Basseterre St. Kitts, April 18, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom): Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew says he is optimistic that the outlook and action plan to apprehend violence in the Caribbean will move to solutions that will positively impact the public.
At a regional symposium on Crime as a Public Health Issue in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, the Prime Minister echoed public health recommendations and expressed his optimism.
He said “At the outset, it is clear that much work has been done to document the risk factors, the characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and the impacts on the individual, families, country, and region. Solutions have also come to the fore, so there is reason for me to be very optimistic.”
He continued “We had this regional symposium, therefore, as a coalition of the willing, notwithstanding the delays because of a pandemic, there is a window of opportunity to move the needle now to solutions. Our people must see and must feel solutions now.”
The Prime Minister spoke about enabling incentives for persons to turn away from crime, specifically targeting the most at risk groups such as gang members.
He proposed using culturally relevant programs and social influencers. This sentiment was earlier shared by Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell, who said that youth are spoken to and not involved in discussions, as many heads teel them what is best for them instead of hearing from and listening to youth.
Dr. Drew emphasized political will to make the change needed, as research and evidence is already present.
He said “The conclusion that violence prevention funding is “Smart Money” is accepted and, to my mind, a political imperative. We need to do it?”
He added “Therefore, gathering research evidence on violence is not the rate-limiting step of Caribbean action, or finding a Caribbean solution. The research and evidence is not the issue. We have it, we heard it. The issue is political, will. Will we do it?”
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