US travel guide Anthony Bourdain’s recent documentary on T&T, which should have been an opportunity to showcase local food and culture, unfortunately turned out to be more of a crime documentary on the country, says Opposition Senator Daniel Solomon.
“It tended to focus a lot on crime. At the end of it one had to ask, had we not been Trinidadians looking at that video, would we have wanted to come to T&T under those conditions?” Solomon added in the Senate yesterday.
“It was a sad indictment on T&T... we have to look at the message we’re sending out on behalf of T&T.”
Solomon referred to the video while debating an Opposition motion calling for Government to deal with the unacceptable crime situation. The documentary by Bourdain—a chef/author—was listed on CNN’s schedule last Sunday.
In a second clip, Bourdain spoke about T&T to CNN host Anderson Cooper.
Solomon said Bourdain noted there were 460 murders in 2016 and that Port-of-Spain’s murder rate was higher than Detroit’s, Oakland’s and Chicago’s. The documentary highlighted local gang warfare, drugs, the Dana Seetahal murder and T&T Isis recruits.
“The tragic part was a lot of it was accurate. It overshadowed everything beautiful about T&T; the doubles, Carnival, the food, our culture —T&T’s beauty,” Solomon added.
Noting the number of Isis recruits from T&T, Solomon added, “It’s only a matter of time before an attack happens in T&T.”
The recent robbery of Fr Clyde Harvey, he added, was tragic for a man who’d dedicated his life to serving areas and for this became a victim. Solomon said fear of God no longer deterred culprits.
“Sometimes I wonder why our religious leaders are arguing irrelevancies when we’re in a battle against crime,” he said. (See page A7)
Knocking Government for the lack of a crime plan, Solomon said he found the Prime Minister’s recent warning about who people had in their “bedrooms” to be offensive and ridiculous.
He added, “Building a police station in Enterprise isn’t a crime plan. It’s a Bandaid. Our international image has been tarnished by this crime scourge.”
Independent Senator Melissa Ramkissoon, agreeing T&T’s beauty is being “surpassed” by crime levels and brutality, called for early legislation stipulating that parents/guardians be charged when their children committed crimes or were found in this.
Saying people should be held accountable, she also urged parents to get rehabilitation or other help for culprits.
“Don’t just say, ‘it’s my son’, do something about it,” she said.
Ramkisson particularly advocated legislation to deal with parents who taught their children “the trade” —like shoplifting, such as seen in a recent video.
She said she’d often noted in the Laventille area, youths sitting or standing around, not working “... yet they have cars and clothing, I wonder how we’re encouraging this lifestyle? ... What are we teaching them?”
In UWI, Ramkissoon said, students have to give up cellphones if a culprit “pulls a gun” and many pray daily for their laptops not to be stolen. Ramkissoon, who said she had two pitbulls, said she didn’t feel the “fruits” of security agencies like the Strategic Services Agency.
