Systems in place to deal with extortion–Scotland

Freelance Correspondent

There are systems in place to deal with extortion, says Keith Scotland, Minister in the Ministry of National Security.

Scotland spoke with Guardian Media on Friday night following a 90-minute closed-door meeting with members of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIC) at the chamber’s Cumberbatch Street headquarters.

Scotland called on businessmen to make reports of extortion to the police as the T&T Police Service had put several arrangements in place that would speed up police response time.

He said one chamber member indicated that after a call on Friday morning, police took seven minutes to respond.

Scotland said he was remaining mum on the plans for Central.

“It remains this way because we want to see the results first and then we can speak about it, but the chamber was satisfied that we are acting in their best interest.

“Minister (Fitzgerald) Hinds, and I, the Government of T&T, are trying our very best to bring resources to bear in the Central Division.”

Chamber head Baldath Maharaj said he was pleased with the response from Scotland.

Maharaj said some of the strategies came into effect on Friday. “We feel a lot more assured that the police will be on the ground.“

He said there was a plan in place to deal with extortion.

“There is a robust plan in place in terms of how we catch them; he (Scotland) is now aware as to where they are located, what they actually do, and how they go about extorting money from businesses.”

CCIC members also raised concerns about the prevalence of Venezuelan gangs, firearms, violence, and criminal activity during the Christmas season.

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