CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS APPRECIATE THE PEACE INITIATIVES OF THE TEAM UNITY-LED ST. KITTS-NEVIS GOVERNMENT

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, August 14, 2019 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – On Tuesday, August 13, the High Command of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) announced that through a peace initiative, a number of gang members voluntarily surrendered their illegal firearms – another indication that the comprehensive social intervention and crime prevention strategies employed by the Ministry of National Security are bearing fruits.

“There’s a sense of peace now [and] people in the country are deeply appreciative of the measures that we are taking to reduce crime and they anticipate that they will be fruitful,” said Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris while speaking at a press conference organized by the police to showcase the 30 illegal firearms recovered through the Peace Initiative.

A national poll recently conducted by respected and renowned Jamaican pollster, Mr. Don Anderson, found that “the country on the whole is very supportive of the strategies that have been put in place to deal with crime and violence.”

The poll also revealed that 66 percent of all persons interviewed in St. Kitts and Nevis are fully aware of the specific crime fighting/crime reduction and social intervention programmes recently put in place by the Team Unity government and that 81% of these persons are firmly convinced that these new crime fighting initiatives will bear fruit.

Over and above this, Mr. Anderson stated that 62% of those interviewed feel that the efforts are already reaping success.

In a direct response to these findings, Prime Minister Harris said, “I think today [Tuesday, August 13] we have had one of the most recent example that the programmes are bearing fruits in that 43 firearms – 30 as a result of the Peace Initiative – are now in the custody of the police which means they can no longer be used to inflict harm, pain or to murder anyone in our country. So that to me is a positive view with respect and is in keeping with the optimistic expectation which the pollster documented scientifically as a result of his result polling in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

The honourable prime minister concluded that it is the hope of his administration that there will be no homicides committed in the Federation, and that “the Peace Initiative, the Explorers Club, the programmes in the prison, all of them are intended to redirect the mind in which the violence is being conceived to look for alternative pathways to conflict resolution and for dealing with difficult situations in society.”