THE Prime Minister outlined a two-pronged strategy to reduce violent crime – putting pressure on the business done by criminals and keeping youngsters away from the lure of crime – at a media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, on Monday.
After giving an account of Caricom heads' recent meeting with US vice president in the Bahamas which included anti-crime talks, Dr Rowley was asked how confident he was of a turnaround this year in Trinidad and Tobago's murder rate.
"It is my belief that if we put sufficient pressure on the criminal element – make the loopholes less slippery, make the supplies more difficult to have – that the criminals will find their business more difficult to carry out against the population.
"We just have to stay on the job and apply more and more pressure.
"And, of course, on the parallel to that, we steer away from criminal activity the number of young people who seem to be on a conveyor belt towards criminal conduct by creating opportunities for more and more of them to choose lawful lifestyles."
He said, towards this end, the Government was putting more resources into the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service to help more people.
Rowley then made a somewhat cryptic remark.
"But I'll tell you one thing in the context of your question. We talk here about external influence and an external response... My biggest concern and fear is the threat currently posed to us by legal actions or supposedly legal actions in TT which has put the nation's national security at great peril.
"I will tell you more, at the appropriate time, in the appropriate place."
He said, at the recent talks, Caribbean leaders asked the US to help curb the flow of illicit firearms to the Caribbean.
The US Department of Justice, Rowley said, would name one of its experienced prosecutors as Firearms Co-ordinator to monitor and act on the prosecution of firearms trafficking.
The creation of this post would help the region curb arms traffickers making "straw purchases" of firearms, intended for the Caribbean, using the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, recently passed in the US.
"All of this is us as governments, including the US Government, putting our agencies to work to put pressure on the supply of illicit items into our territories, to stop it and to prosecute those who are engaged."
He said the measures would deter gun crime and bring criminals to justice.
"The US is going to help the Caribbean with forensic capabilities."
Forensic centres will be set up in St Lucia, Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas, he said
Rowley said 400 out of 600 murders in TT last year were done by illicit firearms, with TT not being any source of firearms.
Recalling last week's successful recovery of a Galil assault rifle missing from Teteron Barracks, he said that showed the importance of intelligence against crime as he looked forward to the establishment of the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CGIU) to facilitate regional co-operation.
The CGIU will provide training, analysis and regional
