A small number of people who have been to areas where the Islamic State (Isis) is operating and who have returned to T&T are under surveillance, Prime Minister Keith Rowley has confirmed.
He gave the reply in response to an opposition query in Parliament yesterday. Opposition MP Vidia Gayadeen-Gopeesingh had asked what steps the Government has taken to treat with the possible and/or eventual return of T&T nationals fighting with Isis.
Rowley said legislative adjustments are needed to deal with the situation. But he said the Government was aware of people going abroad and taking part in hostile action. He said Government also knew who had gone to those areas and returned home and was dealing with this via surveillance. He said because they could not be denied access to their home country, Government had to treat them as security concerns.
On other opposition queries, Rowley also confirmed that Government will implement mechanisms to pay the $1 million compensation package—promised under the PP administration—to officers killed in the line of duty. He said when these situations occur, the population shouldn’t begrudge a family.
On steps Government is taking to deal with the murder rate, Rowley put the challenge to the police and security sector in whose hands he said the responsibility for handling crime lies. “It’s not in the hands of teachers, lawyers or priests.”
Adding that the Government has on its payroll a large body of people whose job it is to respond on crime, he said Government was trying to appoint good, strong leadership in the Police Service and was ensuring training and resources aided high morale to confront the criminal element. He said nothing dramatic has happened in the Police Service to result in the current decline in detection, but Government was aware crimes were being committed and “we’re not hearing about follow-ups,” he stressed.
“This is unacceptable and the Minister of National Security and all those in security have a duty to ensure this is turned around.”
He said Government had brought to Parliament legislation for security agencies to get into the conversations of those planning crime. He said the State would ensure agencies have what they need to fight crime and he expected this would lead to an increase in detection.
Rowley faced grilling from Opposition MPs on the Office of the Prime Minister’s (OPM) purchase of a new Mercedes Benz vehicle for his transport. Asked by Tabaquite MP Suruj Rambachan if it would not have been prudent to defer the purchase given the state of the economy, Rowley said it was prudent to have bought a vehicle for $900,000 and not $2 million as the Opposition claimed.
He reiterated the vehicle purchase had been in the pipeline and it was needed to replace the previous one which was nine years old and required much costly maintenance, including having security issues.