Former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart is cautioning Barbadians against getting too carried away with the “truce” that was brokered last Thursday in Chapman Lane, The City, unless the parties involved are also going to be turning in weapons.
“Phase 2 would have to be that the Attorney General and Minister are going to lead them on a day appointed to Central Police Station to hand over their firearms. Because if the truce breaks down, you can’t afford for those people to still have their firearms. So don’t get too carried away with Phase 1 yet,” Stuart said.
He delivered a no holds barred presentation at the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) St Michael South East branch meeting on Sunday evening at Parkinson Memorial Secondary School.
Stuart touched on crime, the republic Constitution, the overall state of the country and the silence of “big men with families with lots of letters behind their name” who are afraid to oppose “Caesar”. It was held under the theme: Barbados Today, Four Years and Eight Months Later.
Stuart, a former Attorney General (AG) in the David Thompson administration, called on current AG Dale Marshall and minister with responsibility for crime prevention, Corey Lane, to tell Barbadians about the state of crime in the country.
“There is nobody in this room who would have the courage to tell me you feel safer in Barbados today than you felt four years and eight months ago,” he said.
Last Thursday, more than 200 people from different communities and blocks met in Chapman Lane and a commitment was made to end the “war” which has cost many lives, most by the gun.
Stuart said the country was “fumbling around” and not enough qualified people were speaking out on issues.
“You hear big men with families with lots of letters behind their name . . . can’t stand up and say how they feel because they can’t afford to lose Caesar’s friendship,” he said.
Among those in attendance were DLP president Dr Ronnie Yearwood, attorney Hal Gollop KC, former Minister of Education Ronald Jones, former Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy, DLP spokespersons on labour and health Walter Maloney and Paul Gibson, respectively, the party’s general secretary Steve Blackett and former candidates Pedro Shepherd, Ryan Walters, Kemar Stuart and Alwyn Babb. (Nation News)
