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St. Kitts – Nevis’ PM Calls For Getting Tougher On Crime

PM Douglas Carves At Defense Force Luncheon
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
December 30 2008 (CUOPM)

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of National Security is calling on the Federation’s Security Forces to get tougher on crime.

Speaking at the Annual Luncheon of the St. Kitts -Nevis Defence Force, Dr. Douglas declared that those who challenge the integrity of the twin-island Federation “must be confronted as if we are in a state of war. Those who continue to terrorise our citizens, residents and visitors must be held accountable for their reprehensible acts.”

Dr. Douglas, who recently assumed responsibility for the portfolio of National Security, said that the present increase in homicides caused by an apparent proliferation of guns and gangs in certain areas in this country is a major concern.

“This unfortunate development is seemingly creating a sense of fear and apprehension in the minds of our people. I therefore challenge you to confront this spiraling increase in violence and gun related crimes as an attack on your own capability to effectively sustain peace in our various communities,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who later carved the baked turkey and served the soldiers during the sumptuous luncheon.

He called on the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force to draw on their maritime and land-based training to successfully implement their plans and action.

“You have all been trained to curb the senseless lack of respect for human life and to quell the open warfare that is being waged among rivaling gangs,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

St. Kitts – Nevis PM Urges Control and Restraint

Gang violence continues to be a major challenge in St. Kitts and Nevis, but Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas says key local, regional, and international alliances have been forged to sharpen his government’s effectiveness in battling this scourge.

He said Tuesday that while political divisiveness is tearing countries apart beyond the shores of the nation, the co-operation between his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party-led Federal Government and the Nevis Reformation Party-led Nevis Island Administration has never been greater.

Appearing on his weekly radio programme “Ask the Prime Minister,” Dr. Douglas noted he has spoken about gang crime and violence on the programme many times.

“Members of the public have talked about it on this programme and elsewhere, and all of us really do want St. Kitts and Nevis to break away from the gang violence that has gripped so many other countries. But I cannot stress enough how important it is going to be for the public to start looking, not just at the gang members but at the general behavior in our society ““ because that is where the problem starts…that is where the unraveling starts”…and then the small negatives that we ignore become really huge after a while…And then, we look up one day, and find out that we have young people who are moving in all the wrong directions,” he said.

As the Federation begins Carnival celebrations which will last until early January, Prime Minister Douglas warned about excessive drinking and revelry.

Premier Speaks About Gangs and Drugs

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
December 14, 2008 (CUOPM)

Premier of Nevis, Hon. Joseph Parry said Friday that while the deaths of some of the five persons who were murdered in Nevis this year, are drug or gang related, he is frightened by the meaningless deaths of two individuals who were murdered “for God knows what.”

“I can only assume that human life has lost its value in the minds of certain persons in our society. If that is so that is deadly dangerous. It is deadly dangerous because it means that anybody can be wiped out at any time,” said Premier at the opening session of a National Consultation on Crime.

He said: “The criminals are not interested in political parties, are not interested in ministers of government, they are not interested in your role or rank in society. They indulge in themselves and they are satisfied in whatever they wish to satisfy.”

Premier Parry said that the economy of Nevis is nearly totally dependent on tourism and “every one of us in every village in every part of Nevis and in every part of St. Kitts and Nevis, I would want to assume, we would understand the need to survive.”

“The need to have jobs, the need to have an income and the need to have money in the treasury, the need to be able to send our children to school, the need to own homes, the need to be able to have a recreation. It just seems to me that in spite of all this, some people do not care. They do not care if they do damage to the economy and they can destroy the country, I do not know if they are aware, but I do believe that we would have to make them aware. It just seems that nothing matters,” he said.

Commonwelath Youth Ambassador – Anselm Caines

Charlestown, Nevis
May 02, 2008

Commonwealth Youth Ambassador Alternate for St Kitts – Nevis Mr. Anselm Caines decried the stereotyping of young people which he said denied them of their individuality and prevented them from reaching their full potential. Mr. Caines made the statement while he delivered the feature address at the closing ceremony to mark the end of youth month 2008 at a recent rally.

“We have to dump the stereotyping of young people which denies them their individuality and prevents us from seeing their potential for greater things. Moreover, there are times that we have to be prepared to accept that our experience however great, it is does not necessarily make us qualified or determined their course of development. So often I hear the older adults speak about how it was in their time and how this young generation is going,” Mr. Caines said.

Mr. Caines at the time represented youths on Nevis and spoke on the topic of Youth Development to government and non government leaders of Nevis. He called on them to recognise the fundamental flaws in matters related to youths.

He said the many problems surrounding youths were debated as a youth problem, which implied something was fundamentally wrong with young people. He admitted that while there were exceptions, the energy and enthusiasm of young people were misinterpreted.

He further added that the youths of this era continued to experience rapid changes unlike previous generations which had contributed to the difficulties young people have encountered.

St. Kitts – Nevis’ PM Calls For Getting Tougher On Crime

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