Leader of the Opposition Dr Keith Rowley yesterday renewed his call for the immediate end to the state of emergency, which he said was serving no useless purpose. He said: "The state of emergency, as a response to fighting criminal activity in T&T, has outlived any potential usefulness." He said the Government was "preserving and maintaining an unnecessary state of emergency so as to have a political advantage on T&T." Rowley said that during a news conference at his Charles Street, Port-of-Spain, office yesterday. "We are calling on the Government to cease and desist immediately. There is no need for our country to be under a state of emergency. The Government must end the curfew immediately. It does not relate to any crime-fighting," Rowley added.
He said the police could continue its work without a state of emergency. "And as of today, the Government cannot justify why we have to have regulations that curtail other normal, democratic activity. "The Government is abusing its authority and it is using the Police Service for political purposes," Rowley added. He said almost half of the people arrested and charged under the Anti-Gang Act have been freed as the police were unable to provide evidence to support their cases. Rowley said the legislation should be amended as soon as possible to prevent abuse. He said that must be done because the police have been "picking up people and taking them to court with insufficient or no evidence at all."
Rowley said the Anti-Gang Act should be amended to allow police evidence to be reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). He said if that was done there would be no repeat of people being arrested and charged and being set free by the courts for a lack of supporting evidence. He said the law was approved on the expectation that the police would present evidence to support the cases in court. Rowley also called for the immediate resignation of the National Security Minister, who claimed the state of emergency was imposed on August 21 because of a specific threat to the State that was far worse then the 1990 attempted coup.
Rowley said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was subsequently quoted as saying she was not aware of any such threat. "This is not a case of two beer cans falling on somebody's feet, you know. This is a state of emergency," he added. He said all of the people detained under the state of emergency could have been held without it. He said most of the people were detained for traffic and maintenance and other outstanding warrants. Rowley said the emergency was "hampering political activity and labour activity." He predicted that once the emergency continued into December, many people would continue to lose their jobs and business also would be affected negatively.