Recent measures to root out corruption in public contracts linked to gangs in Trinidad and Tobago could trigger a backlash from criminal organizations that have long profited from community development programs.
The government has suspended several public contracts awarded through local development initiatives, including the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) and the Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP). Those contracts are now being restructured following allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration.
According to official investigations, gangs received contracts to carry out public works and provide services through both programs, and even registered fake employees, known as “ghost workers,” to siphon off funds.
Amid these efforts to clean up public contracting, in mid-August, Trinidadian intelligence agencies detected a collective bounty of 2.8 million Trinidad and Tobago dollars (about $420,000) for the assassination of Defense Minister Wayne Sturge, Local Government Minister Khadijah Ameen, Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarth, and Feroze Khan, head of the URP.
It is unclear whether the threats were directly linked to the review of public contracts, but the gangs had much at stake.
“The threats are ones you cannot underestimate,” criminologist Randy Seepersad from the University of the West Indies told InSight Crime.
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But these were not the first such threats. The government declared a state of emergency in mid-July after intelligence reports suggested that gang leaders were coordinating assassinations of senior state officials from prison, with help from corrupt officials.
A prison officer was later arrested and accused of collaborating with the Radical Islamic Criminal Gang, according to an arrest warrant issued by the National Security Ministry on August 18.
Criminal gangs remain Trinidad and Tobago’s main security threat. In 2024, gangs were behind 43.68% of the country’s murders, which reached a record high of 625 killings. Easy access to firearms, social isolation in poor communities, and turf wars among increasingly fragmented gangs have all fueled the violence.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar centered much of her campaign on tackling crime. While her platform included deep social, judicial, and community reforms, her administration’s first months have focused on repressive measures and increased police surveillance.
Restructuring local development programs could weaken the gangs’ finances and their links to power. But unless done sustainably, the move risks becoming another short-term measure unable to reduce crime in the long run.
The review of public contracts aims to cut off gang profits in some of the country’s poorest communities. In recent years, the annual budget for each program has ranged between US$40 million and $66 million.
“This is going to hit the gangs hard, because this was a line of funding that existed, and it has suddenly been stopped,” said Seepersad.
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Decades ago, the need to implement these programs, which remain a lifeline for thousands of families in gang-controlled areas, led authorities to recognize certain gang leaders as “community leaders” responsible for managing and executing projects on the ground.
According to Seepersad, this created “an uncomfortable kind of relationship that has developed over the years between gangs and governments that have been in power.” Multi-million-dollar public contracts thus became a source of income for criminal organizations, which used part of the proceeds to acquire weapons and drugs.
In areas of the capital, Port of Spain, gangs such as Rasta City and The Muslims, which are the country’s most powerful criminal groups, have consolidated control through public contracts worth more than US$100,000, granted via the URP, CEPEP, and other construction programs, according to academic research.
Competition for access to these contracts has also fueled gang violence in Port of Spain and other municipalities, including Chaguanas and Gonzales, as the criminal landscape grows ever more fragmented.
But community work remains essential. Some local economists have voiced concern over the dismissal of thousands of workers from both programs and the negative impact this could have on communities that are already among the hardest hit by crime.
“We have to find a way to keep awarding contracts, but there has to be some level of oversight,” said Seepersad.
Featured image: Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Credit: Andrea De Silva / (EPA) EFE.