Grant, Trinidad's dirty little secret

• Port-of-Spain, the "cultural capital of the Caribbean," appears to be importing a dangerous kidnapping culture from neighboring countries such as Colombia and Venezuela.

• Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his administration consider restructuring the national police force in an attempt to curb the spike in abductions and murders.

• Will Manning be as indecisive on fighting crime as he has been on standing up for a strong CARICOM position against the ousting of Aristide?

• Tauntingly, Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo touts his country's relatively low kidnapping rate in comparison to Trinidad's, in an effort to trump the neighboring island in the eyes of the international community.

• The indiscriminate and violent nature of the kidnappings has overwhelmed an inexperienced, if not unqualified local police force.

• Tourism dollars and the University of the West Indies' Trinidad campus ability to draw its enrollment from a sufficiently ample applicant pool may be threatened.

• High unemployment and "easy" money lure newcomers to the kidnapping industry and encourage neophyte kidnappers to scope out new prospects.

• Kidnapping-for-ransom reportedly on the rise in a number of South American countries.

• Tougher legislation and better police training could help Trinidad stamp out its now alarming kidnapping problem and bring on better days.

Is "Trini" Culture Under Siege?

Trinidad, a country of 1.3 million people, along with its capital, Port-of-Spain, has been dubbed the "cultural capital of the Caribbean."

The island, which sits at the bottom of the chain of Leeward and Windward islands, northeast of Venezuela and Guyana, is renowned for the robust exporting of its culture and its manifestations, namely calypso, Carnival and steel pan --- the only acoustic musical instrument invented in the 20th century that is still widely used. These exports have migrated along with the "Trini" diaspora to places such as Florida, New York and Toronto, and across the ocean to Notting Hill, London, and other English enclaves. However, in recent times, the aggressive marketer seems to have fallen prey to a particularly notorious import from neighboring Central and South America: ransom kidnapping.

Heads Might Roll

2001 saw fewer than 10 abductions on the island. There were 29 kidnappings in 2002. According to a Trinidad Guardian report that cites a police source in the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, there were 51 kidnappings-for-ransom in 2003 out of a grand total of 142 kidnappings. The amount of ransoms paid in 2003 was $3,498,600 (Trinidad and Tobago ñ TT Dollars) out of a total of TT$95,170,00 that had been demanded by kidnappers. The estimable Trinidad Guardian also says that there have been 14 ransom kidnappings reported out of 95 kidnappings so far this year. The ransoms paid thus far in 2004 have amounted to TT$225,600 out of a total of TT$41,970,000 that had been demanded. So far this year, the police have charged 18 people so far and solved five cases. Last year, they charged 51 people and solved 15 cases. Several Trinidadians have also been charged with faking their own disappearances to pry funds out of their deeply concerned families or insurance companies, according to local authorities. The police force is not only concerned about the spike in these types of crime, but also about the repercussions of its failure at enforcement. If the much talked about police overhaul is ever implemented, heads might roll.

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Grant, Trinidad's dirty little secret
Jackson, I don't want to hear it, George
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opinion

Trinidad's dirty little secret