Waiting for Justice

According to Wikipedia, the population of New York as of 2006 was 19,306,183. New York is a total of 54,475 square miles (141,089 km²) in area, making it the third most populous city in the USA.
According to Wikipedia, the population of Trinidad and Tobago as of 2005 was 1.3 million. Trinidad and Tobago is a total of 1,979 square miles (5,128 km²) in area, making it a fraction of the size of New York.
According to the BBC, the murder rate in New York for the year was 428 as of November 18.
According to the Express, Guardian, Newsday, Bomb, Punch, Tanty, Granny and everybody else, the murder rate so far in Trinidad and Tobago is 338.
So could someone explain to me how the hell a country that is the size of a pimple on the face of New York could have a murder rate that almost as high as that of New York? Even more disturbing is the fact that while New York's murder rate is going down and is presently at the lowest it has been in 40 years, in T&T ours seems to be going up.
According to the BBC,

The soaring murder rate of the late 1980s and early 1990s was largely a result of turf wars between gangs running the crack cocaine trade. The turnaround in violence from the early 1990s was attributed to the city's zero tolerance policy, which saw police crack down on minor offences and drug dealing.

Gang warfare? That sounds familiar. But zero tolerance policy? Even on minor offences? Eh eh. Not in sweet T&T where anything goes, and our national motto is "Free Up Yourself".
In addition to the attitude of citizens, a big part of the problem is the ridiculous justice system where cases are tied up in courts for years and years. The Bible as a book of wisdom explains T&T's position quite simply but accurately in Ecclesiasties 8:11. It says:

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.

Plain and simple, there is the root cause of our problem. Everybody could do anything and get off scot free, so everybody does what they want.
Even in the schools, students rule because they can't be disciplined or expelled for bad behaviour, so they do what they want.
Murder, crime, violence, road deaths; all are tied in to the lack of accountability in T&T. Anything goes in this sweet land of ours.
To the authorities... Bring back accountability. Please fix our justice system or lack thereof. It's killing T&T.

P.S. If you want to have media briefings from the police, please find someone who can speak clearly and fluently and who will not pause after every three words to think of what to say next. It's annoying to have to listen to that sort of nonsense and it makes those who run the system appear even more incompetent.

A Purr-fect T&T

So tonight I was looking at TV6 Carnival coverage and I almost fell off my chair. No, it wasn't because I saw a scantily-clad woman wining away on camera. (Although there was some of that going on). Cherisse D'Abadie was interviewing a Video Jockey from the British MTV whose name was Cat or something like that. (Notice the rhymes... I'm into the Carnival fever) She asked him what he thought of Trinidad Carnival and he said that what struck him most was how safe he felt!!! Hooooold up! This is Trinidad and Tobago we talking about? Where everyday somebody getting killed, raped or robbed and where you have to lock up before dark? This Trinidad and Tobago? The Cat even said he called his people in the UK to tell them that they need to check us for help on how to run a safe Carnival. He said that the authorities showed zero tolerance for crime and that nobody was trying to "kill anybody's child."

Zero tolerance on crime? All year the Commissioner of Police has been promising zero tolerance on crime and still T&T living in fear. But all of a sudden for Carnival they doing what they should have been doing the whole blooming year. Soldiers and police patrolling all over. Helicopter flying low. Blimp flying high. Suddenly T&T is a safe place to live. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear about any murders on the news today.

Man jamming on woman, woman jamming on man, man jamming on other man woman and everybody feeling nice. Trinidad safe. And you know what is the sad thing? After Tuesday, everything back to abnormal. We feeling unsafe again.

But remember as the Minister of National Insecurity say, crime bad all over. Look the British Cat say so.