While Government has intelligence information to verify several T&T nationals have gone to Syria to join the Islamic State’s (Isis) foreign terrorist fighters, there is no information on Isis terrorist financing from T&T, says National Security Minister Gary Griffith. He commented on the issue at yesterday’s weekly government press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister. Griffith said he could not divulge a lot of information on the issue.
However, he said, foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from over 80 countries have joined Isis and people from all over the world “are getting into Syria for this,” mainly for mercenary purposes. Griffith added several people from T&T have been indirectly involved in being FTFs “but we have no information of us (T&T) being involved in terrorist financing, as Isis is one of the richest of all terrorist organisations. “What we do have is intelligence to verify that there are individuals who are naive enough to go across and that’s why we need to monitor them and that can only be done by working with our international allies who can provide us with real time information,” he added.
He said that could not have been if the Prime Minister had not co-sponsored the United Nations’ anti-terrorism resolution in September. Among resources being utilised on the issue is the Advanced Passenger Watch list and other methods to monitor movements, including checking on those who are aiding and abetting T&T nationals. “We’re fully aware of the situation and will continue to monitor,” he added.
Griffith also noted that after the attack on the Canadian Parliament last month there had been no further criticism from detractors who had questioned and/or condemned Government’s acquisition of six armoured vehicles and several other armoured SUVs. “We are not a government that waits for things to happen, we are proactive,” he said.
Community Comfort Programme expanded
Griffith said Cabinet yesterday approved the extension of the pilot Community Comfort Programme (CCP) from an initial four areas to 15. The CCP, started earlier in the year as a community crime deterrent, uses high-visibility presence to dispel fear and perception of crime to support police in the form of “extra ears and eyes” and prevent minor incidents from progressing into major ones.
He said the expansion would free more police to deal with crime-hit areas. The programme started in Diego Martin/Petit Valley, Carenage, St Augustine and El Dorado and will be extended to other areas around North, South, Central and Tobago. CCP did 2,480 patrols and 57 incidents were reported. He said it had a positive impact on schools. Griffith said CCP did not apply to hot spots since those areas required attention from highly-trained law enforcement agencies.