In what was described as a passionate, informative and inspiring presentation Ms. Terrelah Byron said the blame of the country’s continuing and spiraling Crime Crisis must be laid at the feet of the Government.
“The chief function of Government is to secure its citizens and protect them from harm. This should be a basic indisputable fact upon which any discussion as to a multi-dimensional approach on crime-fighting is founded. Any Government’s fundamental objective is national security; and when there is a national security catastrophe, the Government can be said to have failed in its fundamental objective,” said Byron.
Ms. Byron, the 2005 St. Kitts & Nevis runner-up State Scholar, continued “I point a finger at the present Government for our current crime situation and I make no apology for so doing.”
Byron said that “It was their Party who resolutely committed themselves in the run-up to the 1995 General Elections to make Law and Order priority #1 in their campaign pledge to ensure that every citizen and visitor to the islands feel safe and secured (See pages 5-6 of their 1995 Manifesto). Now, I am NOT saying that it is only the Government that has responsibility to bear, but I certainly point a finger at them for letting it get this far. In 1995, the number of murders for the year was 4.”
From 1995 to 2009 the number was 168. It is now well on its way to 200 murders since 1995. The most being recorded to date in a year is 27 murders recorded in 2009.”
Ms Byron also went on to endorse PAM’s proposed issuance of a new Crime Fighting Initiative which party Leader Lindsay Grant indicated will be launched within the next few weeks.
“There can be no doubt that the People’s Action Movement as the next government will ensure that justice be served when it comes to criminals. PAM will move swiftly to curtail crime and criminal activities. Very shortly the People’s Action Movement will unveil its 5 year crime policy which will cover broad areas including: crime prevention, the judicial system, establishing a rehabilitation program, restructuring the prison system, establishing early detection programmes for problem and at-risk individuals, re-introduce an active truancy programme, and establish a Home for boys and a Home for Girls much like the Harris’ home,” said Byron.