Supporters of the NDP are urging the government to invest in a new mental asylum at Belle Isle, suggesting the facility serve as a resting place for former ULP government ministers and party hardliners.
The calls were made on Friday during the “New Times Program” broadcast on Nice Radio. The topic was brought to the forefront after the program’s host mentioned a recent press conference held by former Member of Parliament Carlos James. James’s law firm is currently representing Lowie Mercury, who was shot multiple times by a police officer on hospital grounds, and Kenton Harris, a vulnerable man with chronic psychiatric challenges who was savagely beaten by police in Kingstown.
During the broadcast, callers expressed disbelief that former ULP MPs and other officials have not been charged for their past management of the country, citing the state of the economy and highly controversial past incidents. Specific grievances were raised regarding the handling of cases involving citizens Cornelius John and Yugge Farrell.
Cornelius John, a businessman from Diamond Village, was shot and beaten at his home by a group of individuals that included an Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions and a government senator. While legal charges were initially filed against both parties, they were subsequently dismissed.
In a separate incident, Yugge Farrell was arrested in January 2018 for allegedly using abusive language toward Karen Duncan-Gonsalves, a lawyer and the wife of Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves. Farrell’s subsequent remand to the Mental Health Centre for psychiatric evaluation sparked protests, public debate, and international attention before prosecutors withdrew the charge and the case was officially dismissed in December 2018.
Radio callers expressed intense frustration over these past events, with some framing the proposed Belle Isle facility as a form of political retribution. One caller accused the former administration of purposefully neglecting mental health infrastructure, stating, “You did not even had a psychiatrist here, the government get one in 6 months. They did not want any because of what they were doing to people”. The caller issued a stark warning to former officials: “Don’t pour castor oil if you cannot take it. Is right there they going”.
Another irate caller directly referenced the Farrell case, demanding justice by stating, “They must pay for what they did to Yugge. They will sit in that mental institution”. According to the program’s supporters, the proposed institution would be a fitting destination for these former officials to face the consequences.