Editorial

Make Castries safe again

Image of Castries City after broad daylight shooting
Castries City after broad daylight shooting

The thought of walking late at night through the city of Castries is almost unthinkable nowadays. Restaurant and bar owners are severely cautioned if they are considering the idea of continuing business operations well into the night. People who are seeking a night out are also advised to go far from Castries into the north or south of the island instead. “Go anywhere, just don’t stay in town” –that is the common tone of the

advice which is given. What is becoming of our little city of Castries? It is not hard to remember those days not long ago when the streets of Castries were pleasant to walk through during the night. These days are fading fast.

Bandits from all around have chosen Castries for their playground it seems. The city of Castries is no longer safe, and should therefore be avoided so long as one can afford to do so. It is either that the city is in fact no longer safe, or the stigma of all the crime which has transpired within our city in the past, have given her a nasty reputation that she is now forced to uphold. What would it take to restore the safety that we knew, to walk once more beneath the moonlight as we now do under the sun? Does the city Castries need to become like Rodney Bay in order for us to feel a little safe again?

What we need is stronger police presence in and out of the city parameters, and not just during the day. Perhaps there are people who wish to go out for a midnight stroll, or business owners who wish to conduct business at night. We cannot wait for them to take the initiative in an environment in which they feel unsafe. The police need to start the process by changing the atmosphere of the city with their unremitting presence, so as to give the rest of us the confidence to reclaim our city from the bandits that abuse it. People must be made to feel safe in their homeland.

Many hotel workers shiver with nervousness at the thought of being ambushed every time they head home after the night shift. It should not be this way. Tourism is treasure in St. Lucia, and it is our responsibility to protect every facet of the industry, which includes hotel workers and every St. Lucian by and large. The crime which happens every where in this country is a wound to the tourism product which is cherished so much by so many people. Castries is still the capital of St. Lucia and it should be spoken of as one of the safest places to be. A greater effort is needed from the government and law enforcement, to give Castries the reputation that it deserves. — Allen Alexander

3 Comments

  1. What about bringing back the death penalty for violent crimes ? Would that help ? How about a more serious effort to find out how these illegal firearms are entering the country? Would that help?

  2. Hang one, fear comes on; hang another, they’ll slow down; hang a third, they’ll
    stop. YOU KILL – YOU HANG – THAT’S IT.
    Also bring back the Lo Lo Beff and start whipping some asses of the young offenders
    that will put the fear in the hearts of the culprits. Second offenders should be whipped
    publicly. If you are too soft on crime, you can kiss your only industry, tourism, goodbye.

  3. Why is hanging the first choice for those problems. How about the people of St. Lucia saying, enough is enough and putting a stop to it themselves.

    It’s too easy to blame the Government and police. We cuss them out for doing nothing, but they are the ones who gets the blame for the lack of action when these things happen.

    Remember that, no guns are being manufactured in St. Lucia.

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