Penny: T&T Govt blaming crime on PNM areas

OPPOSITION Leader Pennelope Beckles says the government is attempting to blame crime on People’s National Movement (PNM) constituencies. She was speaking yesterday at the PNM Sport and Family Day held at Nelson Mandela Park, Port of Spain. She said as soon as the new administration came into office they had a state of emergency declared and despite telling the population they had a crime plan “they have no crime plan”.

During his contribution, the Attorney General spoke to the national security “incident” while defending statements by Defence Minister Wayne Sturge in Parliament on May 8, during which Sturge said the murders of a nine-year-old girl in Morvant and a two-year-old boy in Belmont were linked, and referenced ongoing gang warfare in constituencies represented by the PNM.

Speaking about the Government’s ‘war’ against gangs and criminal elements, Jeremie said gangs were located in Westmoorings, Goodwood Park, and “in some of the other places I would not say who are the representatives for those areas”.

T&T Express

......................A citizen of T&T would be aware of which party controls various areas.

Let's do a statical representation:.

Trinidad and Tobago Opposition Leader Pennelope "Penny" Beckles has accused the current government of attempting to falsely blame the country's severe crime problem on constituencies represented by the People's National Movement (PNM).

East-West Corridor and urban hubs...48.5 % of Crimes

Serious crime in Trinidad and Tobago is concentrated along the East-West Corridor and urban hubs, with recent reports highlighting political, geographic, and socioeconomic factors, including accusations regarding crime in specific districts. Key high-crime areas include Port of Spain, Laventille, Morvant, and parts of the Southern/Central regions, driven by gang violence, firearms, and transnational trafficking.

Historically and culturally, the urbanized northern strip stretching from Port of Spain eastward to Arima (the East-West Corridor) has recorded the highest density of violent offenses and gang-related homicides

Gang and Homicide Concentration: Areas such as Laventille, Morvant, Beetham, Sea Lots, and parts of Arima account for a disproportionate percentage of the nation's gun violence.

Urban Hub Infrastructure: The capital city of Port of Spain and neighboring commercial zones endure a high volume of street-level offenses, including armed robberies, larceny, and vehicle thefts, targeting dense daily commuter populations

 Following extreme spikes in violent crime, the government enacted strict State of Emergency (SOE) protocols. These measures granted law enforcement expanded search, seizure, and curfew powers specifically tailored to choke off gang mobility along the East-West Corridor.Such criminals have moved on to other areas of T&T.

East-West Corridor (Port of Spain, Tunapuna-Piarco, San Juan-Laventille)~.........48.5%

Within this belt, Port of Spain (17.3%) and Tunapuna-Piarco (16.7%) are the highest individual contributors.

Central Region (Central Division)....21.6%

The Central Division spans major commercial, residential, and agricultural zones like Chaguanas, Couva, Caroni, Cunupia, Freeport, and Tabaquite. In overall regional crime statistics, Chaguanas and Couva-Tabaquite-Talparo account for roughly 21.6% of the country's total serious crime.

Central and Southern Business Growth: Crime has increasingly bled into the Chaguanas, Couva, and San Fernando hubs. Gang factions have expanded into these regions to exploit booming legitimate businesses for money laundering, extortion, and high-end home invasions.

Central Region (Chaguanas, Couva-Tabaquite-Talparo)~........21.6%

Chaguanas (10.9%) and Couva (10.7%) combined

Southern Region (Southern & South-Western Divisions)...26.3 %

The Southern regions are broadly divided into the Southern Division (centered around San Fernando, Marabella, and Princes Town) and the South-Western Division (covering Point Fortin, Siparia, Fyzabad, Cedros, and Penal). Princes Town & Penal-Debe: These regions rank significantly lower for gang violence,

South-Western Maritime Infiltration: The focus along the urban corridors has left coastal rural areas like Cedros and Icacos vulnerable to transnational crime, where illicit arms and human trafficking run parallel to the localized street crime of the major cities.

Southern Region (San Fernando, Siparia, Princes Town, South-West Coast)~.......26.3%

Tobago (Tobago Division)~................3.6%

The percentage distribution of serious criminal incidents across the key geographic regions is heavily dominated by the northern urban corridor.

STATISTA, our statistics may be cited or quoted

@sgtdjones

That woman is dumb and probably the worst PNM leader ever,tell yuh wot,PNM is finished.

@granite

The T&T Government has sharply criticised Opposition Leader Beckles, accusing her of weak leadership and cowardice over her ongoing silence regarding the future of John-Bates.

Officials said Beckles was making herself “a joke to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” while also accusing her of hypocrisy for raising concerns about so-called “questionable characters.” They pointed instead to what they described as misconduct under the former administration.

“Questionable characteristics is when one gives their father CEPEP contracts, when ministers of government under the former regime sought to enrich themselves and their families with millions, if not billions of dollars in state contracts, while the people of Trinidad and Tobago suffered,” the Government said.

According to the criticism, Beckles would be well aware of what constitutes “questionable characteristics,” arguing that several members of the previous administration displayed such behaviour during her tenure.

The Government also raised concerns about Beckles’ ability to lead, suggesting her failure to decisively address serious issues within her own party undermines both her credibility and her ambitions for higher office.

“If the Leader of the Opposition cannot deal with serious matters in her own party, questions of questionable actions and characteristics, then how is she expected to govern as Prime Minister?” the statement read, describing her handling of the issue as a sign of weak leadership.

It further condemned her continued silence and deflection, stating: “Her continued silence on this matter, her continued deflection on this matter is nothing short of poor leadership. It continues to demonstrate to the people that she is a coward, she is afraid to take the hard and tough decisions.”

The Government suggested Beckles may be hesitant to remove John-Bates and Senator Faris Al-Rawi due to the potential political fallout, warning that such action could deepen divisions within the opposition PNM.

John-Bates was removed from the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on April 16, two days after concerns emerged over the alleged editing of a witness statement by former health minister Terrence Deyalsingh ahead of his appearance before the committee, of which John-Bates had been a member.

Al-Rawi has also been accused of involvement in the matter, though he has maintained that he acted solely in his capacity as Deyalsingh’s legal representative.

T&T Guardian Media.

Political analyst Dr Winford James emphasised the need for the Opposition Leader to resolve the matter quickly.