PORT-OF-SPAIN (CMC):
NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Martin Joseph says a gun amnesty will not work in Trinidad.
Senator Joseph made the point during his contribution to the 2005-2006 Budget debate in the Senate on Wednesday.
Sen. Joseph admitted "we have explored the issue with profession-als and experts and the end result was that it will not be the best way to rid the country of illegal weapons."
According to Sen. Joseph, the authorities were still grappling to get the illegal guns off the streets, and it seemed that youth were prime agents in the illicit arms sector.
TOUGHER GUN LAWS NEEDED
He noted that the same problem existed in the United Kingdom and the United States and said that tougher gun laws were needed to deal with the escalating problem.
More than 80 per cent of the murders in Trinidad and Tobago are committed with the use of illegal guns. So far this year, there have been 300 murders in the twin-island republic.
Sen. Joseph said that investigations revealed that some communities provide a safe haven for gun-toting kidnappers and extortionists, adding that it is difficult for law enforcement officers to infiltrate some of these areas.
"The criminal élite also finance the acquisition of sophisticated arsenals, which in the hands of criminal gangs, fuel the murder rate and expand the range or criminal activities to include kidnapping and extortion," the senator said.
He promised that government was in the process of securing the necessary resources to deal with illegal drugs and guns entering the country.
Sen. Joseph revealed that the Patrick Manning administration was also strengthening the Police Complaints Authority to deal more effectively with police misconduct, increasing the manpower from 16 to 55.
