Politicians blamed for fanning flames of crime
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Member of Opposition Hon. Shawn Richards
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the scourge of violent crimes affecting the nation in recent times, Member of Opposition Hon. Shawn Richards has called upon all the politicians during the 2009 Budget Debate, to act more responsibly to reduce crime.
In his December 18 presentation, Richards welcomed the increase in the allocation to the Department for National Security and described it as “a significant step forward in our attempts to fight crime”. He however noted that the government’s crime-fighting plans are not “visionary enough” and explained that most of the additional sum will be “eaten up in administrative issues within the Ministry” rather than be felt on the ground and in the actual fight against crime.
“Last year Budget, I came here and I spoke about the crime situation and every Budget session that I have been as a member of this house since 2004, I have spoken about it. We have now reached the record of 23 murders and now we are giving an additional EC $9 million. But, it should not have reached to that extent because while we were in here playing games, young persons were out there losing their lives.
“Persons are dying, people are being robbed and people are living in fear, and so we need to come with a far more comprehensive plan for dealing with the situation of crime in this Federation. If we don’t nip it now, it has the possibility of bringing to a halt all of the proposed development that we may wish to come here and speak about.” ~~Adz:Right~~
Richards encouraged all politicians to be careful with what they say and how they behave on the political platform as he acknowledged that speakers tend to “get carried away” and may say things that may not be appropriate. He added that in light of the crime situation, politicians should be more responsible with their statements to the electorate as people are listening and looking at them as examples.
“There is the famous statement from the Member of [Constituency] 6 that he has incited and he can incite again. The same member is now saying that our young people are leading reckless lives. And so, I am urging all of us as politicians that when we make statements on the political platform, we must begin to think about the implications of those political statements. Because just as we say the parents are setting bad examples and the television is setting bad examples, we too are guilty of it and it is time for it to come to an end.”
The Opposition member noted that politicians are to be public servants and not seek to “hold on to power”. He encouraged all to be more mature and responsible as everyone has a part to play in crime fighting, and opined that “this government has demonstrated that it has lacked the political will to beat this menace of crime”.
