National Security Minister Edmund Dillon yesterday admitted that crime was intolerable in T&T and said the mandate of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) must be expanded to deal with the situation.
Yesterday, the murder rate for the year stood at 104.
Dillon was contributing to yesterday's House of Representatives debate on the Strategic Services (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was presented earlier by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Faris Al-Rawi.
"This bill seeks to deal with the national (security) interests of Trinidad and Tobago," Dillon told legislators, adding that "crime right now is intolerable with all of us. All of us cannot really tolerate the amount of crime in Trinidad and Tobago today," Dillon said.
He said consequently it was important for all legislators to unite in support of the fight against crime in a non-partisan manner.
He said there was no other issue getting as much attention among the population as issues of national security.
Dillon said for the six-month-old PNM Government there was no more important issue to address than the security of citizens in this country.
He said the bill was to give the required legislative authority to the expanded SSA.
The legislation gives the SSA "broader law enforcement coordination and intelligence functions."
He said if an expanded SSA existed in 1990, there would not have been an attempted coup in T&T as there would have been better coordination among the security agencies.
Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressed her support, in principle, for the intent of the legislation. She said the Opposition was prepared to work with the Government and support it with the required consultations.
She commented on the discovery of the body of Eden Nekeisha Teesdale from Embacadere, San Fernando, which was found in Mitan River on Thursday. The deceased’s hands and neck were severed and her body was cut in two. "What kind of horrible person (would commit such an act), you murder someone, you cut them in half, cut off the head and you place it in a barrel. Where has our country gone, where is it going?" Persad-Bissessar asked.
She said the Opposition had some concerns about certain provisions of the bill including one to authorise the interception of private chats on Facebook and other social media. The former prime minister called for checks and balances to be added to ensure there was no abuse.
Persad-Bissessar also admitted that the appointment of former junior operator Reshmi Ramnarine in 2011 as the director of the SSA was "a terrible mistake," adding that appointment may have resulted in her People’s Partnership government being voted out of office in 2015.
She pleaded with the Government not to make a similar mistake.