Too much unemployment in Georgetown, say residents

Some residents of the east coast town of Georgetown believe the many issues plaguing the area, including crime and violence, stem from the “idleness” among the community’s young people.

And on Wednesday, those who chatted with SEARCHLIGHT about the problems in the town, known in the past for sugar production, but now known as the home of Sunset very strong rum, said unemployment, drug use and the absence of proper parental guidance are some of the major issues fuelling the break down in society.

Georgetown, split between the constituencies of North Central Windward and North Windward, was on Tuesday, ground zero for the country’s 49th homicide for 2023.

In the past few months, the community has been in the news frequently. Incidents include murders, at least one road fatality that saw a man being charged, attacks on Cuban medical professionals, damage to property and theft. Someone even broke apart an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) at the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines (BOSVG).

One concerned resident is Calvin “Compay” Ryan. He spoke to SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday following the death of his stepson O’Neil Delecia, 19, who was stabbed three times at around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday November 21 in Queen Street, Georgetown and later died. It is alleged he was stabbed by a 14-year-old boy.

Ryan said the situation with youths in the country is “past out of control” and in his mind, mistakes have been made by those in authority that have played a part in the current situation in relation to crime and violence.

Among the policies that Ryan sees as problematic are the fact that girls who become pregnant are allowed to return to school; compulsory access to education where students who fail are still promoted; and the leeway given to persons in possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“…From the time the man bring in that (marijuana) and you nah lock up for this and lock up for that, like all the youth and them just get hot head, not even parents can talk to them…is only certain ah them who ah smoke, who parents could speak to,” Ryan said.

He added that there is also an issue with unemployment, as there are a lot of youths who leave school fully educated and can’t find work.

“…Them ah the robbers, them ah the killers, because them ah start to get frustrated,” Ryan said while adding that politicians should explain the issues in relation to unemployment and other things that are affecting the community, instead of lying and hiding facts.

He noted also that there are students who borrow huge sums of money to seek higher education and that should not be the case.

“I don’t like it,” Ryan said, while noting that over the last 20 years, there has been an upsurge in violent crimes and persons who kill others and are found guilty of murder should be hanged and that may serve as a deterrent.

A group of men, liming on the block in the vicinity of the Georgetown Police Station, also spoke about things that are painting their community in a bad light.

Unemployment also came up, with one man who preferred to not give his name, claiming that because of the lack of jobs, a lot of youths are “hustling” marijuana, doing odd jobs and becoming involved in crimes like burglary and theft, and becoming involved in gang activity.

He said there are many unemployed youths in Georgetown who frequent the various hangout spots and are at times problematic to deal with.

“Ah hustle man ah hustle ‘pon street, too much hustlers, man not supposed to hustle like that. Find work for man, too much man dey ah Georgetown way nah wuk,” and irate resident said.

During the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) “Hope for Youth Rally” in Campden Park on Saturday, Parliamentary representative for East Kingstown Fitzgerald “Fitz” Bramble said 42 per cent of the young people in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) are unemployed.

“…Never in the history of this country have we had so many people living in extreme poverty…almost 42 to 43 per cent of our people are living on 14 dollars and less per day,” Bramble said.