ANALYSTS WEIGH IN

CCNTV6

One crime analyst says the strategic objectives of the S-o-E ought to be revealed and an economist speaks on the potential impact on carnival revenue.

Transcript

00:00Regional security expert and strategic security consultant Govind Heera says

00:05much more ought to be forthcoming from the government as it relates to the

00:10proclamation of a state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago. First and foremost

00:16in any state of emergency what needs to be clearly defined are the strategic

00:21objectives. What do we intend to achieve over the short, medium and long term

00:27initiatives, the implementation of this state of emergency and further to that

00:33what must be clearly communicated is the command and control structure. And the

00:38former head of the National Operations Center says another opportunity arises

00:43for the powers that be. Now there is a good good opportunity for the state, for

00:49government to reestablish, reintroduce a centralized national emergency operations

00:54center to oversee the state of emergency activities. Further to that they should

00:59consider establishing a crisis management task force with

01:03representatives of national security, the Office of Disaster Preparedness, Ministry

01:08of Public Utilities, the intelligence agency, the health sector so that we can

01:11treat with any sort of national crisis that erupts. Meanwhile economist Dr. Val

01:16McKee Arjan says the SOE is welcome and necessary but the benefits should not be

01:22limited to the SOE. It is likely that criminal activities will reduce during

01:27the SOE but these results must not be temporary. In fact they must be sustained

01:32through long-term strategies to ensure that the progress made in curbing

01:36criminal activities during the SME is not squandered. Temporary suppression of

01:40violence is insufficient without structural reforms and continued

01:45vigilance. The risk of crime resurging once the SOE is lifted remains high and

01:51such a resurgence would further erode economic stability. It would discourage

01:55investment, it would worsen the brain drain and also deepen public distrust.

01:59The decision to not implement a curfew he says is commendable so as to not

02:04deter business operability. He says the impact on businesses can vary

02:10significantly. On one hand some businesses might opt to operate as usual

02:14taking advantage of the opportunity to keep their doors open but in a crime

02:19riddled environment many other businesses might err on the side of

02:23caution and choose to close earlier or scale back the operations to mitigate

02:28potential risks associated with violent crime flare-ups. Additionally consumer

02:33behavior is likely to reflect similar concerns with many consumers choosing to

02:38stay home due to safety fears and the overall tension of living under a state

02:43of emergency and this could lead to a notable decline in sales and impact

02:47business profitability and of course by extension our government's revenues from

02:52taxes on income and profits. Dr. Arjun says the SOE can also have an impact on

02:57Carnival revenue with activities due to start in a few weeks.

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