Confederation of Regional Business Chambers: Crime affecting T&T

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Raphael John-Lall

President of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers Jai Leladharsingh said businesses have also been suffering from the high crime rate that is affecting the country and it is of no surprise that business closed their doors on Friday.

‘The death of Andrea Bharatt is horrendous and horrific and one of our country’s most promising daughters has died. Businesses have been hit very hard by crime. The extra cost it takes to higher security, electronic alarms, and cameras, causes greater costs to be passed on to the customer. The mere fact that businesses have closed their doors, it says that enough is enough,” he told the Guardian yesterdayMedia.

He also asked that the army be brought in to patrol the streets with the police.

Hundreds of businesses closed on Friday. The decision to shut down comes after over a hundred demonstrations across the country to highlight violence against women and call for legislators to pass necessary laws to cause it to cease.

Bharatt, 23, was kidnapped on January 29 and her decomposing body was found in the Heights of Aripo one week later on February 4.

The shutdown stems from a call made by a group, An Act for Change, which wanted women to stay away from work.

He added that business will continue to support the rest of the national community.

‘It does not matter what is your social background, what is your ethnicity, what is your age or gender. We have all joined together as citizens and locked with non-businesses such as labour, public sector, and civil society,” he said.