Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is demanding the state of emergency and curfew imposed by Government be removed. He said after five weeks the Opposition was now resolute and firm in its view there was no need at this time for Government to have the country under a state of emergency. He said the disruption was painful to citizens. Rowley added: "We are calling on the Government to return Trinidad and Tobago to normalcy; to remove the curfew and to remove the state of emergency and allow the Commissioner of Police to exercise full non-political control of the Police Service; allow the Police Service to conduct aggressive policing activities with or without joint patrols involving the Defence Force, all of which can be done with the same objective as they are today, without a state of emergency."
Rowley said "the intervention" had definitely outlived its crime-fighting usefulness and that normal policing was taking place. He was speaking at a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Charles Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Opposition MPs, Dr Amery Browne and Colm Imbert, also addressed the media. Rowley said: "We see no additional and unique benefit for now having the country under a state of emergency. "The label of our country being under a state of emergency is not warranted, and, in fact, what is happening now is that the disruption to the economy is becoming more and more stark.
"Persons in business in Trinidad and in Tobago are now seeing the negative effects." He said those directly affected, with respect to the jobs and their income, were complaining about a hurt that was no longer explainable and that the Government was happy to use the environment of a state of emergency to be the only player on the stage. Rowley also called on Government to state the details of the crisis which was averted. He said it was unacceptable that after five weeks of sustained military, para-military and political activities the country still did not know what were the issues. He added: "We also are demanding that the Government not use the premise of crime-fighting to create a political advantage, while disrupting the lives of the people in the country and providing unnecessary pain, especially to persons who are least able to sustain the pain that is affecting them."