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  • 1 year ago
The leader of the Movement for Social Justice is calling the violent crime situation in this country "past the stage of alarming".

And he is expressing no doubt that there is an increase in capital flight of money from Trinidad and Tobago due to the high level of gun violence.

Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript
00:00There was recently a triple murder, like a quadruple murder in Tobago which itself was
00:05something that a few years ago would have been unthinkable, quite apart being unheard
00:12of but certainly unthinkable. So the situation in both Trinidad and Tobago is past the stage
00:18of alarming.
00:19David Abdullah, the political leader of the Movement for Social Justice, the MSJ, speaking
00:25during his party's virtual Tuesday Night Talk. The MSJ has raised specific concerns
00:31about the deaths of more than 18 people in the past four days due to gun violence in
00:37the Twin Island Republic, including Carissa Ramerton from Rio Claro.
00:42A young woman goes to get her car serviced on a Saturday morning in a busy area in San
00:50Fernando and Toyota, crosses the road to a very busy shopping mall and on her way back
00:57gets gunned down and her handbag is stolen but really gets gunned down. This situation
01:05is past worrisome and many people are scared for their lives.
01:12Mr Abdullah raised another concern about what is referred to in economics as capital flight.
01:18Those people of course are very concerned about their livelihoods, their businesses
01:23and many are considering if they have not already migrated. Certainly this has caused
01:28significant capital flight which has always been with us but that capital flight no doubt
01:34has been accelerated as people move the money out of Trinidad and Tobago, placing it in
01:40other countries and then of course they will follow the money subsequently.
01:44Mr Abdullah was joined in his virtual Tuesday talk by someone he introduced as being a longstanding
01:50political and community activist from East Port of Spain, Malcolm Kernahan.
01:56Apple Gonzalez, clean apple Gonzalez, can't go to war Gonzalez and the clean Gonzalez
02:01cannot go past through the half. You understand? And that is as bad as it is, you know?
02:13And I'm saying that the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security are supposed to
02:21calm down the communities and grow with the people. They have to. They have to.
02:28Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is the MP for the Gomartin West. The National Security Minister
02:33Fitzgerald Hines is the MP for Lavant Hill West. The MSJ's Tuesday talk follows a meeting of the
02:40National Security Council which was chaired by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Monday.
02:46The Office of the Prime Minister said Dr Rowley articulated the serious concerns with the incidents
02:51of violent crime and the continued use of illegal high-powered assault weapons and discussed with
02:57the leadership assembled the need for a more proactive intelligence-driven targeted and robust
03:03approach which is focused on those who are known and suspected to be involved in serious criminality.
03:11Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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