exercise for the Minister to engage in a public debate over a news story, he must understand that if the Government continues to demonstrate inability to deal with criminal elements in the country there will be a further escalation of crimes such as kidnappings that may spread to other key players in the society such as Government officials, diplomats, politicians and even communications media personnel.
Kidnappings, which unfortunately already have become the order of the day in Trinidad, must not be allowed to spread and perpetrators must receive severe punishment.
The snatching of men, women and children and demanding a ransom for their release is a lucrative underworld industry in countries such as Colombia. It is a horrifying crime, not only against the victim but also against his/her relatives. It is a violation of human rights which governments must not tolerate under any circumstance.
Therefore, the sooner that our Government gets down to the business of the country and comprehensively deals with the problem of kidnapping and other crimes, the better. Time is running out. The fight is not with the media—the messenger—but rather with the criminals, the kidnappers, the murderers. If there is one area where the Government must demonstrate strength and success, it is in the fight against crime.