The week started with the news that state prosecutor Dana Seetahal SC had been shot and killed in Woodbrook. Seetahal stood little chance against her assailants, who ambushed her vehicle on Hamilton Holder Street, near the Woodbrook Youth Facility, shortly after she left the Ma Pau private members club. CrimeWatch host Ian Alleyne was on the scene as relatives, friends and members of the legal fraternity reflected on the senseless killing.
Former High Court judge Larry Lalla was among those at the crime scene telling Alleyne he was “shocked and saddened” by the killing. Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who appeared on CrimeWatch hours after the murder, told Alleyne that crime continues to escalate because “criminals believe they will not be caught.” Maharaj said he was concerned that the detection rate in this country was a mere three to four per cent, which he said does not augur well for us as a society.
The issue has always been that of witnesses coming forward, he said, adding he believes that the Seetahal assassination would be no different since he is doubtful whether anyone would come forward to say what they saw for fear of their lives. Maharaj was the attorney general under whose watch Dole Chadee and his gang were hanged. On the CrimeWatch set he dismissed the notion in some quarters that hanging is not a deterrent, saying as far as he is concerned it sends a strong message to the criminals and serves as a deterrent.
Maharaj said he believes that despite the Pratt and Morgan ruling, hangings can be carried out in this country. Seetahal was cremated on Thursday after a funeral service at the Aramalaya Presbyterian Church in Tunapuna. Hers was a life dedicated to the fight for justice, but it was unceremoniously snuffed out by as yet unidentified killers. A $3.5 million reward is being offered to anyone who has information which can lead to the arrest and conviction of Seetahal’s killers.
Also this week came yet another story highlighting shortcomings in the health sector. Andre De Freitas told Alleyne that his 88-year-old grandmother fell ill at her home. He said he called the Chaguanas Health Facility seeking the assistance of an ambulance, but was told none could come since they were being serviced. De Freitas, who is in the country on vacation from Canada, said he instead got a vehicle and took her to the health facility himself. Tests were done and he was told that she was retaining fluid in her lungs.
She was subsequently referred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope. He said it took six hours before an ambulance came to transfer his grandmother. When they arrived at Mt Hope there was another long wait, and eventually his grandmother was put on a bed which was propped up by boxes. Some 24 hours after his grandmother was taken to the health facility, De Freitas said, she was unable to get a proper bed.
Alleyne said that in a country which could spend $12 million on a funeral, providing beds and proper healthcare should be a priority. He called on Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan to take note and do something, since he said it appears that poor people are left to suffer for proper healthcare because they can’t do better.