Port of Spain – The Government of Trinidad and Tobago was forced to declare a state of emergency as several persons have been killed in the week-long gang violence that has been reported from various parts of the nation.
As per the reports more than five people have been killed on the twin Island Nation in the past one week.
Responding to the situation and to bring it under control the Government of Trinidad and Tobago declared a state of emergency under which the police and the military has been mobilized to check criminal gangs who are engaged in violent activities within the nation.
Under the state of emergency no curfew has been imposed and no restrictions have been ordered on schools and local businesses. The enforcement officers have been asked to detain and even arrest individuals who are suspected of being involved in gang violence. The law enforcement officers will be able to detain any suspects for a period of 48 hours under the state of emergency.
According to Fitzgerald Hinds, the government was concerned about the prevailing circumstances in Trinidad and Tobago. He said the government has decided to crackdown on members of the local criminal gangs, who are involved in the recent violence. He said that the government will be taking strict action against individuals involved in the recent violence and the situation will be brought under control very soon.
He said that the new year celebrations that have already been planned have not yet been called off and will be held as planned.
Stuart Young, Acting Attorney General, said the incidents of gang violence had been reported from various parts of the nation. He said that members of the criminal gangs were seen moving around on the roads carrying illegal weapons, but now the government has stepped up its efforts to crackdown on these individuals.
He said that in order to protect the lives of the local citizens and to put members of the criminal gangs behind the bars the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had decided to declare a state of emergency.
It has been stated that during the year 2024 a total of 623 cases of homicides have been reported from various parts of the nation. Out of these 263 cases have been those in which people were killed in gang violence.
Prior to the state of emergency that had been declared in the nation on Monday, similar measures had been put in place in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of disease on the island.
Before that a state of emergency had been declared by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration, almost 10 years ago, when criminals had become quite active in various parts of the nation. During this state of the emergency the government had also been forced to impose curfew in various parts of the nation.
As of now there is no clarity as to when the state of emergency will last in Trinidad and Tobago. However the government functionaries have stated that the idea behind declaring the state of emergency was to check the killings that were taking place in various parts of the nation due to gang related violence.
These officials said that once the situation was brought under control the government will withdraw its orders on the state of emergency.
These officials also maintained that no curfew has been imposed anywhere in the nation so that citizens could carry out their normal routines. The police and the military have been deployed across all strategic locations in the nation to deal with the situation, the officials said.
They said that ensuring the safety and security of the people was of paramount importance for the Government and all steps were being taken to ensure the same.
