The development of a country is neither easy nor a linear process. Sometimes nations are becalmed and the pace of development is slow and jerky. Sharp bursts of growth are followed by prolonged pauses. Institutional capacity may lag societal needs and the laws fail to keep pace with the changes. The national interest may not mean the same thing to all interest groups as competing interests exist. The political process and elections provide an opportunity to elaborate an approach and develop a consensus. The winning party has five years to address the priorities.
Shaping the communication to focus on solutions to existential problems is a primary function of government. The key objective is to maintain law and order, to keep the peace and conditions stable so citizens can get on with their lives. The Government should only intervene to correct the weak spots or unblock lock jams where systems are not working or unfit for purpose. If the systems are not working, then the intervention becomes a matter of some urgency. T&T is at a stage where urgent intervention is required as the level of crime and criminality is reaching the point where it has the potential to destabilise society as we know it.
The deterioration has been slow but steady. Successive governments have contributed to, if not exacerbated the current crime wave. The murder rate was steady between 1988 to 1999 averaging 100 murders per year. Since 2000 the murder rate has increased steadily and today we note a proliferation of automatic and semi-automatic weapons on the streets, in videos on social media as young gang members show they fear none.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Last week, this newspaper highlighted the procession of community leaders with whom there was attempted dialogue, and all have been despatched to the great beyond. The police appear ineffectual. Murders have taken place in front of and close to police stations. Interdiction efforts are presented as public relations exercises rather than serious detective work. A cache of weapons is found 1.5 kilometres into a forested area after months of surveillance work, but no one connected to the cache has either been detected or apprehended.
All the available evidence suggests that a large part of the criminal activity and rivalry associated therewith results in a brutal war for turf, government contracts, and “protection” money. The president of the Contractors’ Association and a prominent contractor both called on the Government to do more to eradicate the “protection” racket as gangs demand extortion money, or “employment” of their members if the construction activity is to proceed.
Failure to comply leads to attacks on legitimate employees or “accidents” in the workplace, an unofficial system of “taxation”.
Everyone, not only contractors, is affected as are legitimate businesses in many parts of T&T. This is the logical outcome of keeping community leaders “fed” with URP or maintenance contracts on government make-work programmes, whether they are called “Colour me Orange” or URP. The result is the same. It aids and abets the growth of an underworld, an incipient mafia.
This is a national emergency, a clear and present danger to the national interest. Elected officials on both sides of the political divide must talk and act. The time for political posturing is long gone. The areas on which both parties must collaborate, without preconditions, are energy policy and national security. The country needs leadership today.