God specializes in things that seem impossible. – Author unknown
The Nation Publishing Company must be commended for convening a town hall meeting which focused on the vexed question of crime in Barbados.
Though the attendance was good, considering that there were other events taking place simultaneously, given the seriousness of the issue there may be cause for concern. Is it that as Barbadians we do not become really concerned about an issue until it touches us directly?
There is a sense therefore in which even with the clash with the John Cumberbatch Lecture organized by the Barbados Union of Teachers and the University of the West Indies Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni lecture at UWI, crime must be seen to be a real problem.
The latest statistics suggest that while overall crime is down, there has been a discomfiting increase in crimes again the person, including theft of jewellery and cellular phones. Overall, with what appeared to have been a spike in the number of murders during the summer and given what also appeared to be manifestations of changes in the nature and modalities of serious crime, including murder, the town hall meeting might have fallen short of coming up with a blueprint for a genuine lockdown on crime.
While the slinging skills of the moderator might come in for some criticism, there was much more that could have been said in the Lester Vaughan School auditorium. I left with a feeling that many others would have liked to “offload” their concerns as part of the lockdown strategy on crime.
President of Prison Fellowship, Mr Win Callender, won the attention of the gathering when he related a conversation with an inmate whose advice for dealing with crime, among other things, was to get rid of the blocks. Mr Callender also shared information relative to the growing number of able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 35 who are incarcerated at the Dodds facility.
Yes, there are more than 1 000 men and 36 women locked up in our prison and this represents a terrible waste of human resources, but it was the inmate’s reported desire to see the blocks destroyed that deserves some analysis.
While we must be alarmed at the number of men in prison, the number of men of a similar age group who hang on the blocks day in, day out makes the Dodds numbers seem insignificant. I would hazard a guess that with blocks in virtually every community, that we are talking in excess of 15 000 to 20 000 individuals.
What is even more frightening is that there are some blocks with males as young as 11 and 12 years old. While there are a few girls among the block population, the overwhelming majority of the ‘blockers’ are males.
Barbadians have mixed and varied perceptions of the block culture. Not all the men and women on the so-called blocks are bad or are involved in criminal activity.
Speaking at the town hall meeting, Charles Griffith, once associated with Project Oasis, identified himself as having visited every block with a view toward turning the youth away from crime. Implicit in his submission is the notion that the blocks are associated with criminal activity.
There is also the perception that while some positive entrepreneurial activity might take place on the blocks, much of it is associated with the drug culture for which blocks are a conduit. One only has to pass through certain communities and the evidence and suspicion are blatant.
It is sometimes intimidating to even drive through certain villages and districts that are infested with the violence, lawlessness and drug-related activity, most of which is known to the police. At the same time, there are men who have been hanging on blocks for years and have never committed a crime. It is also said that blocks give young people a sense of belonging and relief from the conflict, stress and problems within some households.
So, is there a case for the destruction of ‘blocks’ in Barbados and across the wider Caribbean?
Should we follow the advice of the inmate with whom Callender spoke?
One thing that is sure, is that there is need for an audit of the blocks in Barbados. Not only must we know how many and where they are located, but the qualifications, skills, talents and abilities of the youth on the blocks must be audited as well. Tremendous talent is being wasted and millions invested in education is going down the drain.
Imagine men aged 25 to 35 who have never earned a dollar by gainful employment.
In conclusion, an important part of the social re-engineering which is an absolute necessity is not the wiping out of the blocks, but providing “block-aid” to fish thousands of able-bodied men from a life of labelled existence, suspicion, eluding the law and in some instances blatant involvement in criminal activity.
Given the pervasive technology, including Wi-Fi, accessible everywhere, including on the blocks, potential mobilization and networking among blocks is a developing time bomb that has the potential to wreak social, moral, political and economic mayhem, whose devastation is not now comprehensible.
That we have sat idly by and allowed this “block infestation” is worrisome.
Matthew D. Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education, and a social commentator. Email [email protected]