Founder, president and chief executive officer of Flaming Word Ministry (Praise City International) Bishop Dave Alleyne says crime has become endemic in T&T.He said it was now a reflection of the nation and "if it continues, it will define us as a people."He made the comment in an interview in response to the implementation of the state of emergency and the 11 pm to 4 am curfew now in effect.Asked whether he believed the authorities could arrest the crime problem, he said:
"The authorities cannot arrest crime by themselves. There must be concerted effort by all the stakeholders and a willingness and a commitment to reverse and restore our nation to a peaceful, loving and prosperous land."
When asked whether he could suggest any crime initiative to help curb crime he noted that he had had many initiatives and had even conducted crime symposiums and hosted the Police Community Outreach Project.
He said: "I believe that education and awareness programmes can result in a major shift. Authentic strategic partnering and networking with relevant sectors of society will not only bring about change but sustain change."
Alleyne said churches were trying within their capacity in the fight against crime.
"However, churches must put aside denominational positions and come together to deal with a national problem," he added.
He said the state of emergency and curfew had affected business and social activities in Chaguanas, "but I believe there are a lot of positive outcomes."
He said the emergency had affected him on every front, "personally and family-wise. It limits our freedom to socialise and recreate. Business-wise, it affects the decision to expand and conduct business without the fear of violence.
"Spiritually, it has affected the growth and expansion of church due to concerns of commuters safety."
He suggested, too, that tight off-shore security, strengthening maritime border patrols, radars and even a greater measure of monitoring of the ports and points of entry were other avenues which could be put in place to tackle the importation of drugs and illegal firearms.
Asked whether he supported the death penalty, Alleyne said: "I have always supported resuming of the death penalty and have even written articles on that topic. However, it cannot be viewed as a situation only as a consequence."
On the topic of a gun amnesty he said it was the duty of the security forces to weed out illegal guns.
He added: "It is the security forces' duty to flesh out all the guns and deal with the perpetrators.
"A strong message must be sent that the Trinidad and Tobago society will not tolerate certain behaviours."