BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATIVE of Constituency Eight the Hon. Eugene Hamilton has voiced his concern over and disgust with the recent gun-related incidents in his area of responsibility that left two men dead, one hospitalised and a family traumatised.
In a release to the media, Hamilton said, “On Sunday, 7th March, 2010, Denzil “Parrah” Williams was cold bloodedly gunned down, in broad daylight, in Upper Monkey Hill. On Friday night, 2nd April, Antonio Roberts of Upper Cayon was shot repeatedly and was hospitalized in a serious condition. Early in the morning on Easter Monday, the home of Mr. and Mrs. John and Gwen Pennyfeather of Lower Cayon, was riddled with bullets while they were asleep. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, 8th April, the well known Taxi operator, Bradford ‘Braddy’ Tweed, was gunned down and killed on the island main road near Keys Village.”
The People’s Action Movement’s Parliamentarian expressed shock, horror and disgust as well as his condemnation of the serious gun-related crimes and the frequency of criminal shootings in the twin-island Federation “that once was a true reflection of the haunting words of our National Anthem…’O land of beauty, Our Country where peace abounds’”.
He pointed out that all four of the above mentioned shootings occurred in the constituency to which he has been duly elected to serve following the January 25 General Elections.
“I mourn with the families of the victims and I feel their pain and their loss. I also mourn for this country where these tragedies have become too frequent in the recent past. People in my constituency are fed up with the failure of the Government to combat the scourge of rampant gun violence plaguing our communities,” he added.
Reflection on the amount of people who served as Minister of National Security, whom he claimed had brought no improvement to the crime situation, Hamilton said, “Prime Minister Douglas was succeeded by Minister Dwyer Astaphan, then by Minister Asim Martin, then by Prime Minister Douglas again, and now by Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor.
“The only feature associated with each change is a deterioration…a worsening of the crime wave in this country. Things have gone from bad to worse. We are now in full blown crisis and the Government seems to have no solution.”
Hamilton is of the view that if people in the Federation were dying from AIDS, the government would have been on the airwaves talking about a pandemic and would have at least appeared to be busy trying to save lives.
“The fact that we have been breaking the homicide records year after year should confirm, without doubt, that we face circumstances as like a pandemic in our tiny nation. The Government has not even made a statement about this latest outbreak of gun violence, and ordinary people could be forgiven for thinking that this Government does not care,” he said.
The Parliamentarian reiterated his sympathies with all families who suffered the loss of loved ones by such violent means, particularly the family and friends of the most recent victim, Bradford ‘Braddy’ Tweed.
