Former Saint Lucia Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony believes the government may have to beef up police powers after the recent multiple murders in his Vieux Fort constituency.
Seven people succumbed to gunshot injuries between Thursday and Saturday in an unprecedented escalation of gang violence in the Southern town.
“The events signal the need to rethink the strategy of crime reduction and containment in Vieux Fort,” Dr. Anthony declared in a prepared statement Monday during Good Morning Saint Lucia on Hot 7 Television.
“The issue of the pervasive and deep distrust of the police must be squarely faced, addressed and resolved,” he noted.
“I am even more convinced that the government will have to widen the powers of the police to respond to such events,” Anthony said.
He asserted that traditional police powers are too limited to cope with crimes of ‘such magnitude.’
The former Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the police, observing that they are also putting their lives at risk on the frontline facing sophisticated firepower and weaponry.
Anthony noted that the past few days have been difficult and traumatic.
He disclosed that his constituents are in disbelief, pain, and sorrow.
And he thanked all who sent consolation messages to support him and his constituents.
But he said he read the ‘sanctimonious and pious comments’ of those who thought it was a perfect opportunity to heap scorn and criticism on the government and parliamentary representative.
“I saw, too, the memes about Vieux Fort, calling for boycotts and relegation. This is sad. In the midst of all of this they forgot that the victims were not just those who were murdered, but also the families of the victims and the people of Vieux Fort South,” Anthony stated.
He declared it was right to condemn the killings in vehement or strident language.
But the former PM asserted that it could not be right to besmirch the town and its residents.
His complete statement appears below:
” … the government may have to beef up police powers …” THAT SHOULD’VE BEEN DONE 60 YEARS (or so) AGO!!! Tonneh foute!!
Kenny&Tony, let me ask is this what happen in the Town of VF new to you? Did you forget under your very watch the quantum killings that was taking place within the marchand, lesliland, grave yard, mon de du amongst other places and you never broaden those powers. You renegade the operation restore plan for the benefit of yourself and you become a cry baby. Just resign because you are not fit to hold any political positions as far as i am concern, let a byelection be held in VF for a better representative. The nastiness of you politicians is that you will watch people suffer and laugh at them until it become deadly then, you find it fit to give narratives, it won’t flipping work! Even the Mexican government cannot control its gang who have billions of $$$ in resources you want to make us believe you and your cabals will fix it. If anyone in the area where these shooting take place someone from the community needs to stand up and call on a community togetherness, unity and hope, pressure your constituency leader to make those resources available. Demand that they put everything in place to eliminate you out of slums and poverty society and don’t accept their habitual excuses we don’t have money. Come together and put on paper what will benefit the entire community so the youth can have a better way of life come tomorrow.
The government need to start fighting crime on all fronts. Including deporting some of these foreigners that are in the country and are not working. Some not all are part of the crime problem.
Then the government need to round up these hooligans and look them up indefinitely!! Under the anti gang law legislation.
Like this :
https://youtu.be/zwfU2_Gyy94
What your governments (whether SLP of UWP) are not telling you:
“…widen the powers of the police…” is a euphemism for “allow police to ignore its constitutional, lawful limitations against citizens”; i.e., be judge, jury and executioner.
Taking this short-cut in the name of “justice” avoids the need to disclose the real reasons for the high levels of criminality & corruption in St. Lucia.
My dear Dr. Anthony. The chickens have just come home to roost. This situation in the town has always been in the making. Who are some of the key persons in your political campaign?
Whose votes has seen you through in some instances to the winning line.
Whose support have you depended on in the past, to win the Vieux Fort South seat.
Under whose watchful eye to those drug lords seized and build massive structures on state owned properties?
Whose law firm represents the biggest gangster and drug man in Vieux Fort?
So you see Sir there “will be no peace in Vieux Fort” unless these issues are addressed. There will be no peace unless there is a clear line of demarcation between the gangs and politicians. Is that too difficult to do. Is it Dr. Anthony!!!!! Is it. While you sleep in your mansion we are forced to endure gunfire day after day. Our kids are traumatized but have no where to go. We feel trapped, hopeless and abandoned. We are hurting but have no one to turn to.
Personally, I don’t expect you or your government to do anything serious about the gangs in Vieux Fort since they are depended on to win the seat (financially and votes). And this in my mind is one of the greatest disadvantages of the first past the post political system.
So Mr. Sir, the lowly police are only pawns in a bigger game – one that they will never win unless these issues are addressed in a meaningful way.
For starters, throw the books at those drug lords and gang leaders. Demolished all their properties built on state owned lands without DCA approval. Then through the tax laws at them. Jail them and throw away the keys. It is only then I will say that you finally want to solve the problems in the town.
But then why should I expect that from you when you served as PM for fifteen years and did nothing, absolutely nothing to change the standard of leaving of its residents. In fact you made them even more dependent on you and the state, for their survival.
Under your leadership, we have been left with nothing in Vieux Fort, no sea port, almost no manufacturing and a ghost town. If it weren’t for HIA, the town would have been abandoned. What a shame!!! What a legacy you will leave behind. So sad from a man with such intellectual ability, and talent but who couldn’t deliver because of his selfish and vindictive ways. May God help your poor soul.
Saint Lucia Times I hope you publish my response please! For Dr. Anthony needs to know how some of us truly feel.
Awww boy Lab Rat and Prober wooooie I wonder if you realize that many of these gang members were just born around 1999 early 2000. You are under this impression that these are grown folks, like I have stated some of you people are so clueless. Many of these young people don’t care about politics much less politicians.
You send the police under the bus with impacts now calling on the same police to rethink their strategy so another ORC st lucians wake up
Has to read a script, really. Maybe things are just they way you planned it to be
Kenny .D.Anthony have been the Worst Vieux.Fort Rep.So Many Himicides in His Constituency for years now and Nothing have been Done .To Curb that mess
The duplicity of Kenny Anthony to come on the media days after the carnage in Vieux Fort acting as though he has come down from another plain to give advice to the clueless of St. Lucia.
You would think he has just appeared on the scene after years away from St. Lucia.
The man who has been the Member of Parliament for 26 years for that very constituency. The man who has been the Prime Minister of this country for 3 TERMS during that period.
No remorse, no contrition, no attempt to explain his incompetence and why the country has spiraled into a narco terrorist state, most immediately on his party’s watch. Pretty words couched in academic language as per usual but no attempt to address his role in this state of affairs. You cannot destroy something and think that empty words can rectify your lack of skills,.
Most disturbing is one of the contributions in this forum with regard to the connection between narco criminals and politicians. If this is true then no wonder we are so much trouble. I did not know it was so bad.
Repeatedly I have noted the records of history which show the lack of management competence, the venality, the racism and xenophobia of the St. Lucia Labour Party that has finally brought us to this point.
I will give the MP for VF south one positive point in that he was on the right path when he (as PM) brought in the foreign team to attempt to deal with the security issues in St. Lucia. Unfortunately and as usual the SLP messed up the implementation. WHY ? because the foreign team was not allowed to do their job. There were hacks in the SLP who thought they were security experts and they interfered with and hindered the foreigners and nothing got done. SLP stupidity and inability to realize that power has to be used wisely for the benefit of the people not their egos and pockets.
This situation is much worst than most St. Lucians realize. Getting out of this requires certain legal actions and a strong mindset. The SLP leadership do not understand or have this capacity.
Kenny
You are suggesting the the powers of the police needs bbroadding…..reallyyyy from you.
Have you forgotten operation restore confidence ?
‘ IMPAS”
Please go back to check who was the culprits behind the reporting
One would assume from Dr Anthony’s comments that he had been in space or far away from the reality of the day. I’m yet to understand that a man who served as PM for 15 years when this current situation was taking root, didn’t see the need to do what he is proposing now. Really a shame on your LEADASHEEP of this country and by further extension your 26 years of representation of Vieux Fort South.
Just a side note and I have seen it said here many times that homicide figures are being doctored. There were 3 killings on Thursday, Dylan, Brico and Laurine. Four on Friday. Don’t know the names of the two at westside, the young lady by Republic Bank and a Marcus at Shantytown, not the Marcus on the motorcycle in Choiseul. The Dada on Saturday morning and then Brico son in the pond later Saturday morning. Another guy was also shot there but not to sure whether he survived or succumbed. How does that add up to 7 according to this report. We need to be truthful as one of the steps to helping bring this mayhem under control.
This constitution changing sycophant is now trying to surreptitiously create a politically controlled police state. Do not trust him. 361 was him. The police have all the power they need. They just don’t have the tools they need, the requisite training, the judicial backup and the political independence to execute their duties.
Expanding police powers is always a recipe for disaster. Imagine some of those characters in the Royal St. Lucia Police Farce having unlimited power. “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
The public had been anxious to hear from the district rep. Now that he has spoken ,party hacks have turned the crime scene into a political circus.