BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESPITE an escalating murder rate, Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has said that the Federation is not experiencing the high levels of homicide seen in previous years.
In an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation aired on Sunday (July 19), Douglas adamantly stated that violent criminal activity was on the downturn. He noted that while crime was still a major issue for his government, he was confident it had been reduced.
“We’ve seen the carnage to some extent decreased,” said the Kittitian Leader. “I’m not saying it has stopped completely but we have not had the high level of homicide we’ve had in the past. At this time it’s a bit low.”
Douglas attributed the decrease to proactive steps undertaken by his government to reduce juvenile delinquency, which include the establishment of the Youth Empowerment through Skills (YES) programme and the enlistment of former FBI Assistant New York Director Mark Mershon.
“We created the YES programme in February to train 500 young persons and put them in a setting where they can learn skills and some basic values. I think more and more of these people are really getting to appreciate the need to have some discipline in going to a job at a particular time of the day...learning a skill and getting into the habit of preparing themselves for the new economy we are creating.
“We are giving them $300 as a stipend every week so that they do not have to go into people’s homes anymore. They don’t have to be snatching people’s bags. It is working in the sense that apart from getting that stipend, they are also learning a lifelong skill.”
He added, “Mershon’s Report proved that the so-called gang activity here has not really taken any serious shape...these are people who have no real reason to be in a gang except for them to be with each other. So, it’s not that it is gang formation based on how criminally-minded you are, it’s just groups of people coming together and associating with one other.”
However, contrary to Douglas’ assertion, statistics obtained from the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force indicates that the Federation has actually experienced an upsurge in homicides over the past several years.
Then-unprecedented highs for homicides were recorded in both 2007 and 2008 (19 and 24 respectively).
To date (July 23), the murder count for 2009 stands at 15. At this point in the past two years, only seven and 11 murders respectively had been recorded.
Seeking clarification on his statement, SKNVibes tried to contact Dr. Douglas through his Press Secretary Erasmus Williams. At press time, the Prime Minister was still unavailable for comment.
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