UWP to Government: “Articulate a Plan to Fight Crime”

With 17 homicides recorded thus far, crime has taken center stage in discussions across the country and on social, traditional and new media.

The UWP, at a press conference Thursday, offered a number of recommendations to government on how to deal with the situation which has escalated over the past few months.

According to the party, the situation needs to be dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Noting that government must lead, former Minister for Commerce and parliamentary representative for Choiseul, Bradly Felix, called on government to map a strategic way forward stating that “passing the buck is not good enough.”

“This government has failed to articulate a comprehensive plan for crime after assuming office. Yes, the police can do more, but government must lead,” Felix said.

Former Member of Parliament for Gros Islet Lenard “Spider” Montoute, noted that victims of crime and perpetrators are often of a tender age.

Montoute provided a number of ‘answers’ for the perennial issue and called on government to follow trends set by the UWP.

“The crime plague that we now face is multifaceted and as such its abatement requires a multipronged approach. It is indisputable that crime in its genesis and implications has a socioeconomic dimension,” Montoute said.

“We must ask ourselves why our youth, especially our young men, find gangs attractive and gravitate to its clutches. Our response as a concerned organization is to make recommendations for the introduction and in many cases reintroduction of many of the social and economic policies and programmes that can help in the crime reduction/crime elimination effort,” the former minister added.

According to Montoute, new business opportunities should be created to encourage entrepreneurship, especially in the field of technology which has tremendous benefits.

However, he noted that government must take the right steps and put the necessary infrastructure in place in order for this idea to thrive.

“We should take a serious look at technology especially since COVID has created a new reality where remote work is the new norm today. Working from home provides a golden opportunity where our Saint Lucians—young people in particular, can remain right here and gain employment even from international external agencies and companies,” Montoute said.

“When it comes to technology, we have to ensure that we emphasize some of the new emerging opportunities for employment that exists like coding, software development and cyber security. There are many other opportunities. Our past administration had laid the groundwork for many new business opportunities and I urge the current administration to take advantage of the foundation that is already set and ensure that they proceed with those programmes,” he added.

Montoute said he is fully aware that government is strapped for cash, however, according to him, government can take advantage of resources that already exists. And by sticking to the UWP method, government, he asserted, will undoubtedly be heading in the right direction.

“I know the economy is not performing on a level where we have the liberty to do all that we want, but what can be done is what we had been advocating and began working on; to streamline and target assistance by way of subsidies that are given to Saint Lucians,” he said, adding that in this way, government can save some of the resources that is expended and also have a reserve.

“In the area of social policy and programmes government must develop a comprehensive national social protection strategy that takes a very serious look at social safety net programmes. There are a number of social safety net programmes in existence some of which must be bolstered and some new ones introduced. I speak of programmes such as the Public Assistance Programme,” Montoute said.

He continued: “We (should) take another look at our school based safety net programmes and I speak specifically of school transport subsidy (and) school feeding programmes; ensure that those programmes continue and are augmented so that disadvantaged students do not have to drop out of school or underperform because they are hungry (or) cannot get to school on time.”

Describing the surge in crime as a frightening situation, Montoute said if adopted, the aforementioned suggestions can inspire youth and encourage them to turn away from crime. However, he emphasized that government must lead the way.

Meanwhile, Minister for Youth Development and Sports, Kenson Casimir, this week spoke of the Ministry taking the necessary steps to combat crime.

A new initiative called ‘Skilled 758’ will provide young people with the opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities and will also introduce them to a wider audience.

Speaking on the sharp increase in violent activities, Casimir said “It’s a huge concern for me as a parliamentary rep. We’ve had extensive conversations with persons; persons that we know may be aware of what situations are happening, whether it’s gang related, whether it’s affiliated with just some very small and basic misunderstandings and we’ve tried our best as a constituency to bring our people together.”

“As a ministry you will hear us announce very soon the establishment of ‘Skilled 758’. Skilled 758 (is) an app and web browser that allows young people to upload their CV’s, talents (and) whatever capabilities they have onto a platform that allows Saint Lucia, the region and the rest of the world the opportunity to call on them when there is an employment opportunity,” Casimir said.

Casimir hopes the app will be a game changer. According to him, the Ministry will provide the necessary training for individuals and this ultimately will benefit the app’s users “because we are able to then get the data base from the persons who are uploading their CV’s; we would know what level of qualifications they have, what communities have what capacities and therefore we would be able to in a very targeted way, provide the training that these individuals need to flourish and so we believe that will get persons off the streets.”

“We’re certainly hoping that people will take advantage of the platform when it is launched and (the) Ministry of Youth Development and Sports will continue to do our best to have the programmes that are necessary to ensure that we deal with the spurge of crime,” Casimir said.