'We're ready'

• Trinidad government not taking planned police strike lightly

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Prime Minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar, seeking to ward off a pending national strike by disgruntled trade unions, has warned police officers that her administration has not "taken lightly" their threat to "rest and reflect" today.

"The government has not taken lightly the threat that some members of the Police Service may fail to carry out their duties to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children.

"We will not stand idly by and witness this wanton act of abandonment and dereliction of duty take place without an appropriate measured response," she said, as she went on a walkabout on the main street in the capital on Friday.

Accompanied by a delegation that included National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy, Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs, as well as government officials, Persad-Bissessar said she has a "high regard and appreciation for the dedicated police officers and the work they carry out every day in difficult circumstances".

The police officers are peeved at the five per cent offer made by the government in the wage negotiations, a figure which 19 trade unions have dismissed and calling on the authorities to remove the wage cap for wage negotiations within the public service.

The unions have warned of a nationwide strike that could come "like a thief in the night", and the visit by the prime minister to the heart of the capital is the latest move by her administration to drum up support against the trade union movement.

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The government has also been placing several advertisements in the local media.

The police have said that they would embark on a day of "rest and relations" and the joint trade union grouping has already said it supports the action "100 per cent".

Persad-Bissessar said that the offer made by the chief personnel officer in the labour negotiations "is not a total measure of the value placed on the work of the courageous and self-sacrificing policemen".

The prime minister said that all resources belonging to the Ministry of National Security will be employed to ensure the safety of citizens if the police went ahead with their action on Monday.

"I want to assure you the Ministry of National Security has taken every measure to deal with any eventuality in the protection of the citizens of this nation. We are all in this together.

"I say, further, that the deployment of all necessary resources available to the State stands ready, willing and able to be deployed in ensuring that the nation is not held to ransom," Persad-Bissessar said, describing as "irresponsible" officers who would stay away from work on Monday and praised the "patriots" who would take up duty.

"This is a time, in my view, for reasonableness and not irresponsibility. But if the voice of reason fails to be heard by some and threats of irresponsibility are carried out, we will meet it with all the resolve in the world, in defence and interest of the very people - those who advocate and perpetrate these acts - they proclaim to represent.

"I am proud of those who have come forward as true patriots in defence of our nation. Those who understand that there is no divide in a situation where the country loses, and so, today, I say, let the country know the government is on everyone's side. We are open to continuing dialogue, but we close ranks and protect the interests of Trinidad and Tobago whenever it becomes necessary so to do," she said.

Sandy and Gibbs both expressed confidence that officers would report to work today.