A little over two days after he was abducted from his home by a group of men posing as police officers, a 46-year-old fisherman from La Brea was rescued by police yesterday.
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Gunshots fired at rig workers—Roget
Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) leader Ancel Roget is calling for the borders to be locked down as he claimed offshore workers at Petrotrin platforms are being shot at while at work.
Roget also criticised the recently unveiled National Crime Preventative Programme (NCPP) as a sham, claiming that it will have no impact on crime and criminal activity in the country. Roget was speaking to reporters at Library Corner, San Fernando yesterday to drum up support for JTUM’s September 7 Rest and Reflection campaign.
He said, “We have our workers who work offshore, they witness on a daily and nightly basis transactions going on at our nation’s borders in the offshore environment, where drugs come in, where guns come in, and when you report these things nothing is done. We are saying that the lives of those workers, our members, are at risk because they are being shot at while at work on the platforms offshore because the borders are not locked down,” he said. Southwestern Division police said they were unaware of such reports.
Roget said the Government criticised the last administration for the cancellation of the Offshore Patrol Vessels but they have done absolutely nothing to secure the borders. He also called on Petrotrin to beef up security at the platforms, but he claimed the company had reduced the level of security in the off-shore fields and then declared a profit.
Saying that the Government has failed to deliver its campaign commitment to deal with crime, Roget said, “We are sitting ducks in this country waiting to be the next murder victim.”
He also called for active and aggressive prison reform, saying criminals were calling shots from inside the prison. He said the Government must commit the same resources they used to find the cellphone of the son of Finance Minister Colm Imbert to find missing people and bring the perpetrators of crimes to justice.
“That sham crime plan that they are attempting to put into place is just to hoodwink the public for yet another time or to appease the population not to get involved in rest and reflection on 7th of September. That will do precious little or nothing to protect the lives of citizens when sophisticated gun-toting bandits come to your door any hour of day or night.”
“We want the government to ensure that you have crime-fighting apparatus, DNA technology to detect crime and criminal activity and so on and of course to deal with the justice system which has collapsed and to treat with aggressive prison reform.”
Calling on businesses people in San Fernando and the public to support the union’s day of rest and reflection, Roget said so far they have had enormous support from people and businesses in Arima and Chaguanas.
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