Rev Daniel Teelucksingh feels T&T is going around in circles in a bid to find a solution to the country’s increasing murders. Teelucksingh believes that our rulers should hold an extraordinary meeting comprising a Joint Select Committee of Parliament inclusive of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams and members from the Law Association of T&T to come up with a crime solution.
“If there is a solution to our crime problem, this committee of our rulers must find it. “They may look again at those old laws that have been a millstone around our neck and close those legal and social backdoors and the escape hatch exploited by the criminally minded. Let our leaders together recover the will-power to fearlessly lead our nation with courage and determination,” Teelucksingh said.
Teelucksingh said T&T needed political, judicial and social will to find a solution to crime. “The answer may not be in fresh elections or a new government. We have tried that for decades. There is no salvation in fresh elections with multiple promises. “We are going around in circles in search for solutions to our horrendous crime problem.”
Teelucksingh said it was not the first time we have asked what has gone wrong with our criminal justice system. He said several babies and young children, including Sean Luke, Hope Arismandez, Jacob Munroe, Daniel Guerra and Keyana Cumberbatch have lost their lives at the hands of criminals.
Teelucksingh also spoke about the discovery of three bodies—that of baby Shania, Irma Rampersad and Felix Martinez, who went missing from their home and were found murdered days later in the forest in Brasso Seco. Teelucksingh said a fresh wound was opened when Shania’s decomposing body was discovered in a bag and her skull smashed in. “It is like a horror story repeated in Trinidad. It is terrible. It is a frightening situation. It’s like a recurring decimal.
“We’ve had the most brutal and most gruesome of murders in Trinidad. And we are just sitting down and waiting. “What are we doing? We are just looking at one another.”
Teelucksingh said though the unearthing of sophisticated high-powered firearms was nothing new, the bigger question one has to ask was “who are the big fish importing them for use in Trinidad and Tobago?” If our regular courts are unable to expeditiously address gun–related matters, then let us establish a Gun Court and make it work for us.”