Opposition Leader worried about high levels of violence

The high levels of violent crime in St Vincent and the Grenadines have begun to worry Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace. Eustace, speaking on the New Times programme, on Nice Radio yesterday, made reference to several murders in the past months, including the most recent ones at Evesham and Chapmans.{{more}}

“I now get the feeling that sometimes we, ourselves, now begin to take some of these things for granted. They’re happening so frequently that they do not create the horror or disgust they ought to create in our society,” he said.

Eustace revealed that on Saturday, he attended the funeral of Amy-Ann Tittle, who was chopped at the back of her neck in Chapmans on August 24, in the presence of her three children.

“I looked at the little children at the funeral…I looked at the grandmother holding those little children and one asks oneself, what of their future, those young children?” he said. “When you think about it, it really is indeed a very serious, serious situation in our country.

The Opposition Leader noted that the crimes being committed were very gruesome and said something should be done to combat these occurrences.

“All of us really have to play some role. Not simply say assist the police, but our whole attitude to crime must be one of condemnation, so that those who are involved do not see it as something that you can get away with,” he said.

“We have to really look at our institutions and most of all, we have to look at ourselves. What are we doing in our own way to minimize that?”

Eustace also pointed out that crimes such as these can negatively impact the country.

“When you look at some of the attitudes displayed on these matters today, it’s not what we should be having. We must look and see what the impacts are, what it means for our society, before we take decisions as to how we deal with a lot of the concerns that have arisen.

“Crime has to do with our development…our prospects for the future. Crime has to do with our ability for people to invest, both locally and foreign, because the nature of this society is a critical component in investment decisions,” he said.

On September 5, public servant Velorne Samuel was gunned down on the porch of her home at Evesham. Samuel also had three children.(BK)