Police make arrests in series of yacht break-ins

Arrests have been made in relation to a series of yacht break-ins, in the Wallilabou area.{{more}}

Cecil McKie, Minister of Tourism, told SEARCHLIGHT on Friday, that arrests had been made as a result of information that was provided to the police.

“We have begun to see the effects of everyone pooling their resources and joining in on the fight against these criminals,” McKie said.

“That is a positive sign and I am sure that once the community continues to lend their support and to play their part to be the eyes and ears, we will continue to make progress in capturing these criminals,” he added.

The Minister of Tourism said that discussions with the community are expected to continue this week, following those held last week.

He further explained that the community had joined in on the fight against yacht break-ins.

The issue of yacht break-ins recurring at Wallilabou was highlighted on April 8, after businessman Anthony Edwards, owner of Pirate’s Retreat Bar and Restaurant, expressed his frustration at what was taking place in the area.

According to the businessman, there had been a series of yacht burglaries back in 2005, but they stopped after he took the onus upon himself to provide security for the yachters.

He further said that there were three break-ins which occurred during the first week in April, this year.

Edwards said that he was disgusted with the seeming lack of attention that the issue had been receiving from the relevant authorities. He threatened to wage a war against the Ministry of Tourism and send out advisories to yachters overseas to boycott St Vincent and the Grenadines.

But McKie, during a press briefing on April 9, said that the matter was an ongoing challenge and that in the same way that security patrols had been stepped up on Bequia and other parts where similar problems were being experienced, the idea was to increase patrols at all yacht destinations throughout the country.

He said that other initiatives would be implemented in order to address the issue, and said a team was expected to journey to Wallilabou to identify and put additional measures in place to deal with the issue.

“We have to call on everyone to get involved in this process, so that we can attack the problem from all angles,” the Minister of Tourism said. (DD)