PHILLIP EDWARD ALEXANDER, Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) leader, on Tuesday derided this week's Caricom crime symposium as "a con job" and instead called for commissions of enquiry into TT's system of justice, banking sector and illegal drug trade.
On the second and final day of a symposium on crime,e as a public health issue hosted by the Prime Minister at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Alexander had a 43 minute broadcast titled, Address to the nation on matters of crime and criminality.
"Trinidad and Tobago's violent crime is not part of any regional issue and it certainly is not a public health issue.
"Our crime (situation) is a combination of a failure of governments to govern and a corruption of our entire system of governance from the very top to the bottom."
He referred to the Scott Drug Report which he said was so damning that it could have destabilised the country to find out the names of public office holders, private businessmen, lawyers, accountants and others involved in the drug trade.
"That was 45 years ago. Where we are now as a country is as a result of allowing that to fester and mature and bloom."
He bemoaned top politicians publicly marching with known criminal gang leaders responsible for murders and violent crimes, despite the warnings of police top-brass.
Saying crime would dry up if TT did not have people languishing in poverty to serve organised criminality, Alexander asked where TT's wealth had gone, without any development of a functioning society.
He described TT as "a crime scene" of organised crime at the level of the board room and state room.
"All of the violent crime we have as a nation are symptoms and fallout from that."
Lamenting a shortage of Customs and Excise staff and the non-functioning of port scanners donated by the US, he alleged the authorities had repeatedly failed to stem the influx of illicit guns and drugs. He alleged WASA's records building burns down any time an audit is about to be done.
"Trinidad and Tobago is a corrupt, broken society from the top down," he remarked, alleging links of corruption between politicians and business people, facilitated by lawyers and accountants, all creating a contract mafia.
He claimed no maritime drug bust in TT was ever carried out by the TT Coast Guard acting alone, but only involving external powers. Lamenting the discovery of regiment-issued bullets at murder scenes, he sombrely observed that either the regiment was unable to secure its ammunition or soldiers were now serving as assassins.
Alexander said that amid the Caricom conference, TT was now a broken nation. He alleged the Prime Minister was clueless, but used the conference as a photo-opp.
He hit St Vincent PM Dr Ralph Gonsalves call for no bail for murder, saying this could result in accused persons languishing for years in jail awaiting trial.
Alexander said any COEs into TT's justice system, banking sector and drug trade, would throw high societ
