The hypocrisy of drug trafficking Ramkalawan and Ferrari remain mute
Ramkalawan and Ferrari remain mute
The whole country was in a state of total shock once the urgent question put by the Leader of Government Business on drug trafficking has been disposed of this Tuesday in the National Assembly. Honorable Charles DeCommarmond wanted to know how much heroin has been intercepted since the New Commissioner of Police (Compol), previously the head of the National Drugs and Enforcement Agency, has taken over the country’s efforts to reduce the supply of hard drugs.
The Minister Responsible for the Police, McSuzy Mondon, was lost for words to establish some semblance of competence and good performance by Kishnan Labonte, the new Compol, whose only remarkable achievement thus far has been the reinstatement of several septuagenarians in the Police Force. The statistics did not add up and the nation was shocked to learn that the police knows of the existence of 256 narco-traffickers out of whom only 8 have been convicted. It was further revealed that there exist 300 blackspots where heroin is openly sold. Only one has been closed thus far and the police has managed to intercept only two kilograms of heroin for the whole of 2017. The whereabouts of the heroin are, however, unknown.
An attempt to turn the Assembly into a committee so that the Commissioner of Police could be directly quizzed by Members was effectively blocked by the Leader of the Oppositon, Wavel Ramkalawan, for reasons best known to him. It was a stark contrast to the grilling of the Secretary of State for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation, Dr. Patrick Herminie, went through only two weeks ago. Corruption or politicking?
Matters got more perplexed when the Assembly was informed that after more than 10 years of existence, the Anti-narcotic Unit needs more than 58 million rupees to purchase equipment for drug detection. Important issues raised by Hon. De commarmond, including the introduction of the Unexplained Property Order in our legislature to put the burden on traffickers to prove that their gains are not ill-gotten otherwise the State would confiscate them was deliberately ignored by the Minister. It was more than obvious that the Minister was trying to cover up the corruption and hypocrisy that have for so long been responsible for the proliferation of drugs in this country. Both the police and the anti-narcotic unit are shamefully in cahoots in a trade that is driven by money.
What was even more stunning was the fact that the two most vocal members of the opposition, Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan and Hon. Jean-Francois Ferrari failed to ask a single question. This has raised eyebrows up and down the country. Whilst it is understood that Ferrari did not want to rock the boat because of an impending heroin case involving his main campaigner in his constituency, it is still bewildering why Ramkalawan chose to remain silence. People in the know, however, claim otherwise and maintain that it would have been surprising if Ramkalawan had lambasted the narco-traffickers, most of whom are staunch supporters of his party.
All in all, it was yet another charade in the National Assembly as our country slowly but surely becomes a banana republic and a narco-state all in the name of co-habitation.
Independent
The whole country was in a state of total shock once the urgent question put by the Leader of Government Business on drug trafficking has been disposed of this Tuesday in the National Assembly. Honorable Charles DeCommarmond wanted to know how much heroin has been intercepted since the New Commissioner of Police (Compol), previously the head of the National Drugs and Enforcement Agency, has taken over the country’s efforts to reduce the supply of hard drugs.
The Minister Responsible for the Police, McSuzy Mondon, was lost for words to establish some semblance of competence and good performance by Kishnan Labonte, the new Compol, whose only remarkable achievement thus far has been the reinstatement of several septuagenarians in the Police Force. The statistics did not add up and the nation was shocked to learn that the police knows of the existence of 256 narco-traffickers out of whom only 8 have been convicted. It was further revealed that there exist 300 blackspots where heroin is openly sold. Only one has been closed thus far and the police has managed to intercept only two kilograms of heroin for the whole of 2017. The whereabouts of the heroin are, however, unknown.
An attempt to turn the Assembly into a committee so that the Commissioner of Police could be directly quizzed by Members was effectively blocked by the Leader of the Oppositon, Wavel Ramkalawan, for reasons best known to him. It was a stark contrast to the grilling of the Secretary of State for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation, Dr. Patrick Herminie, went through only two weeks ago. Corruption or politicking?
Matters got more perplexed when the Assembly was informed that after more than 10 years of existence, the Anti-narcotic Unit needs more than 58 million rupees to purchase equipment for drug detection. Important issues raised by Hon. De commarmond, including the introduction of the Unexplained Property Order in our legislature to put the burden on traffickers to prove that their gains are not ill-gotten otherwise the State would confiscate them was deliberately ignored by the Minister. It was more than obvious that the Minister was trying to cover up the corruption and hypocrisy that have for so long been responsible for the proliferation of drugs in this country. Both the police and the anti-narcotic unit are shamefully in cahoots in a trade that is driven by money.
What was even more stunning was the fact that the two most vocal members of the opposition, Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan and Hon. Jean-Francois Ferrari failed to ask a single question. This has raised eyebrows up and down the country. Whilst it is understood that Ferrari did not want to rock the boat because of an impending heroin case involving his main campaigner in his constituency, it is still bewildering why Ramkalawan chose to remain silence. People in the know, however, claim otherwise and maintain that it would have been surprising if Ramkalawan had lambasted the narco-traffickers, most of whom are staunch supporters of his party.
All in all, it was yet another charade in the National Assembly as our country slowly but surely becomes a banana republic and a narco-state all in the name of co-habitation.
Independent
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