Penny: Govt downplaying murders, Cumuto bodies

The Opposition, led by Pennelope Beckles, has sharply criticized the current administration's handling of escalating crime and public safety concerns. At a PNM town hall meeting, Beckles decried what she termed the government's attempt to "minimize" the gravity of recent tragedies, including the murders of Corporal Anuska Eversley and young J’Layna Armstrong, and the disturbing discovery of dozens of infant bodies in Cumuto Cemetery.

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Fellow citizens, our innocent J’Layna Armstrong robbed of her future during a failed state of emergency. Police officer Anuska Eversley brutally murdered in a police station during a failed state of emergency. Fifty infant bodies unlawfully discarded, and they will have you believe that is a normal thing. How many of you hear about 50 bodies just buried in Trinidad very casually? And our Prime Minister say that is a regular thing—50 children, and that is a regular thing. This month we have already crossed 100 murders during a failed state of emergency

Beckles specifically challenged Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's remarks regarding the discovery of 50 infant bodies, expressing outrage that such a grim finding was allegedly presented as "a regular thing." She underscored the alarming statistic that the nation has already surpassed 100 murders this month, particularly during what she described as a "failed state of emergency." The Opposition Leader emphasized that murder is murder, regardless of the location, and that police officers, whether municipal or national, deserve equal protection and respect.

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I want you to pay close attention to what the Prime Minister said yesterday in relation to the death of the police officer in San Fernando. The Prime Minister would have you believe that because it is municipal police, the municipal police building is—that is not really a murder, and that have nothing to do with the police, because there’s different police. And she’s telling all you, continue going around normal

Furthermore, Beckles accused the Prime Minister of evading public accountability by avoiding press conferences, contrasting this with the Opposition's consistent availability to the media. This perceived lack of transparency and engagement, coupled with alleged broken campaign promises on taxation, fuels the Opposition's narrative of a government out of touch and lacking in sympathy. From our perspective in Trinidad and Tobago, these are not mere political talking points; they speak to the deep-seated anxieties of citizens grappling with crime and a government they feel is not adequately addressing their concerns.

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It matters not whether it’s a police station, whether it’s a market, whether it’s a school, whether it’s a house. Murder is murder. And police is police