Speaking recently on his weekly radio programme, “In Touch with the Premier”, Premier Parry indicated that, for the most part, the people of Nevis are well-behaved and orderly and are discomforted by crime. He noted that this was evident a number of months ago, when the island’s inhabitants were subject to a series of break-ins. 

“And so here we (were) having some cases last year of break-ins, daylight break-ins, break-ins at night, almost people seeming to want to challenge the police force and it has not been very good, not good at all. We have had sections of the community being very uncomfortable and there was a time…business owners were closing very early. Thank God that has changed.

“What has been happening is that the police have tried to be proactive. They have reorganised themselves, they have reorganised their patrols and they have tried to increase the police force and basically, for the past few months, things have been at a relative low to the previous months. We don’t have the number of break-ins that we had and some of these young men who have been chasing each other with guns, they seem to be behaving themselves.” 

Premier Parry cautioned the young men of the Nevis community to observe the “zero tolerance” stance of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) and rather than make excuses in attempts to justify their behaviour, engage themselves in positive activities. 

“What we want is to send a very strong message to everyone that there is a zero tolerance in terms of the use of gun and that there is zero tolerance to break-ins and that type of misbehaviour; and that we want our young men to go and find something constructive to do and apply themselves in a constructive way.

“It is not good for them to drop out of school. It is not good for them to make all kinds of excuses that they can find love at home. They are not the first generation who has had problems at home. Each generation has had its challenges and each generation has found a way to deal with those challenges and to find a way to live within the bounds of law and order on the island of Nevis. And there is no excuse…for anyone to use those kind of weak statements for their misbehaviour. It’s a lack of discipline, lack of self-respect and a lack of respect for others,” the Premier expressed.