CARICOM CHAIRMAN, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, yesterday called upon all regional governments to do all in their power to ensure that crime does not undermine peace and security in the Caribbean.
Spencer issued this clarion call to his fellow Caricom leaders as he revealed that officers from Britain’s Scotland Yard are now on the ground in Antigua and Barbuda to investigate the brutal double murders of British citizens Catherine and Benjamin Mullany on July 27 in his country. The couple were shot during an apparent robbery while on their honeymoon in the Caribbean island.
Speaking at a news conference hosted by the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain, the Prime Minister said: “We felt it would have been necessary very quickly to ask for the assistance and it was strategic for Scotland Yard to do that. They have responded. Scotland Yard is on the ground working with our local law enforcement agencies. They are doing their best to find the perpetrator or perpetrators of this heinous crime.”
Noting that this type of crime was unusual for his country and has implications for its tourism development, Spencer said: “Crime generally has got to be taken seriously. Not only in Antigua and Barbuda but in the Caribbean because we do have a challenge in the Caribbean as it relates to criminal activity.
“As leaders and as people we have to zero in on it in a real way and to find ways and means of combating it. This region comparatively speaking has always been considered a very peaceful and safe region of the world. We do not want anything to develop which would change that outlook on the part of the international community. So it behooves all of us to be able to work at the regional level and domestically to deal with this situation,” he declared.
The Antigua PM assured the international community that his country remains “peaceful and safe” for all visitors and steps are being taken to ensure that this image is not tarnished by crime. At last Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, National Security Minister Martin Joseph said Caricom countries were praised at a regional security conference in Cartagena de Indies, Colombia earlier this month for taking a proactive approach to curbing crime in the region. At last month’s Caricom Heads of Government conference in Antigua, regional leaders agreed to a regional airspace and maritime agreement that would bolster member states abilities to deal with the threat of transnational crimes such as drug and arms smuggling.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who is Caricom PM with responsibility for security, said Caricom was looking at a Caricom arrest warrant and extending regional extradition agreements with countries like the United States so that persons wanted in one country can be extradited to another country without hearings.
Joseph also indicated that Government will be bringing new gun control legislation to Parliament in an attempt to help the authorities curb the country’s escalating murder rate.
Opposition Chief Whip and former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said that kind of legislation was “completely irrelevant” because Government has failed to provide the police with the capability to detect crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.
–Newsday
