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Maxis queue for passengers at City Gate, South Quay, Port of Spain, on November 20. - Photo by Faith AyoungHOMELAND Security Minister Roger Alexander said the Transit Police Unit was allowed to “deteriorate” over the past nine years, leaving the division operating with a skeleton staff and short by at least 60 officers.
Alexander was responding to a question from opposition MP Marvin Gonzales during the 12th sitting of the House of Representatives on November 21. His question came after a robbery of a Route 2 maxi taxi driver by a group of masked men in Arouca on November 19.
Alexander said a superintendent director has since been appointed, and reconstruction of the Transit Police has begun. However, Alexander declined to reveal the government’s planned security strategies.
“I do not want to put on the table the strategies the government intends to use,” he said. “The platforms and the buildings we intend to use to protect the transit bridge.”
Alexander added he met with the Route 2 Maxi Taxi Association on November 20 to chart a path forward.
“In terms of what is happening at the Priority Bus Route, I heard members speak about robberies. We had ten robberies last year and one so far this year,” he said. He reminded the House, the Transit Police is responsible for overseeing security along the Priority Bus Route.
After Alexander outlined the proposed staffing measures, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles attempted to ask whether funding had been allocated in the national budget for additional Transit Police personnel.
However, House Speaker Jagdeo Singh ruled the question does not arise, and the initial question was asked and answered, ruling it was "not allowed.”
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