Hot Like Pepper - TT passes bail bill without UNC support - Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago : TT passes bail bill without UNC support

2007/9/13 3:50:00

The Trinidad and Tobago parliament has passed the Bail amendment Bill in the House of Representatives with support from opposition backbenchers who support the Congress of The People (COP.)

Red House, Port-of-Spain, seat of the Trinidad &Tobago Parliament

The five members of the opposition United National Congress present in the House voted against it, which drew a chorus of "shame" from the government front bench. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was not present when the House took a vote on the matter.

The legislation extends for 12 months an amendment to the Bail Act that denies bail to anyone charged with kidnapping and other offences specified in the act.

Speaking in the House, Minister in the Ministry of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds said Persad-Bissessar never said clearly where it stood on the bill during Monday's debate.

Minister in the Ministry of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds

And Hinds took issue with the Opposition Leader for her criticism of the ministry's $16.5 budget over the past five years, noting that she had ignored the fact that half of it went into recurrent expenditure for salaries and emoluments.

The minister said the government spent the rest on infrastructure, including buildings and vehicles.

Hinds defended the government's handling of crime and pointed out that crime is a problem that all developing countries face. He said much of bthe country's crime is related to the illicit drug trade.