BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IMRAN CHRISTOPHER, the young man who was shot multiple times on the evening of September 27 in Lower Cayon, is said to be in stable condition at the JNF General Hospital after undergoing surgery yesterday morning.
This incident occurred 11 days after a young man was shot to death at Hermitage Village, Lower Cayon.
Following Christopher’s incident, the Medical Chief-of-Staff at the JNF, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, told WINNFM that more effort needs to be channeled towards finding a solution to the problem of crime.
He suggested that a multi-pronged approach be taken, beginning within the homes.
“There are a few things I want us to look at: One, the shooters…because sometimes people tend to label the shooters as just bad persons, and once we get rid of these bad persons the problem will be over. But I don’t believe that these are just bad persons; these are mostly young guys who some of them are lost. They need direction, they need guidance, they need to have strong family members who would lead them in the right direction.
“I always say it is difficult for anyone in my family to hide a book in my house, and I wonder how, for example, persons can hide a gun in a house no one knows about it. And so we need the effort from the entire family to deal with the problem.”
The Medical Chief-of-Staff said it is not enough for the authorities to speak of how many weapons they would have removed from the streets. Instead, information on from where the guns came and possible solutions to the illegal importation of them into the Federation needs to be more forthcoming.
He also suggested that proper analysis of trends could prove helpful in addressing the crime issue.
“We see periods when you have an increase in the number of gunshot wounds or stab wounds and then we see periods when there is a decrease. And maybe we need to look at the trend and see whether or not the decrease is just because the gang members or those who are involved (in this) type of violence decided to take a break or whether it is because what we are doing to fight crime. If it turns out that the lulls are because of what we are doing to fight crime, then we need to do more of that to make sure that the spikes in violence (stop).
Dr. Wilkinson expressed in his WINNFM interview that many individuals who find themselves caught in gang circles are merely victims who could not seem to find their way out of the cycle.
The church and other members/organisations of society have their role to play in alleviating the problem, the Dr. opined.
“I have spoken to these guys over the years and I speak to them as a father because I see a lot of them as victims. I don’t believe that they are just innately bad, and some of them are just caught up in the wrong crowd. Some of them have gotten so far that it is difficult for them to turn back. But I believe that we are the ones on the outside who need to make the difference.
“For example, we have a fair idea as to where the pockets are. We know that recently we have a lot of shootings coming out of Cayon. So we can go into Cayon, speak to the family members, speak to the church members, they know who the persons who are involved in these activities and we can speak to them…”
