STATEMENT BY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, RT. HON. DR DENZIL DOUGLAS ON THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF THE 2018 EASTER WEEKEND

Basseterre, St. Kitts – The sanctity of the Easter weekend has been desecrated by a series of violent crimes and gruesome discoveries and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has yet again been forced to begin a new month in agony.

Holy Thursday and Good Friday came bearing disheartening reports of armed robberies in Nevis. On Saturday morning, we awoke to the shocking news that the body of young Marlon James, a Guyanese national residing in Brown Hill, Nevis, had been found in Hamilton. He had been shot several times before being set ablaze. A little over an hour ago, the Easter Sunday evening’s restful atmosphere was shattered by news of the discovery of young Preston Flemming of Newton Ground, who had been missing since February 27th. His remains were found in the Wingfield Mountain area of Old Road.

In the face of this upward crime trend, the current government’s continued insistence that crime in our Federation is trending down has proven to be a most damaging statement. Not only is it a blatant and outright lie, it also attempts to force upon our people a false sense of security that perpetually proves detrimental to one and all. Our youth are being cut down by the twos and threes in ways far more gruesome and violent than our people have ever seen.

Right before our very eyes, the leadership failings of those in the coalition administration have given way to the regression of our society. Evidently, the current government of St. Kitts-Nevis is yet to realise that super-sizing the law enforcement budget was not a solution to achieving a reduction in crime and violence in our country. While Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris and Premier Mark Brantley repeatedly insist that crime is trending down, barbarism and general social chaos creep steadily throughout the land. The constant denial emerging from our nation’s two Ministers of National Security reeks of sheer incompetence and a total lack of empathy on both their parts.

Despite the calls of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and myself as leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, the government led by Dr Timothy Harris fails to bring together the relevant stakeholders as well as the parliamentary Opposition in a serious forum dedicated to identifying solutions to this national scourge. Time and again, I have beseeched the government to include the Opposition in their discussions on this matter because as the Labour Party has always insisted, crime is a social problem, not a political one.

To date, our requests for inclusion in this national endeavour have gone largely ignored; no member of the Opposition has been included in any serious decision-making forum convened for the purpose of identifying solutions to crime and violence. I am therefore strongly of the view that the steady loss of lives across the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis due to violence are of little to no importance to Prime Minister Harris and Premier Brantley. They simply do not care.

I wish at this time to extend sincerest condolences to the families of Marlon James and Preston Flemming on behalf of myself and the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party. As citizens and residents of this nation, we stand with you and offer our thoughts, prayers, and support to you throughout this most trying of times. May the souls of your loved ones rest in eternal peace.