The United National Congress (UNC) has no clue about National Security in my humble view. I have seen too many instances of the UNC, both in government and opposition misusing or misrepresenting our national security apparatus.
The UNC took on, as one of its first orders of business, the dismantling of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT). In similar priority, the UNC Government cancelled two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV). A clear indication of their disconnect and lack of appreciation for our National Security needs.
If the OPVs were not cancelled, the UNC may have been throwing 'boat rides' on the vessels. Not a far stretch of the imagination when we look at their track record with national security apparatus.
We remember during 2010-2015, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar taking her family and friends with her in the Prime Minister's vehicle PM 1. This ''joyride'' scenario was unfitting conduct for a Prime Minister in an official vehicle on state business. A clear demonstration of disregard for protocol and failed appreciation for the intended use of this official vehicle.
If that wasn't enough, Kamla Persad-Bissessar used a National Security helicopter as what appeared to be her personal airline. It was constantly reported that Mrs Persad-Bissessar neglected to stay in the Prime Minister's residence at the time and journeyed via helicopter to her Siparia home on the days she went to work. This component of the national security apparatus was therefore absent in taking up its prescribed function of patrolling and responding.
Another misuse, or some would say abuse, of our National Security mechanism was the State of Emergency (SOE). This was a panic response by the UNC government to a spike in murders, that caused curfews and the arrest of hundreds of innocent citizens notably of Afro Trinidadian decent.
So forgive the members of the population who do not find it strange that the Opposition is upset about the passing of the Strategic Services Amendment Bill 2016, which may actually help in the fight against crime. The filing of a motion of no confidence in the Attorney General, Faris Al-Rawi is farcical, however.
I look on with great interest but very low expectations, to see the level of debate that the Opposition will engage in when the time comes.
Martin Huggins
Arima