What is being done to combat crime in SVG?

Editor: When will the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) implement common sense gun laws, so that the people of SVG can feel safer in their homes and outside? 

I am writing because of the uptick in murders on the island. For years, crime has exacerbated to a chronic stage and it seems as though little or nothing is being done to stop the hemorrhaging. Moreover, gun violence and murders are taking too many lives and the politicians are not prioritizing this social urgency.

Forty murders already and the year is not ended.  I am sure some of those deaths are from illegal guns, and narcotics. The oligarchs of SVG are not affected by the violent crimes, so they are numb to the pain and suffering the victims’ families have to endure.

The leaders must be held accountable for the safety and civility of the citizens, and if they are wayward in this regard, the people of SVG must get petitions and write to them, so that their lives can be safer.  

Every murder on the island diminishes the quality of life of its citizens; furthermore, the policy makers can do a much better job in the reduction of capital crimes. How about create incentives to give young people hope, such as outreach programmes, workshops for jobs, innovation, and drugs awareness.  The people who are in the media have a responsibility also for writing about crime and not just stuff that only benefits their pockets. They can do much more to highlight the guns and murder epidemic.  Drugs on the island are in high demand and the only beneficiaries are the fat cats that have logistics to transport the goods and money, while the causality lies squarely on the “runners”.

SVG is one of the most beautiful countries in the Caribbean, yet one of the most violent in terms of major crimes, which is not proportional to the size of the island. 

With that ratio, Vincentians should speak out and stand up and let their voice be heard, give a damn about your lovely island, don’t let crime sink you island in the abyss of misery and poverty, because that is what will happen if the senseless violence does not abate. 

Another phenomenon that the island is facing is globalization; people from all over the world are coming to the island and not all have good intentions.  The leaders talk about security as if it is just another word, but who does not learn from their mistake today will surely repeat it tomorrow.  Also, I am not against globalization, but the “Vincy” people will disappear in the next century if immigration regulation is not disciplined. 

That concern brought me back to a vine call the “love vine” that wraps itself around a tree and controls it. Some immigrants like to over populate anywhere they migrate to and stake claims and if that trend continues in SVG, the culture on the island will disappear.  I think it is a social war that the great historian called Thucydides trap; then the murder epidemic. Those two plagues must be addressed and I know the two are monumental.

Kendal Coombs