BASSETERRE, ST KITTS – Despite the presence of a large contingent of men from the Regional Security System (RSS), the crime wave escalated in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Federation woke up Wednesday morning to news that Fraites & Sons Bakery bread van was robbed in Saddlers, a mere two weeks after gunmen held up the bakery in Molineux.
“Crime continues to spiral out of control. Shots were fired in the robbery of the bread van this morning. We have seen a spiral in robberies and only last week the police reported that two females including a police officer were raped. These are all horrific, despicable and invasive crimes,” said Chairperson of the opposition St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), Hon. Marcella Liburd.
She recalled that a passenger bus driver in a telephone call to last week’s “Issues” programme on Freedom FM “was very emotional seeking protection for operators of passenger buses.”
“There have been several incidents of drivers/owners of passenger buses being robbed and the busmen are of the view that the government is not doing anything to protect them on the road. They say they feel very unsafe,” said Liburd, who is also the Parliamentary Representative for Central Basseterre.
She said it was ironic that the recent RSS exercise over the past for weeks was called “Operation Safe Streets.”
“This was one of the biggest ironies in recent times. ‘Operation Safe Streets,’ but the streets could not be more than unsafe,” said Liburd, who asked where the hundreds of thousands spent by the Timothy Harris Government to bring the large contingent of RSS personnel to St Kitts.
“They are not crime fighters because while the RSS was here we had murder #24, several armed robberies, burglaries, and rapes and could not prevent crime. We have not heard of anyone being arrested for the 24 murders for this year that remain unresolved. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent bring the RSS to remove marijuana plants, remove tint from vehicles, stop and search vehicles. Are these activities beyond the scope of our local police force,” said Liburd, suggesting that Prime Minister Harris as the current Chairman of the RSS “abused his power as the lead prime minister in charge of security within CARICOM to cover up for him.”
“He wants always not to be associated with the crime that is taking place in St Kitts and Nevis. He had all the answers and solutions to crime before he became prime minister, but since getting the top political job crime is worst than how he met it,” said Liburd, who recalled that “the buck stopped with Queeley” the new Commissioner of Police when he was appointed top cop.
“We have heard so much about the government’s six-point plan and that it is working but no reference to it for the past several months. It seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth,” said Ms. Liburd who pointed to incidents where Timothy Harris’ friends in the St Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce during the previous Labour Administration blamed then Prime Minister the right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas for every criminal activity that took place by publicly commenting and issuing press releases.
“Now that their government is in office and crime is worst, it was only after 14 murders this years and the armed robbery of a big businessman, the Chamber wrote a letter to the police commissioner and not to the prime minister who is also the minister of national security. After the letter was made public by the chamber, the prime minister was upset because he wants no criticism of the government,” she pointed out.
“The Chamber was scolded by Prime Minister Harris and since then, the Chamber and other civil society bodies have been silent on the high level of crime which is happening. They are conspicuously silent as part of the whole political machinery, because they have to make sure that they protect the government that they rallied openly for,” said Ms. Liburd.
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