New Year’s Resolution To Stop Gang Activity
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
January 07, 2009 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is proposing a New Year’s resolution in the battle to reduce and eradicate gang membership.
“I have often spoken about the role of the church, the role of the business community, the role of parents, children, teachers and everyone else. I would like to propose a New Year’s resolution for us all. Let us agree that instead of always pointing out what parents, teachers, the police, the business community, young people, the government and everyone else is failing to do, we will, each of us, commit to do just one thing, no matter how small, on an ongoing basis, that we think, in some way, will reduce the appeal of gangs to some child or some group of children in our society,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who called for this to be shared with the churches, schools and political leaders so that it may be replicated elsewhere.
Addressing the issue crime and gang violence in his first “Ask the Prime Minister” radio programme for 2009, the St. Kitts and Nevis leader noted “these tiny measures may not, on the surface seem very significant, but it is by small, individual acts of social responsibility, undertaken by thousands of caring individuals, that healthy, stable societies are born.”
He said it was a time for concrete commitments to the youths of St. Kitts and Nevis as it would be “the most powerful countermeasure we as a society can come up with as we try to prevent the emergence of new gang members, and so I hope that each of us will take the importance of our individual roles in this battle very seriously, in this regard.”