CARICOM leaders are trying to find ways to ensure criminals who break the law in one member state can be easily extradited.
Prime Minister of St Lucia Philip J. Pierre made that disclosure on Thursday as he expressed concerns about crime in his country and the region.
“We [CARICOM] have agreed that crime has become a health issue because any time somebody is shot or stabbed, it costs us to divert resources to cure that person.
“There is room for more cooperation and St Lucia will be working actively with all our neighbours to solve that problem,” he said on Thursday, the second day of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle, St Philip.
Gang-related
“We have issues with gang-related crime, which is prevalent in the entire region. We want more coordination between getting people who are accused of crimes in one island and getting them to another island, but it’s not a very easy process because each island has their own laws,” he added.
Pierre said that to combat the crime in his country, they also had to tackle overall unemployment, which dropped to 11 per cent.
He noted that in 2021 when he took office, youth unemployment was between 38 and 40 per cent, but that had now been reduced to 18 per cent.
Police force
The prime minister said they were also doing more to strengthen the Royal St Lucia Police Force.
“The attorney general is in the process of trying to quicken the trial process. We have put more resources in the police force than any government except during the time the Labour Party was in office,” he said.
Extra hands
“As we speak, we have recruited for this year 119 extra hands in the police force. We are looking at 80 new recruits to come in and 80 more before the year has ended.
“We are building a brand new police headquarters . . . the most modern in the region and it costs over $40 million.”
The St Lucia leader said they were also making plans to improve the judicial system.
“We understand the issue and St Lucia is actively pursuing change. We are
in the process of building a Hall of Justice, where we can have all the courts under one umbrella to hasten the process.”
Meanwhile, during a break at the conference, other regional leaders, including Prime Minister of The Bahamas Philip Davis, expressed concerns about the crime situation in the region.
Davis highlighted Haiti and suggested the violence there could impact their elections this year.
“Even if we want to bring some stability to the situation, there has to be some time – a cooling-off period – to ensure that the stability we have achieved is maintained and is sustainable. For elections to be held in November because of the continual deterioration of security status in Haiti, it is very challenging,” he said.
President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali said the gang violence and humanitarian issue in Haiti also had their attention.
“The humanitarian crisis is what concerns me greatly and we as a region will continue to work to mobilise resources and the interest necessary to get the financing to get the type of action that is needed internationally for Haiti,” he said.
Ali said they were keeping an eye on whether the instability would impact the former French colony’s elections later this year.
Haiti
“We are concerned like everyone else. The main issues continue to be that of security, mobilising international support to bring the situation under control that would facilitate not only elections, but so elections could be as smooth as possible and credible. They go in hand in hand – the stability and the elections.
“However, CARICOM is united on the fact that we must do everything to ensure elections are held . . .,” he added. (TG)
