BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH a weakened domestic economy resulting from the global recession and the issue of a growing national debt hampering the nation, an increase in crime and violence should come as no surprise, one local economist told SKNVibes.
In recent times, the Federation has been subject to a spate of violent crimes. The number of homicides has seen a progressive increase in the past three years and the phenomenon of gang warfare is becoming more prevalent. However, some believe that the drastic and frightening increase in criminal activity is an expected result of spiralling economic hardships.
In an interview with SKNVibes, trained economist and finance expert Vernon Harris asserted that an economy on the decline provides the ideal conditions for rampant crime. He said that empirical evidence is there to prove the direct relationship between crime and poverty.
“The advent of gangs and violent crime in this country is not accidental. It is synonymous with deprivation. Once your economy is in decline, there is no work and people don’t have food to eat, they turn to gangs for security and also to get something to eat because the parents cannot afford to feed them.
“Government revenue has declined drastically. Tourism, which we are hitching our wagon to, is a dead horse and it’s not going to go anywhere. Unemployment has risen and it is going to continue to rise.
“The YES [Youth Empowerment through Skills] Programme will have to be abandoned and in addition to that, all those kids are leaving school in June, what are they going to do? Where are they going to work? So, the level of crime will escalate. The government has no fiscal space; it’s nothing they can do,” Harris stated.
The economist was strongly critical of the federal government, arguing that its hopes of an immediate economic rebound are far-fetched and that it must therefore seek to address the real problems, drawing on collaboration with the private sector. If this is not done as a matter of urgency, a cyclone of criminal activity may be looming, Harris said.
“It has to be a concerted effort between the public and private sector... and the public sector needs to stop pretending as though they have all the answers; they never did have the answers. They are still postulating, talking about the economy rebounding in the short term. I hear the PM talking about the ever-expanding economy and how good things are. We have to wake up as a nation.
“If we don’t wake up as a nation...we will be on the brink of becoming a failed nation state,” Harris asserted.
Against a backdrop of slow growth and reduced economic activity, Harris argued that the government does not have the resources to manage the economy.
He suggested that the government must therefore strive to engage the “best minds collectively” to veer away from further economic and social deterioration.
