Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles says the state of emergency (SoE) has become for far too many, not a shield against crime, but “a weapon against citizens”.She made the comment on Thursday while delivering the feature address at the Diego Martin Borough Corporation’s 3rd annual Civic Awards ceremony at the Diego Martin South Community Centre.Beckles said: “I have heard directly, and some of you in this very room from Diego Martin have lived it, how preventative detention orders (PDOs), powers meant to be used with the gravest restraint against genuine threats, have instead been turned upon ordinary citizens.“I mean, even my own party headquarters - Balisier House, the political home of the PNM for generations - passed in the rush. It has not been spared, as it is targeted by an Unexplained Wealth Order in what can only be described as the politics of intimidation dressed up as due process.”Stating that “we are talking about fighting dissent”, Beckles said she will not be silent about it...not here, not anywhere.“When the instruments of the State are turned against a burgess with no charge, or against a political party’s headquarters, we are no longer talking about fighting crime, but dissent,” she said. “We are living through an unwanted, unnecessary state of emergency (SoE). I believe in a T&T where the SoE, if it must exist at all, is used as a scalpel against real threats, not as a blunt instrument against innocent citizens.”Beckles said she also believes in a Trinidad and Tobago where local government is properly resourced, respected and empowered. “It should not be treated as a poor relative to central government, but as the partner it must be if we are to fix drains, build parks, create jobs and rebuild community pride, one borough at a time.“I believe in a T&T where every ethnic thread that Diego Martin has shown us tonight-African, Indian, Chinese, European, Syrian-Lebanese, First Peoples and every islander who has made this soil home is celebrated. They are not exploited for division.”She also said she believes in a country that speaks to the world, and its own people, with the dignity befitting the Republic which the late prime minister Dr Eric Williams gave citizens.Commenting on Williams’ legacy, she said: “He did not build this nation from ivory towers. He built it street corner by street corner, constituency by constituency. He built it with a conviction that education, self respect and national unity could lift a twin island state onto the world stage.“He worked himself, quite literally, into ill health in service of that vision. He gave us a Republic which our founders and descendants could be proud of. We cannot, in this patriotic season, allow that inheritance to be squandered...not by lawlessness, not by careless rhetoric, not by a government that treats its own burgesses as enemies of the State.”Stating that the nation deserves a government that sees hope as a plan rather than a slogan, Beckles added: “I will carry that plan from this stage in Diego Martin all the way to Whitehall, God willing, with the same conviction I carried up the ranks from a council chamber in Arima in 1992.”Referencing a comment made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, she said: “Do not let anyone tell you, that this is a lawless dump. This is home. This is sacred ground, watered by the sweat of every ancestor, who ever called it home. It deserves leadership that treats it that way.”The event, held under the theme “Stronger Together, Faith For Family, Community and Borough’, was attended by several executive members of the corporation including mayor Akeliah Glasgow-Warner.See Page 16