Gabriel Faria, CEO of T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce, says the Government’s crime plan is a step in the right direction. He said members of the chamber’s crime committee recently met to discuss the plan.
On Thursday, at a joint press conference, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams announced plans for extra army resources, doubling of manpower for the Homicide Division and Director of Public Prosecutions’ Office, as well as establishment of a DNA register.
Faria said the first thing to do in solving a problem is to recognise there is a problem.
He said the fact that the homicide rate had escalated to 32 murders in just the first 19 days of the year was “entirely unacceptable.”
Commenting on Williams’ statement that he will not resign as acting Police Commissioner even with the spiralling homicide rate, Faria said: “I always believe when organisations fail the leader has to take the blame. In this environment I am sure there are forces at play that we need to deal with. In a private enterprise someone would have made the decision which is not necessarily to fire the police commissioner but to put in the infrastructure and the transparency to make sure that the matter is dealt with.”
He said he is looking forward to introduction of a DNA register but “based on historical performance, I am concerned.”
Faria said what citizens want the most is to live free from fear.