THERE has been a general hue and cry; there has been much lip service about the upsurge in violent crime and homicides in recent times on the island; all incited by incidents largely perpetrated by criminally bent youth. What the country has not heard of is a clear cut government policy intervention which paves the way for answers to dealing with the current depravity and degeneration that has been plaguing this country.
Unquestionably there is need for serious investment in the youth if the government is serious about reducing fertile gang activity. There is need for sustained programmes that will target and re–direct the course of actions and choices that are being made by the so–called “bad boys” vulnerable youth, school drop outs and children who are the products of impoverished and dysfunctional circumstances.
This government should lead along with the relevant agencies on devising several mechanisms to loosen the stranglehold of crime spurred by largely unemployed males. The consequences of gang violence and the burden they place on the law enforcement and the public health system in our community are significant. Professionals who work in these areas know that efforts to address the problem after children in their teens have already joined gangs are not enough. To realize a significant and lasting reduction in youth gang activity, we must prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place by providing them with constructive substitutes to occupy their time and energy.
Citizens anxiously await a pronouncement from the Kenny Anthony administration to bolster the push–back against crime and youth deviance but alas, as usual, the government has been mute n providing solutions to the most biting issues. Instead of addressing the urgent matters of national security confronting the island on several fronts including the unparalleled embarrassment of the Lambirds Scandal, six brutal homicides in April (so far), a robbery and assault of a police officer and a general degeneration and deterioration of law and order in the country; footage of the Prime Minister was shown on national media, in which he targeted a young man by the name of Dominic Fedee who has apparently offered himself as a prospective candidate to the United Workers Party for Anse la Raye/Canaries. Fedee was attacked along with Allen Chastanet who seems to be the favourite punching bag for the Prime Minister’s snide and low-slung politically motivated or personal jabs.
Moreover the prime minister, since the delivery of perhaps his biggest political career blunder – the highly criticized, infamous March 8. IMPACS Report address to the nation, seems once again to have turned his back on the downward spiral of the country mirrored in the struggling sectors including employment, local businesses, investment, the unrelenting strain of VAT on the people and continual economic decline, agriculture, youth and sports and not forgetting the nose-dive currently occurring in the health sector and in public hospitals in particular.
It appears that Dr. Kenny Anthony has chosen instead to focus his attention on immature politicking and the courting of trivial matters which really offers no gain or improvement to the predicament of the nation, beyond the SLP’s own constricted interests. Everyone now knows that the SLP government is good at distracting the attention of the public from its disappointing track record and related issues of their poor governance. It is only left now for the hacks and operatives to realize that their public relations tricks, tactics and schemes which admittedly worked in the 2011elections no longer holds sway over the disenchanted electorate who have been waiting with bated breath for the election bell to ring once more, in this climate of perpetual malaise.
This is a government which touted youth as a main priority while in opposition. Yet under their watch nothing meaningful has been put in place to assist young, misguided males and females, particularly in terms of avoiding conflict with the law. In fact it was under this government’s watch that the plug was pulled on the Court Diversion Programme which had been run by the Department of Probation Services. On several occasions and through several overtures, well-meaning citizens of this country have appealed to the government to implement a National Youth Service Programme. Many countries, faced with similar challenges have successfully instituted programmes that take youth off the streets and occupy them constructively in programmes and activities that provide a support structure and reform opportunities through re–learning, acquiring life skills, civic awareness and training for employment. The National Youth Services can complement areas where there is need for expansion of human resource capacity in areas of national service such as Disaster Coordinators and assistants.
Rather than mindlessly attacking youth who are productive and upstanding simply because they are not SLP minded or conveniently attacking persons who are not fluent Kweyol speakers, the Prime Minister should raise his game to celebrate such positive developments as every political party in this country should entertain youth, for the purposes of passing on the baton and succession planning . The Labour Party has recruited many youthful supporters for years through the National Students Council and other constituency organizations. This is a well-known fact.
Nevertheless Dr. Anthony for some senseless reason struck a destructive blow to his own credibility as a stalwart for Caribbean Integration; if only to gain momentary gratification from deriding the young man for being of Guyanese descent. We wonder how the Saint Lucia –Guyana Association is taking this affront? The Prime Minister, in his concerted attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of voters is busy engaging in verbiage which not only serves to bring dishonour to his eminent standing as the island’s leader, but generally deprives the nation of his attention which ought to be trained on managing the affairs of state with some modicum of competence and commitment.
In essence, the Prime Minister needs now to set party aside and put country first; or is this too much for citizens to expect while increasingly, rumbles of discontent are getting the Saint Lucia Labour Party very, very nervous?
By Alexis B. Montgomery