Sandy Pointers share views on crime situation at PAM’s Townhall Meeting
By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief-SKNVibes.com
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| [From L-T] Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Five the Hon. Shawn Richards, PAM’s Chairman Osbourne and the Party’s Deputy Political Leader Eugene Hamilton |
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - RESIDENTS of Sandy Point turned out in their numbers last Thursday evening at a Townhall Meeting hosted by the People’s Action Movement [PAM] to highlight issues affecting them and to make recommendations.
The meeting was held at the St. Ann's Anglican Church Hall, where discussions were held on topics including the Electoral Reform Process, Confirmation Process, National Debt, Garbage Collection and, most importantly, Crime and its Solution.
One participant stated that the government, opposition parties, the church and other non-government organisations should sit together and discuss strategies aimed at reducing the level of crime in the Federation, especially gun-related crime.
The participant further stated that a holistic approach is needed to address
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| A section of the audience at the Townhall Meeting in Sandy Point |
crime and advised that the government should invest more in national security by providing the law enforcement agencies with the necessary resources.
“The government must be held accountable and it needs to give back to the Police the power that belongs to them and let the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force functions as it is mandated,” the participant said.
Another participant suggested that there should be an after school programme to keep the young occupied. But an individual disagreed, noting there are many dysfunctional homes and regardless of what the school, government and the church do, parents also have their part to play.
“Parents have to stop condoning and protecting children who are deviants. Part of the solution lies in the training of parents. We must organise workshops with the assistance of the government and the private sector,” the individual said.
A number of people was in favour of the recommencement of hanging in the Federation and recommended that stiffer penalties shout be awarded to those guilty of serious criminal offences. They noted that the jail is overcrowded and recommended the separation of first offenders from hard core criminals. ~~Adz:Left~~
Many residents complained about the unpaved roads in Bouncing Hill while others from Romney Ground said they do not get adequate water and electricity supply.
The meeting was chaired by Sydney Osbourne, Chairman of the PAM, with the Party’s Deputy Political Leader Eugene Hamilton and the Hon. Shawn Richards, Parliamentary Representative of Constituency Number Five, at the head table.
In an invited comment, Richards told SKNVibes that the meeting was successful.
“The Townhall Meeting was successful tonight. We had a wide cross section of persons from the Sandy Point community. We had the old, the young and middle-aged persons from Sandy Point as well as persons from outside the community.”
He declared that those who contributed were direct, thoughtful and objective in terms of their responses.
“We had individuals who gave their answers to questions and issues in terms of politics, those who spoke of their personal experiences and those who gave solutions, recommendations and answers to what they think is best for the country and how it ought to develop going forward,” Richards said.
He explained that the meeting was aimed at not only sensitising the people on the intentions of the PAM, but also to let them know “as a government you are there to serve the people, and in serving them you must know what issues are affecting them and provide them with satisfactory service”.
From this backdrop, Richards indicated that Townhall Meetings have assisted them in the development of their party’s policies. He also declared that by organising similar meetings and communicating in other fora, his party would establish its manifesto which would enable them to echo the views and sentiments expressed by the people.
The Parliamentarian said he appreciated all the comments made by the people with regards to crime, and expressed his views on their contributions.
“We live in a diversified society whereby different persons will be motivated by different factors, including their experiences. Some persons who are teachers, for example, brought their classrooms perspective to the meeting while some brought the perspective of being a parent and some brought the perspective of being victims of crime and their political orientation,” he said.
Richards is of the view that the different perspectives would assist the PAM in devising an overall approach that could bring comfort to the affected persons.
In response to the question of all stakeholders coming together to address the issue of crime, Richards said, “The People’s Action Movement wrote to the Prime Minister about two to three months ago asking him to convene a meeting of all political parties and different stakeholders on the issue of crime. To date, he has not answered us and it is therefore now left to us to organise a particular meeting because, obviously, the government is not showing us any leadership in terms of the crime issue. It is just simply lip service for them.
“In the interim, we have one of the highest murder rates in the world. Young people are dying, parents are being affected and, ultimately, the society pays a price. It’s a grave situation, one of which we must all come together and ensure that we do whatever is possible so that crime at least decreases,” he added.
Richards also announced that Thursday evening’s meeting is the first of a four-series Townhall Meeting planned for his Constituency.
