Today, the Democratic Labour Party joins Attorney General Adriel Brathwaithe in extending condolences to the families of the two men who lost their lives in a very horrible crime at Salters, St George. The Attorney General has called for all hands on deck to address crime in Barbados.
This recent act comes on the heels of the Royal Barbados Police Force’s statement regarding the fact that serious crimes were down. As Barbadians, we are subject to severe psychological trauma every time a Barbadian loses their life, in what we can describe as a senseless act. When a visitor is killed or harmed, it reverberates across the world. It hurts Barbados.
Our very fragile economy depends on the goodwill of the visitor and yet indifferent people continue to perpetrate acts against our country. An act against every visitor must be viewed as an act against Barbados. Our people must appreciate that the reporting of a crime or knowledge leading to the capture any person involved in such an act must become part of our civic duty.
The impact of crime continues to be a social scourge on our landscape and continues to be an area of intense research. One often wonders why people commit acts against others without provocation or reason. We saw what the country was taken through with the Campz Trend fire that took innocent lives – an act perpetrated by elements of our youth.
Every effort must be made by the state to depoliticized the issue of crime and define it in the manner that makes it every person’s responsibility. After showcasing some of the island’s greatest talent to the world, at the just concluded 2011 Crop Over activities, we have been asked to stop and take stock of the dark peril that seeks to define our land.
The call has been made by the Attorney General to all parents to step up and do their duty to prevent their homes from being used as safe harbours for deadly weapons. We cannot renege on the fight to protect the social fabric of Barbados.
The threats we face today are on many fronts: economic, political, environmental and social.
As a small country with limited resources, we try our utmost to fashion and shape an agenda that allows us to negotiate the many obstacles and threats that come our way. Our greatest asset in combating these threats is our people.
This small island has produced greatness from little and we must resist attempts by negative forces to redefine our way of life or imprison us in wrought iron cages.
As a nation, we must strengthen our resolve to be our brother’s keeper. We cannot surrender our way of life and freedoms as individuals. We have worked hard to build up these joys over the years.
The very nature of our family life must be safeguarded as we continue to build up community life. There can be no explanation for what has stained our land. We continue to be baffled by these senseless acts of crime.
We trust, however, that our people will rise up against the elements that seek to undermine our social fabric and ensure that Barbados continues to be the friendly place that visitors and locals have come to know and respect.
