Gonsalves urges Caribbean to emulate use of advanced forensic scientific tools
St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has praised Jamaica for leading the Caribbean in the use of advanced forensic scientific tools to combat crime, saying other countries in the region should follow its example.
Gonsalves said that, although his country uses modern forensic technology, Jamaica is more advanced than the other regional states.
“We are using modern information technology and other advanced forensic scientific tools, but Jamaica is ahead of all of us in the Caribbean dealing with this, and we have to learn from Jamaica,” Gonsalves said.
He joined Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness in underscoring the need for a combined approach to tackle violent gangs in the region before they escalate further.
“There is, in several countries, something amounting almost to a low-intensity civil war between some different groups, some may call them gangs. Some may call them associational groupings, and we have to be careful that this thing ain’t get completely out of hand,” Gonsalves said.
“We need to coordinate our work better with other countries which operate in the region, the US, and Britain, and Canada, and France, [and] the European Union generally. We have to address this thing in a coordinated way. It’s vital,” he added.
His comments were endorsed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who told journalists that no country in the region is spared from violence, although it occurs at varying degrees, and the situation is worsened by the involvement of firearms.
“Throughout the entire region we are facing serious problems. Different countries have different gradations of the same problem, but there is no country in the Caribbean that is exempt now from, regrettably, violence, and the violence becomes even more intense once people have access to guns,” Mottley said.
“I’ve said over and over that it was gunpowder that allowed a smaller number of Europeans to take over the continent of Africa. So, can you imagine what guns will do to this region if given the chance, and when guns are combined with corruption or illicit trade in drugs and substance abuse and all of the other things, and combined with our inability to deal with conflict resolution sufficiently?” Mottley argued.
