Trinidad & Tobago
Rowley says 200 persons in
T&T with ISIS ties
Port-of-Spain – Two hundred persons in Trinidad and Tobago have ties to the Islamic State, or have expressed sympathy with the terrorist organisation, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said last week.
Rowley made the statement at the completion of the 29th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Caricom Heads of Government, which was held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
He was asked about the number of former ISIS fighters in Trinidad, and what was being done to monitor this, as well as Caricom's decision with regard to the rest of the region.
“A number of persons, relatively small number of persons, have left Trinidad and Tobago and have travelled to the Middle East to areas of combat. A few of those persons have come back to Trinidad and Tobago with their families, and as they do so they are monitored for their intentions and their activities,” said Rowley.
He added: “Trinidad and Tobago has had to step up our security and information gathering about persons who subscribed or sympathise with the doctrine of ISIS and who may be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago... From time to time, we have had to detain persons for investigation as part of our security responses to any threat that have deposed from such persons.”
Additionally, “With respect to the numbers, Trinidad and Tobago has a population of 1.3 million people, and with respect to persons who are known to have expressed sympathy or have ties with ISIS, that figure is approximately 200 persons.”
A figure of 400 was first revealed by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who in April 2016 told Parliament he had received intelligence that 400 Trinidad and Tobago T nationals, among them men, women, and children, had travelled to Syria and underwent military training and indoctrination with ISIS.
“Government has information on the most significant security threat facing Trinidad and Tobago and our generation – the threat of ISIS infiltrating the Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago. What are you doing about it?” Moonilal had asked in Parliament.
Following this, in a post-Cabinet news conference, Government Minister Stuart Young said Moonilal’s total were “loose figures”.
Said Young: “There's absolutely no correlation between that figure (400) and what our official tracking figu figures are, and what we're getting working along with international agencies.”
“I have to wonder, like others have wondered, whether this whole charade that played out... over the Carnival period, whether it was just to distract your mind from all the wrongs in this country,” she said.
She made it clear she does not support terrorism as she criticised the government's “targeting” of the Islamic community.
“We must never let them get away with targeting the Islamic brotherhood in Trinidad and Tobago,” she said.
Following Carnival celebrations, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the terrorist threat was real and not a joke.
“There are some people who believe that this is a joke and people who believe that this is personal persecution. Claims of religious and ethnic persecution hold no water. If you engage in criminal conduct, you are subject to monitoring and intervention by security services,” Rowley said.
He also noted there was no persecution of anyone in Trinidad and Tobago, but there would be “resolute prosecution” of those who seek to damage the peace and good order.
Persad-Bissessar said not every Muslim was a terrorist.
“I do not support terrorism in any form – none of us here do, but our brethren will tell us that their faith and their teachings in Islam are for peace and brotherhood,” she said.
However, in everything there is good and not so good: “There are those who will be extremists and we must cut the extremists down, those are the real terrorists, but not every person of the Islamic faith is a terrorist and not every terrorist is of Islamic faith,” she added.
Rowley later described Persad-Bissessar questioning as irresponsible.
“I don't want to spend my time responding to the Opposition Leader because the Opposition leader can say anything,” he said.
He reminded that Persad-Bissessar, as a former prime minister, was a chairman of the National Security Council, and it was during her tenure she declared a State of Emergency. He said Persad-Bissessar had called the then-opposition leader and said, “Muslims are going to assassinate her”. Fourteen persons were arrested under the powers of the State of Emergency.
“'I want to remind the opposition leader that some of the people who made international headlines in the outer world and are poster boys for ISIS. I'm asking her to go back to that period of the State of Emergency and see who she picked up instead of coming now to undermine the country's efforts and the country's confidence in its action in responding to those who will harm us,” he said.
Additionally, “You get the irresponsible action of an opposition leader trying to give the impression that the government is acting capriciously, and worse, threatening the country's racial and ethic stability by accusing this government of attacking Muslims. Trinidad and Tobago is the only country in the democratic world where the government of the day is responding to these challenges and does not have the full support of the rest of the Parliament.”
Rowley said the National Security Council, which he chairs, is aware of information with respect to people being questioned in relation to terrorism.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand,’ he said, noting there are citizens who travelled and participated in zones of conflict. Some of them have been detained for questioning while going to or coming from these zones, and some have returned to this country.
new pasenger ferry
“We had two valuations – one was (US) $19 million and the other was more than (US) $19 million,” Imbert stated.
“The independent valuation is significantly more than the cost, plus retrofitting. Even if you add the cost of ocean transportation to the cost of the vessel, which is not really applicable because there would have been a mobilisation cost associated with any vessel that was acquired, it's very good value for money,” he said.
The vessel is expected to be delivered by the end of April. It will be undergoing modifications in Cuba before its arrival in Trinidad.
Last week a statement from the National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd indicated retrofitting of the vessel would take place over a ten-day period during a planned layover at the Damen Shipyard in Santiago de Cuba. Nidco stated some of the works will be paid for by the seller, as was agreed pre-purchase.
Among the retrofitting is installation of a canopy on the vehicle deck and additional anchor rings for securing vehicles on deck. Nidco said a decision was made to make other alterations while the vessel is on layover in Cuba. These additional alterations are to be paid for by the government at a cost of (US) $350,000.
The cost will cover installation of full canopies over the sundeck, installation of additional washroom facilities, installation of café and bar facilities, remodelling of urinals in the men's washroom, and installation of fixing rails for new seating on the passenger deck.
“For example, the vessel was designed with a sundeck to satisfy the requirements of the previous end-users. However, we did not require that feature. It was therefore decided to convert the sundeck space into an additional and enhanced seating area for passengers. Our main objective was to carry out works that would enhance utility, passenger comfort, safety, and ambience of the vessel,” Nidco stated.
