MINISTER of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein noted huge drops in crime this year compared to last, but in reply Port of Spain North/St Ann's East MP Stuart Young said the minister had failed to present "the most important statistic" to signal whether or not the state of emergency (SoE) has truly been effective.

The House of Representative on October 31 debated a government motion to extend the state of emergency by a second period of six months.

MPs ultimately passed the motion by 27 government votes "for" to the opposition's 12 votes "against". The SoE initially took effect on July 18-28, with the first extension until late October.