Roti police.
This is the phrase Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen used to describe four police officers who have allegedly been “assigned to run customers” from the High Way Roti Shop, after the owner of the establishment reportedly refused to supply free roti for a senior police officer’s son’s wedding.
The establishment is located at the corner of Nelson Road and the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Freeport.
Ramdeen made the comments while speaking during the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act in the Senate yesterday.
Calling on Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who is a member of the National Security Council, to immediately probe the matter, Ramdeen said, “While the sanctioned strength of the Police Service is almost 1500 officers or less...we have almost three robberies a day, two motor vehicle larceny per day, people being raped, murdered and kidnap throughout T&T...the Police Service has the resources to have two police vehicles parked up at the High Way Roti Shop with four officers...two in each vehicle for about 12 hours every day guarding the High Way Roti shop.
“We cannot afford to have four officers telling people proceed when they stop to buy a roti because a deputy commissioner of police wanted free roti for his son’s wedding,” Ramdeen said.
He said this was something that deeply disturbed him and urged Al-Rawi to investigate where a vehicle, registered PCU 692, was parked on Monday.
On the issue of road deaths, Ramdeen also said many notable figures, including the brother of Senate President Christine Kangaloo, had lost their lives on the nation’s roads. He said he too had experienced a related tragedy in his own life as one of his cousins died in an accident. He also took the police to task for failing to properly enforce the laws, especially in areas others than on the highways.