PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has met with a 13-year-old teenager who has gone on a three-day fast to highlight the growing crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago.

Choc'late Allen, the daughter of local entertainer, Kurt Allen, met with the Prime Minister briefly on Monday at the National Library and later handed him an envelope containing a list of campaign initiatives she intends to stage, including a youth rally.

The teenager said her fast is also aimed at encouraging young children "to put down the gun and pick up a book", adding that she had also been inspired by the works of Mahatma Gandhi.

"I am calling on youths to turn away from a life of crime and do some thing positive with their lives. I am fasting for a 100 per cent crime-free Trinidad and Tobago.

"I am encouraging nationals to fast with me if they can. If you can't come here to do it for the entire day, come for at least a few hours just to show your support and just to show that you will like to see a 100 per cent crime-free Trinidad and Tobago just as myself."

Need financial help

Allen, who is the chief executive officer of the youth organisation, Caribbean Vizion, said she would like the government to support her initiatives to curtail crime in the country.

"I will definitely like financial support in order to get all the activities that are planned in order to fight crime, out to the public. There are many other activities that are planned, besides this fast, but because of a lack of funding we cannot execute all the projects," she added.

Last year, 368 people were murdered and so far this year several others have been killed. In addition, a number of persons have been kidnapped for ransom, with Vindra Naipaul-Coolman, the chief executive officer of a major supermarket, still in the hands of her kidnappers who abducted her on December 19 last year.