Locals feel unsafe, especially after double murders, despite assurances from Police and Administration, says UPP Chair
The people of Antigua and Barbuda are not feeling safe, especially after the murders of a Golden Grove couple on Wednesday, July 20, says the Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), D. Gisele Isaac.
Isaac notes that while locals are experiencing a strong sense of insecurity, the Police Force has deployed six officers to the Regional Security Services (RSS) to assist another Caribbean country – St. Lucia – with its escalating crime rate.
She says, too, that Minister Lennox Weston recently boasted that his Administration has not sought outside assistance – such as the Royal Canadian Mounties – like the UPP did to help curb the crime situation. However, Isaac says, help is needed, and this view is being expressed by other nationals.
Isaac says that Antigua and Barbuda does not feel as safe as it once was; and at this time, as Carnival festivities are underway, the rise in crime will prevent persons from going out.
Ironically, Prime Minister Gaston Browne recently boasted in Parliament that crime is low.
However, only last weekend, the UPP St. George Candidate, Algernon “Serpent” Watts, commented that robberies, especially, are on the increase. However, he said, the Police appear to be downplaying the situation, because it might reflect on the Administration’s handling of the economy and the deepening poverty.