Prime Minister Patrick Manning says he is confident that six fast patrol craft with which the T&T Coast Guard has been outfitted, and three other naval vessels arriving in the country soon will reduce significantly the drugs and illegal arms that have infiltrated the country. During the official handing-over ceremony of six 30-foot Australian vessels, at T&T Coast Guard headquarters in Stauble's Bay, Chaguaramas, yesterday, Manning sought to assure the public that their safety and security will not be compromised, since the Government had spent considerable resources to bring the country to this point. Addressing government ministers, high-ranking members of the T&T Regiment and T&T Police Service, Manning admitted that crime was the country's biggest problem, from which a lot of people were profiting. Manning said between 50 and 60 per cent of crimes committed were as a result of cocaine and illegal arms coming into our shores.
"If we are to eliminate and stem the importation of cocaine and the illegal arms trade in the country, then we will be in a position to reduce crime by at least 50 per cent." Manning said one initiative the Government undertook in its fight against crime was implementation of ten 360- degrees radar systems that monitored the coastline. The other was the purchasing of six fast patrol craft, 12 interceptors and two C-26 aircraft to patrol both air and sea, not only in T&T, but the Eastern Caribbean. And within the next few months, Manning said, three fully-equipped 90-metre vessels would grace our shores to beef up our naval assets. Manning said while the naval fleet would put us in a position, for the first time, to confront the drug and arms trade, what was needed were proper methods of operation and integrity... Manning said he felt confident that T&T would impact significantly on the drug and arms trade, thereby reducing our levels of crime.
