PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning has blasted the Opposition for “getting in the way” of efforts by government to combat rising crime.

The prime minister was addressing the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner last Tuesday at the Hilton Ballroom.

Manning and members of the Opposition have been locked in talks in an attempt to reach a compromise after the Opposition refused to support government’s Police Reform Bills.

Manning told his audience, which included Police Commissioner Trevor Paul, that he had warned Opposition members from the beginning not to turn the talks into a “charade”.

The idea for dialogue between government and Opposition to hammer out their differences over the Bills came from St. Augustine MP (now Opposition Leader) Winston Dookeran, who suggested that there should be further dialogue between Manning and then Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday on the bills.

BASDEO
PANDAY

PATRICK
MANNING

This was after calls from various sectors of the community, including business and the labour movement, for the two sides to get together and sort out their differences in the face of a major crime wave.

The TnT Chamber of Commerce has been one of the most vocal groups in criticising the government for not dealing effectively with the crime situation.

The Chamber has also criticised the Opposition for not co-operating with the government, and have made repeated calls for Panday to co-operate with the Manning Administration for the sake of the country.

Manning himself has in the past laid the blame for spiralling crime squarely on the shoulders of the Opposition, going as far as telling his supporters at a People’s National Movement (PNM) Conven-tion that Opposition members have “blood on their hands”.