Nevis Anti-Crime Initiative Committee tables Working Paper
By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Daniel MacMullin NCAI member, Stephen Walwyn NCAI Chairperson, Lornette Swanston member NCAI |
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis - MEMBERS of the Nevis Community Anti-Crime Initiative Committee (NCAI) this morning tabled a Working Paper on the Problems of Crime in Nevis, which they were mandated to prepare following a national symposium held at the Four Seasons Resort on June 25, 2007.
A section of the Committee tabled the Report to reporters at the Red Cross Building, Charlestown. Reporters were informed that Stephen Walwyn is the NCAI Chair and Committee members are Daniel Macmullin, Calvin Fahie, Lornette Swanston, Dr. Cardell Rawlins, Lynell Nolan, Carlyle James, Steve Manners and Greg Philip.
The Paper comes on the heels of recent shooting incidents in Nevis. Last night, on the Let’s Talk programme broadcast on Voice of Nevis (VON), a number of Committee members disseminated major highlights contained in the Paper.
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| Nevis Community Anti-Crime Initiative Committee (NCAI) |
The Minister of National Security, Hon. Dyer Astaphan, called the station and commended the Committee for its noble initiative. He called on private citizens to emulate the example of the Committee and to initiate programmes that would complement the government’s efforts to curb crime.
The Report says there is a direct link between tourism and crime, which makes the situation of security on Nevis an urgent and top priority both for the government and all its citizens.
“This Report attempts to express that sense of immediacy in its thrust and to underscore the fact that we must act now,” Walwyn told the Press.
The Report represents an overall effort by the community to combat crime. It also seeks to provide a broad, non-partisan community effort to identify, analyse as well as arrest the mounting problem of crime on Nevis.
The Report looks squarely at the problem, purporting to offer an honest and objective assessment of the challenges to a strong and safe society faced by the Nevis community in 2008.
“Laying blame nowhere but insisting that every key stakeholder (Police, the Nevis Island Administration, the Federal Government and the Nevis Community) fully accepts and is poised and ready to perform their respective roles in what is a shared responsibility for its resolution,” says the report.
The key avenues for intervention, as outlined in the Report, include : government making budgetary allocations greater than before to provide resources necessary to shore up security; Police reaching out to community and engender trust and respect by doing what is necessary; training of Police officers (in the areas of gangs and community relations); anti-gang unit in the Force, especially trained; a government-backed task force from the community that serves as a nexus between government, the Police and the community to assist with Police oversight, information gathering and by providing needed resources. ~~Adz:Left~~
The Committee that prepared the Report is optimistic that although crime on Nevis has caused great alarm throughout the island, it is still within manageable proportions and recommends that certain broad-based initiatives are implemented as a matter of urgency.
“Fighting crime must involve all of the identified key stakeholders in Nevis, with each playing its own critical role in the process, working as well-oiled piece of machinery if the initiatives recommended in the Report are to be effective,” the Committee members said.
