Business leaders say it’s time for a limited SoE

Some business chambers believe that a limited State of Emergency (SOE) in known hotspots will help with the crime crisis. But the chairman of the Confederation of Regional Businesses, Vivek Charran says the SoEs in the past have not helped solve the crime issue.

People from different quarters of the country have been calling for an SoE as a recent spike in the number of murders occurring daily has left citizens uneasy.

Criminologists and former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, told the Sunday Guardian that an SoE is not the answer.

But the leaders of some business chambers, have a different take on the impact a SoE would have on the country.

The last State of Emergency in the country was in 2011 under the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led administration.

Yesterday, Angie Jairam, president of the Fyzabad Chamber called for a limited SoE in known hotspots and at-risk communities. She said this must be accompanied by joint police/army patrols throughout the country.

“This will serve to revive some confidence that has been lost by the business community and by the population as a whole. A full State of Emergency would hurt businesses, particularly restaurants, bars, street food, and even nightclubs. In this way, there will be business continuity simultaneously limiting criminal activities and eventually building trust with the Police Service over time. Consequently, more social programmes are also needed,” Jairam stressed.

Samuel George, Chairman of the Gasparillo Chamber agreed with the implementation of a limited SoE but noted that this is only one step.

He agreed that more social programmes were badly needed to be implemented to assist at-risk youth.

George also indicated that the SoE must be able to involve nightly curfews, longer detention periods without formal charges, and the ability of police to search properties without warrants.

However, Confederation of Regional Businesses, Vivek Charran said over the years when an SoE is called it creates more conflict.

“What it created where curfews were involved, it created a period where there was conflict. And then after the SoE was lifted, criminal activity just rebounded, and it doubled. The second thing is, a State of Emergency, particularly when it involves curfews and so on, it has always hurt business. As the head of a business chamber that represents many small and medium businesses, I have to say that I am not going to propose anything that is going to hurt businesses more than they’re already hurting.

“They are hurting from foreign exchange shortages, they’re hurting from the reduced commercial activity, they’re hurting because of increased costs, increased debt, especially after COVID-19,” Charran lamented.

He noted that violent crimes and gang killings are of great concern.

“So what we’re seeing is the same leadership in crime, and the results are not where it’s supposed to be, yet the leadership is not being changed,” he added.

However, Emerson Chadee, president of the Siparia Chamber said that something has to be done to arrest the unacceptable levels of crime taking place nationwide, but at the same time allow for business continuity.

Chadee called on the Government to allocate more resources to the police service to address the scourge of crime and institute the joint police/army patrols as an immediate stopgap measure, accompanied by the SoE.

Meanwhile, Daphne Bartlett, president of the San Fernando Business Association (SBA) has called on the Government to address the inflows of illegal guns.

She too called for a limited SoE and for the police service to be properly resourced. However, the SBA also said once the Pointe-a-Pierre Refinery is reopened it would bring about economic improvement and this may result in sustainable employment for the nation’s youth.

Ricardo Mohammed, CRBC Vice Chairman and president of the EBMA (Eastern Merchants Business Association) said the TTPs should access external assistance, and this can be made possible through a Government-to-Government arrangement with the United States.

“This step can ensure that the TTPS gets all the technical assistance it needs to deal with crime.”

Mohammed also supports a limited State of Emergency, similar to what exists in Jamaica.

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