PORT OF SPAIN — Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has launched a sharp rebuke of the ruling administration, accusing the incumbent government of deliberately attempting to pin responsibility for the country’s worsening violent crime surge on constituencies controlled by the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM). Beckles made the accusations public Saturday during remarks to attendees at the PNM’s annual Sport and Family Day, hosted at Port of Spain’s Nelson Mandela Park.
Beckles argues that from the moment the current United National Congress (UNC) administration took office, the government has failed to deliver on its promises to curb violent crime. Shortly after assuming power, the new government declared a national state of emergency, framing the move as a proactive first step to tackling widespread lawlessness. The administration also campaigned on a promise of a concrete, actionable national crime plan — but Beckles says that plan has yet to materialize.
“Despite telling the population they had a crime plan, they have no crime plan,” Beckles told the crowd, noting that deadly violence continues to rock communities across the country on a daily basis. “Daily there is a murder here and there.”
Her criticisms come in direct response to recent remarks from senior government officials that have linked ongoing gang violence and murder to opposition-held constituencies. The exchange traces back to May 8, when Defence Minister Wayne Sturge told Parliament that the high-profile killings of a 9-year-old girl in Morvant and a 2-year-old boy in Belmont were connected to escalating gang wars active in PNM-held districts. Days later on May 13, Attorney General John Jeremie defended Sturge’s comments during parliamentary debate, referencing a recent national security incident sparked by a member of a Belmont-based gang that prompted increased security measures at Parliament and expanded protection for multiple government officials.
During that same address, Jeremie alluded to gang presence in other affluent communities across the country, including Westmoorings and Goodwood Park, stopping short of naming the Members of Parliament that represent those districts. That omission, Beckles says, is clear evidence the government is only targeting opposition-held areas while avoiding acknowledging that crime plagues all corners of the nation.
Beckles emphasized that the incumbent UNC government holds full responsibility for addressing national crime as the sitting governing body, and its efforts to pin blame on the opposition amount to a deliberate distraction from its own policy failures. “Absolute lie. Crime is taking place in every single corner of Trinidad and Tobago including in their own constituencies,” she stated.
The opposition leader added that the PNM has repeatedly signaled its willingness to engage in bipartisan cooperation to craft effective crime reduction policy, but the ruling government has rejected any collaboration, choosing instead to scapegoat the opposition to cover for its own lack of action. “If you have no plan you cannot solve the crime problem. And they have no plan,” she added.