According to St. Clair Leacock, a Member of Parliament representing the opposition party in St. Vincent, a significant number of individuals are leaving the island as a result of apprehensions regarding security. This statement was made on Wednesday, August 30.
The St. Vincent police department has announced a monetary incentive of $50,000 as a reward for any valuable information that would assist in identifying and apprehending the individual or individuals responsible for the mass shooting incident that occurred in Kingstown in July. This tragic event resulted in the loss of five lives.
Leacock, during his discourse on the radio show of the NDP on Nice Radio, asserted that individuals are leaving for the United Kingdom and various Caribbean diaspora communities.
“People are leaving to escape the gunman. I’m saying that emphatically. The state of people escaping, trying to escape, and seeking assistance to get out of St. Vincent and away from the gunman has never been as high as it is now”, Leacock said.
“I say on evidence that is the case because so many people are intimidated and scared out of their wits that they could be next, and some are literally being left to die because the witness program in St. Vincent is not working”, the Opposition MP stated.
Leacock said the state is not providing that umbrella of insurance for people who have witnessed crimes.
“We are not providing that umbrella of insurance for people who have witnessed crimes and who provide evidence, and that’s where you have the significant mismatch of 42, 49, 45, 42, and 31 homicides in the year, and the number of apprehensions or arrests and prosecutions is a fraction of the homicide rate”.
The opposition lawmaker emphasized the need of granting public employees, notably the high-ranking officials of the police force, the necessary autonomy, respect, and professionalism to effectively provide law enforcement services of the utmost quality to the citizens of SVG.
This is crucial in ensuring the safety and protection of the populace from potential harm and threats, Leacock stated.
“The higher the office that people occupy in the public service, the more difficult it is for them to make professional decisions. We are not where we were several years ago when our permanent secretaries ran things, where you could hear from permanent secretaries what the state of affairs was in a particular ministry of the Government Service and believe in the truthfulness, veracity, accuracy, and intelligence of what was being delivered. That doesn’t happen anymore”, he said.
The opposition lawmaker emphasized the need of granting public employees, notably the high-ranking officials of the police force, the necessary autonomy, respect, and professionalism to effectively provide law enforcement services of the utmost quality to the citizens of SVG. This is crucial in ensuring the safety and protection of the populace from potential harm and threats.
As individuals ascend to higher positions within the public service, the complexity associated with rendering professional judgments becomes increasingly challenging. The current state of affairs differs from the previous year, during which the administration was managed by permanent secretaries. During that time, it was possible to obtain information directly from the permanent secretaries regarding the status of various government ministries. This allowed for a sense of trust in the reliability, truthfulness, accuracy, and intelligence of the information being communicated. The individual expressed that such an occurrence is no longer prevalent.
Leacock’s response was prompted by the Prime Minister’s remark regarding the resignation status of Colin John, the Commissioner of Police.
