By Staff Writer
Dr. Denzil Douglas, leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, wants the government led by Dr. Timothy Harris to open a national conversation on the rampant gun violence that continues to explode in St. Kitts and Nevis.
He made this proposal Wednesday, July 27, based on 21 gun deaths in the first seven months of the year.
Dr. Douglas spoke on his party’s weekly radio program. The former Minister of National Security charged that the Team Unity administration is lost for answers on how to handle the increasing crime problem, pointing out that this month was one of the deadliest on record.
“Again I emphasis that the authorities are clueless in dealing with this unprecedented crime situation,” he said. “July is being recorded as the bloodiest July in the history of our country, matching only January 2016 when we recorded six murders.”
Dr. Harris said it is clear that promises made by the Prime Minister and his coalition have not been delivered since they took office in February 2015 on the problem of violent crime and when it blamed the Labour Government for the problem. He challenged the public to let the government know if they are better off now than in February 2015.
He further stated that “Crime is a national issue, a societal issue that we contended many years ago. It will take all of us to fix it and no blaming of one entity, group or party will make us safer as a nation and a people.”
He also stated that St. Kitts and Nevis continue to receive negative images on the international stage and that crimes are being reported on the local airlines, through online mediums and in the press, including the recent fallout from the 50 cent arrest. The international rapper was very vocal on his return to America where he described the Federation as the ‘murder capital’.
Earlier this week, a number of shootings rocked the Federation, including the killings of 22-year-old Cleveland ‘Fatty’ Berkley and the murder of business owner Gary ‘Fatty’ Clayton just hours apart.
