Please join us in solidarity

Date: September 6th, 2019

Dear Editor/Newsroom,
In times of danger we must stand together, patriotically defending our liberty, our flag and our nation. Families of murdered victims and caring citizens are invited to join the families of the seven murdered fishermen in conjunction with the Orange Valley, Claxton Bay and Carli Bay Fishing Associations and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) who will be
hosting a peaceful prayer observance on Monday 9th September, 2019 from 10am to 2pm outside the Prime Minister’s new office at Whitehall, Port of Spain.

This is not about politics; this is about Nationhood.
Please come out and wear white. Please join us in solidarity. If you are dissatisfied by the state of crime in our nation, if someone you love has been murdered, if you are concerned for the future of our nation please come out and join us in solidarity. The Trinidad and Tobago Police
Service (TTPS) would be there to protect us. Cabinet appointed committee. The community needs your support when we hand delivering a letter to the Prime Minister appealing for a Cabinet appointed Multi- Stakeholder Committee which would be mandated by a specific Terms of Reference (TOR) and timeframe to report its recommendations to increase our safety at sea and to protect our maritime borders.

We continue to appeal to our Government for:

1. A functional Radar System as a matter of national emergency and first priority
   before anything else.
2. Overdue Emergency repair of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG)
   interceptors that can operate in the shallow Gulf of Paria (publicly promised by Minister Young since November 2018)
3. Implementation of TTCG community bases on the North, South, East and
   West coasts of Trinidad to decrease the response time to emergencies and to
   increase the TTCG presence.
4. Legislative amendments for security at sea.
5. An emergency response protocol manual and training for First Responders.
6. Provision of subsidies/ tax exemption on basic survival at sea equipment such
   as:
   a. Global Positioning System (GPS) trackers for vessels and engines
   b. Life jackets and other flotation devices
   c. Flare launchers
   d. Marine VHF radios
7. Immediate regular and frequent patrols by the TTCG.
8. Implementation of an Honorary Fishery Game Warden programme under the
   guidance of the TTCG. Fisheries Division has also indicated that they are hoping
   to re-establish the Fisheries Monitoring Surveillance and Enforcement Unit.
9. Fishermen to apply for permits to purchase flare launchers.
10. A direct emergency reporting hotline for the TTPS and the TTCG.
11. A Photographic log of all registered fishing vessels in Trinidad and Tobago to
    be developed and lodged at the TTCG and TTPS.
12. A mandatory fishing voyage notification procedure to alert TTCG.We look forward to
    your support and attendance,

Sincerely,
Imtiaz Khan
President
Carli Bay Fishing Association
Christopher John
President
Orange Valley Fishing Association
Bhadose Sooknanan
Vice President
Claxton Bay Fishing Association

Gary Aboud
Corporate Secretary