Message to the PEOPLE from the YOUR PARTY Leadership
CRIME AND CORRUPTION and the PURSUIT OF A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS SOCIETY
Trinidad and Tobago is a country rich in its people's talent and its natural resources. There is no reason why we cannot become a prosperous nation which shares it's wealth but also rewards hard work and enterprise.
I believe that by working together we can achieve great things - but first we must get our own house in order. It saddens and frustrates me that criminal and corrupt elements are stopping our country and its people from reaching their full potential.
For me, the highest duty of any government to its citizens is to be able to ensure that they can go about their daily lives free from harassment from criminals and hooligans and in the knowledge that our law enforcement agencies are doing their jobs honestly and efficiently and without showing favouritism to any particular groups.
Government must also guarantee that its public servants, courts and agencies will be both properly paid and free of corruption.
Once we have transformed those institutions and shown to criminals who is in charge of our nation we will see prosperity grow and peace reign in the cities, towns and rural communities of our great country.
Once corruption has been exposed and rooted out then businesses and industries will be able to flourish without being burdened by the inefficiencies - the unseen taxes we know as bribes - that are a scourge on the best practices of businesses and the ability of households to make ends meet.
But we cannot just wish gang crime, police corruption, overcrowded courts and government inefficiencies away - we need new programs, new laws and the commitment of the people of Trinidad and Tobago to turn this dream into a reality.
To transform our country and to make all our lives better we have to join together and say "enough is enough!" Trinidad needs a government and a leader who will do what so many of our leaders have failed to do - Trinidad and Tobago deserves a leader who will lead. Our nation demands a leader who will put in place new, accountable institutions committed to rooting out and ridding our country of the weeds that infest our national garden stopping the flower of our nation from blooming.
Our people deserve a leader who will act fairly and fearlessly for ALL Trinidad and Tobagonians - not just for one group or another. The problems of crime and corruption afflict us all. They don't discriminate - they drag down Afro and Indians alike, Christians and Muslims, men and women, young and old. It is a scourge on us all and when we fail to act together to repel it we are all weakened.
As I said, it's not enough to try to talk or wish these diseases away - we need specific policies and laws that will be the medicine with which we will treat the disease. We can find a cure by looking at these problems and working out how they can be overcome -while still preserving our precious democracy.
My fellow countrymen, our nation isn't alone in having to deal with these problems - they exist in many parts of the world. Some countries have dealt with them and others have not. We can look to the best of what the world has to offer in the fight against violent crime, gang led drug trading, police corruption and government inefficiencies and favouritism.
Why should Trinidad and Tobago have to settle for second or third best? We should have the pick of the crop when it comes to cleaning up crime and corruption, and developing this beautiful country.
So, today I wish to announce just some of the measures a Government led by YOUR Party will implement.
1. The first act of a YOUR Party Government will be to introduce a bill to establish the "Trinidad and Tobago Corruption Commission" (TTCC) an independent government corruption watchdog. This body will have both investigative and judicial powers. It will be presided over by a senior judge and will be responsible for investigating and then holding public inquiries into cases of official corruption involving government officials (including police), members of parliament and ministers. The TTCC will have the power to call witnesses and question and cross examine them under oath, as in a regular court. If the TTCC finds evidence of corruption it will refer the case to prosecutors for prosecution.
One division of the TTCC will be focused entirely on corruption within the police force. It will have the power to conduct surveillance on individual police officers suspected of engaging in corrupt or criminal behaviour. This division of the TTCC will have the power to undertake "integrity tests" on police - this involves having undercover officers pretend to be criminals and offer bribes and other corrupt inducements to police to see how they respond. While the overwhelming majority of our police are honest, hardworking men and women, nevertheless, there are some who are not and these powers are essential to help us weed them out. After all, what chance do ordinary citizens have if those who are responsible for preventing crime are actually working with criminals? This culture had to stop if our nation and its people are to progress.
So, the TTCC will be critical in the country's advancement. It will, in effect, be a standing Executive Commission and will be empowered to investigate any matter it chooses, without interference from anyone in Government or Parliament. The government will not be able to stop an inquiry or investigation established by the TTCC but the Supreme Court will have the power to restrain the TTCC if it starts acting beyond its powers.
The importance of bodies like the TTCC which currently operate in other countries is that they send a powerful message to corrupt officials, MPs and businesses that they will be found out and publicly exposed. These anti-corruption bodies serve both the eradicate and to educate.
I will make it my most pressing order of business to find the best people here and overseas to run the TTCC and all the other bodies I establish. I will not allow these institutions to be undermined from within.
At the same time as I move against official corruption I will introduce the toughest anti-gang laws in the free world. Organised crime is a cancer on our society - it feeds on the people least able to defend themselves against it, often in the poorest areas where gun violence is amongst the worst in the world. Gangs and other organised crime elements have to be countered with special laws and programs that allow specialist police squads to deal with them. In the United States and elsewhere governments have successfully taken on and beaten organised criminal elements with special laws aimed at breaking them up and seize their ill gotten gains.
Police with special powers will infiltrate then bust these gangs and their leaders put them before special courts to be prosecuted. These courts, like the anti-Mafia courts in Italy will be given special powers to prevent intimidation of judges and prosecutors by corrupt and criminal elements. I will make it a crime for known gang members to associate with one another or contact one another. Any breaches will be detected through phone taps and listening devices and the offenders will be thrown in prison.
I will also raise the penalties for being in possession of a fire arm when any crime is carried out. I will have a "zero tolerance" policy for these criminals and will look to the example of New York which introduced such policies and cleaned up the toughest city in the United States.
I will bring in the best professionals to train local Trinidadian law enforcement officials. There will be no opportunity for criminal ad corrupt elements to undermine these programs.
These are just two planks of my election platform. In the foregoing weeks I will unveil more detail of these and more policies touching on other critically important aspects of our society - such as Health, Education, Sustainable growth, Economic management. Taxation and Defence.
I chose to unveil the key aspects of these two policies today because they represent the foundations of a new and exciting Trinidad and Tobago. A country where it's citizens can go about their daily lives free from the scourge of gun violence, drug gangs and corrupt officials. In the coming weeks I will show how we can pay for these initiatives through a variety of means, including the confiscation of the property and proceeds of crime.
Today however, I want our people to start imagining a better Trinidad and Tobago. If we dare to believe in ourselves and in new leadership then our country and its people are on their way on a journey that will lead to a better, safer, happier and more prosperous Trinidad and Tobago.
CRIME AND CORRUPTION and the PURSUIT OF A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS SOCIETY
Trinidad and Tobago is a country rich in its people's talent and its natural resources. There is no reason why we cannot become a prosperous nation which shares it's wealth but also rewards hard work and enterprise.
I believe that by working together we can achieve great things - but first we must get our own house in order. It saddens and frustrates me that criminal and corrupt elements are stopping our country and its people from reaching their full potential.
For me, the highest duty of any government to its citizens is to be able to ensure that they can go about their daily lives free from harassment from criminals and hooligans and in the knowledge that our law enforcement agencies are doing their jobs honestly and efficiently and without showing favouritism to any particular groups.
Government must also guarantee that its public servants, courts and agencies will be both properly paid and free of corruption.
Once we have transformed those institutions and shown to criminals who is in charge of our nation we will see prosperity grow and peace reign in the cities, towns and rural communities of our great country.
Once corruption has been exposed and rooted out then businesses and industries will be able to flourish without being burdened by the inefficiencies - the unseen taxes we know as bribes - that are a scourge on the best practices of businesses and the ability of households to make ends meet.
But we cannot just wish gang crime, police corruption, overcrowded courts and government inefficiencies away - we need new programs, new laws and the commitment of the people of Trinidad and Tobago to turn this dream into a reality.
To transform our country and to make all our lives better we have to join together and say "enough is enough!" Trinidad needs a government and a leader who will do what so many of our leaders have failed to do - Trinidad and Tobago deserves a leader who will lead. Our nation demands a leader who will put in place new, accountable institutions committed to rooting out and ridding our country of the weeds that infest our national garden stopping the flower of our nation from blooming.
Our people deserve a leader who will act fairly and fearlessly for ALL Trinidad and Tobagonians - not just for one group or another. The problems of crime and corruption afflict us all. They don't discriminate - they drag down Afro and Indians alike, Christians and Muslims, men and women, young and old. It is a scourge on us all and when we fail to act together to repel it we are all weakened.
As I said, it's not enough to try to talk or wish these diseases away - we need specific policies and laws that will be the medicine with which we will treat the disease. We can find a cure by looking at these problems and working out how they can be overcome -while still preserving our precious democracy.
My fellow countrymen, our nation isn't alone in having to deal with these problems - they exist in many parts of the world. Some countries have dealt with them and others have not. We can look to the best of what the world has to offer in the fight against violent crime, gang led drug trading, police corruption and government inefficiencies and favouritism.
Why should Trinidad and Tobago have to settle for second or third best? We should have the pick of the crop when it comes to cleaning up crime and corruption, and developing this beautiful country.
So, today I wish to announce just some of the measures a Government led by YOUR Party will implement.
1. The first act of a YOUR Party Government will be to introduce a bill to establish the "Trinidad and Tobago Corruption Commission" (TTCC) an independent government corruption watchdog. This body will have both investigative and judicial powers. It will be presided over by a senior judge and will be responsible for investigating and then holding public inquiries into cases of official corruption involving government officials (including police), members of parliament and ministers. The TTCC will have the power to call witnesses and question and cross examine them under oath, as in a regular court. If the TTCC finds evidence of corruption it will refer the case to prosecutors for prosecution.
One division of the TTCC will be focused entirely on corruption within the police force. It will have the power to conduct surveillance on individual police officers suspected of engaging in corrupt or criminal behaviour. This division of the TTCC will have the power to undertake "integrity tests" on police - this involves having undercover officers pretend to be criminals and offer bribes and other corrupt inducements to police to see how they respond. While the overwhelming majority of our police are honest, hardworking men and women, nevertheless, there are some who are not and these powers are essential to help us weed them out. After all, what chance do ordinary citizens have if those who are responsible for preventing crime are actually working with criminals? This culture had to stop if our nation and its people are to progress.
So, the TTCC will be critical in the country's advancement. It will, in effect, be a standing Executive Commission and will be empowered to investigate any matter it chooses, without interference from anyone in Government or Parliament. The government will not be able to stop an inquiry or investigation established by the TTCC but the Supreme Court will have the power to restrain the TTCC if it starts acting beyond its powers.
The importance of bodies like the TTCC which currently operate in other countries is that they send a powerful message to corrupt officials, MPs and businesses that they will be found out and publicly exposed. These anti-corruption bodies serve both the eradicate and to educate.
I will make it my most pressing order of business to find the best people here and overseas to run the TTCC and all the other bodies I establish. I will not allow these institutions to be undermined from within.
At the same time as I move against official corruption I will introduce the toughest anti-gang laws in the free world. Organised crime is a cancer on our society - it feeds on the people least able to defend themselves against it, often in the poorest areas where gun violence is amongst the worst in the world. Gangs and other organised crime elements have to be countered with special laws and programs that allow specialist police squads to deal with them. In the United States and elsewhere governments have successfully taken on and beaten organised criminal elements with special laws aimed at breaking them up and seize their ill gotten gains.
Police with special powers will infiltrate then bust these gangs and their leaders put them before special courts to be prosecuted. These courts, like the anti-Mafia courts in Italy will be given special powers to prevent intimidation of judges and prosecutors by corrupt and criminal elements. I will make it a crime for known gang members to associate with one another or contact one another. Any breaches will be detected through phone taps and listening devices and the offenders will be thrown in prison.
I will also raise the penalties for being in possession of a fire arm when any crime is carried out. I will have a "zero tolerance" policy for these criminals and will look to the example of New York which introduced such policies and cleaned up the toughest city in the United States.
I will bring in the best professionals to train local Trinidadian law enforcement officials. There will be no opportunity for criminal ad corrupt elements to undermine these programs.
These are just two planks of my election platform. In the foregoing weeks I will unveil more detail of these and more policies touching on other critically important aspects of our society - such as Health, Education, Sustainable growth, Economic management. Taxation and Defence.
I chose to unveil the key aspects of these two policies today because they represent the foundations of a new and exciting Trinidad and Tobago. A country where it's citizens can go about their daily lives free from the scourge of gun violence, drug gangs and corrupt officials. In the coming weeks I will show how we can pay for these initiatives through a variety of means, including the confiscation of the property and proceeds of crime.
Today however, I want our people to start imagining a better Trinidad and Tobago. If we dare to believe in ourselves and in new leadership then our country and its people are on their way on a journey that will lead to a better, safer, happier and more prosperous Trinidad and Tobago.
