Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim had to turn back as he was travelling along the Beetham Highway two Thursdays ago to avoid being hit by home-made bombs that were being thrown at passing cars.
That was revealed by National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy during his contribution to yesterday's Senate debate on a bill to give effect to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.
"Ahead of him, there were molotov cocktails being thrown at cars in the street. He had to reverse and head back down the highway," Sandy added. Sandy said if the people had had the capacity to make something more lethal, "You would have had some casualties as a result of what happened."
Sandy said: "Based on his (Karim's) reports they actually hit some of these cars with these molotov cocktails and there was a voluminous fire in the road." Sandy said most people had to turn back. He said the bill was seeking to provide the legislative requirement to prevent such developments from taking place. Sandy said the Government was seeking to raise public awareness with respect to biological or chemical warfare.
Dealing with the issue of bomb threats in T&T, Sandy said he knew "that there are insufficient operatives in Trinidad and Tobago to deal with any number of bomb threats coming to the fore at the same time." He said there was a need for a national response framework for not only biological but also natural disasters.
"We must be prepared to deal with anything like that," Sandy stressed. He said the country would be "too vulnerable if we were not able to nip whatever it is in the bud."