Trinidad & Tobago's national security at risk from government failure: MP Tancoo

MP Dave Tancoo claims that government failures have become severe enough to realize a national security risk. MP Tancoo has been in the news a lot in recent times, just earlier this month at the United National Congress (UNC), he stated that a bad crime situation is just getting worse as the police service is short staffed by an estimated of 22%.

Last weekend, he was in the papers because of his criticism of Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s statement about the NIF2 bond offering being a “tremendous success”, with MP Tancoo stating that the whole thing was a theatrical distraction from the economic, environmental and national security crises caused by the oil spill in Tobago.

Now he’s back again attacking the fact that members of judiciary are abruptly being denied access to police protection, Tancoo who himself has been on the receiving end of several threats believes that this denial of protection is a national security risk questioning the integrity of the commissioners in charge.

Tancoo states “From all accounts, it appears that a judge is being forced out of office due to the State declining to protect him. This should be deeply troubling to all citizens as the independence and security of judges are critical in the war on crime.”

He goes on to say “It is critical that those in the forefront of the fight against criminals be given the tools to do the job, chief among these being their safety. This is true for the members of the protective services and the Judiciary. I am calling on the Government and Police Commissioner to do their duty and not leave themselves open to speculation that they are negligent, impugning the independence of the judiciary or abusing their authority.”

Whether or not Tancoo’s concerns will be heard is yet to be determined, but the MP has done a great job convincing the general population that his claims and concerns possess merit and should be taken more seriously.