NOW EVEN BIG BUSINESS LASH OUT ON CRIME

IN a clear sign of the desperate times in which we live, now even Port of Spain business operators are outraged at the PNM Government.

City business mouthpiece Gregory Aboud, who previously spoke in subtle, delicate terms about the Rowley Administration, is now expressing outright frustration and indignation.

Aboud is uttering disparaging words like “near panic,” “sense of hopelessness,” “demoralised population,” to describe citizens in the midst of the unending crime catastrophe.

He acknowledges “the pain and suffering” on family and friends.

The head of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, the voice of urban business, also expressed anguish over the impact on commerce.

Crime is “permeating the national economy by not only stagnating investment decisions but also by destroying consumer confidence.”

He intoned: “There is little or no job creation and existing jobs are at risk by shrinking levels of confidence.”

In other words, the sea of criminality is costing entrepreneurs in their pockets, and they can’t run and hide from it.

Aboud’s aggravated outburst indicates that crime is hitting big business where it hurts.

In prior months, the crime epidemic had savaged small and medium-sized enterprises, leading to shutdowns and a flight of the middle class.

The earlier Covid-19 lockdown, in addition to the cost of security services and other increasing operating costs, had severely hit SMEs.

SMEs are generally seen as outliers in the economy, with no potent national voice to express their plight.

But now, with water more than flour, Aboud has found his voice.

Interestingly, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the recognised representatives of big business, remain tightlipped, obviously safeguarding their interests from a haughty administration.

Chamber President Kiran Maharaj has wasted no time in adopting the reticence and restraint that big business has always displayed toward PNM regimes.

Several large businesses enjoy various trade and commerce benefits from the State that could easily be zapped by an administration that is seen as thin-skinned and high-handed.

Aboud has awakened to the reality that “silence and withdrawal” are not options and is calling for collaboration to “restore some sense of hope and quell the rising tide of panic.”

But what impact would his overdue bleeding heart have in a country in which many are either ethnic political prisoners or fearful of confronting an authoritarian regime?