Trinidad: Limited State of Emergency

[MarkJ]

Boats are getting the hell out of Trinidad because a state of emergency has been declared due to crime and a police strike.

Someone who has just arrived Grenada from trinidad expects things to get worse and not too safe for cruisers.

Limited state of emergency in T&T over crime - Stabroek News - Guyana
South Florida Caribbean News

There were 11 murders over the weekend!

Obviously the Chaguaramas area is away from Port of Spain and is considered safer than town.

[portcorjeau]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Boats are getting the hell out of Trinidad because a state of emergency has been declared due to crime and a police strike.

Someone who has just arrived Grenada from trinidad expects things to get worse and not too safe for cruisers.

Limited state of emergency in T&T over crime - Stabroek News - Guyana
South Florida Caribbean News

There were 11 murders over the weekend!

Obviously the Chaguaramas area is away from Port of Spain and is considered safer than town.

Holy crap. And my brother moved there last year. Holy crap I have to call him tonight.

[donradcliffe]

Maybe the shootouts were related to this Trinidad cops abandon jobs during 1-day walkout - Yahoo! News

[sailorboy1]

Who is killing who?

[portcorjeau]

There is always some shoot outs down there. Too many drugs passing hands and drug lords are furious when their caches are busted. The problem also is a corrupted police force and uneducated police officers. They do not requie educations to become one and therefore you have a lot of corruption within the same system that is trying to correct law and order. The new PM is taking a stance that the other wimps didnt do. Its been long long over due. She only made this to try to stop more crime. But as long as you have DRUGS and drug lords you will have this. When I live in TT it was not so bad. It used to be a safe place to live and enjoy. Even visiting back up until 1999 it was relatively safe. Now its just a danger zone. Pick someother place to boat or travel to I would say. I was going to visit in 2012 but I may just go to Greece instead.

[raphaella]

Just came back from delivering my boat to Chaguaramas Coral Cove Marina and yes there is some things going on, but this area is very secured, all marinas have barb wire, guard at closed gate, guard in the yard and cameras everywhere. Went into Port of Spain, and around the hills,--very different from Chaguaramas area, more agression and seems to have many gangs there.

[portcorjeau]

Originally Posted by raphaella

Just came back from delivering my boat to Chaguaramas Coral Cove Marina and yes there is some things going on, but this area is very secured, all marinas have barb wire, guard at closed gate, guard in the yard and cameras everywhere. Went into Port of Spain, and around the hills,--very different from Chaguaramas area, more agression and seems to have many gangs there.

You went up Lady Young Road to Morvant and Laventille area if so, even locals who live there dont venture up that side. That is TOTAL gang and drug territory. Even the cops dont go there. Its a whole different culture there.

Yes, all marinas have barbed wire and so called guards. Those fellars get a pittance to guard those high dollar boats. If those same guards get a slip of a big note to let some illicit person or persons on the marina belive you me, that same guard or guards will not be irrelevant.

[rognvald]

Another tragic commentary concerning the dissolution of an orderly civilized society and rampant chaos and anarchy reigning supreme. The world economic crisis is certainly to blame, but also a decline in Civilization, as we know it, where rule of law and order have disappeared. Everyday, cruisers are left with less options for exploration unless they are willing to accept the real possibility of physical violence and mayhem in their journeys. The world today is not the same that we lived in thirty years ago and one would be foolish, indeed, to say that life is better. What the future holds is unclear, but we must accept that many cruisers will not have the same opportunities for relative safety in their adventures that we have taken for granted. This is a sad state of affairs. Ron

[S/V Alchemy]

When planning a circ as we are, we sometimes hear the question "how are you going to do it in just five years?" The answer, unfortunately, is "we will stop fewer places and stay longer in the decreasing number of peaceful ones".