As schools in Vieux Fort reopened Monday after Friday’s closure due to deadly gun violence in the Southern town, Education Minister Shawn Edward, who visited the learning institutions, disclosed that the police were present as classes resumed.
“The police have a physical presence at all the schools in Vieux Fort this morning, quite apart from those who have been deployed in the various pockets just to provide added security,” the Minister said.
The team accompanying Edward included his Permanent Secretary, the President of the National Principals Association, and the Saint Lucia Teachers’ Union General Secretary.
The Minister said the visit to Vieux Fort was to meet staff and students to reassure and comfort them as much as possible after last week’s gun violence.
He explained to his Ministry’s Communications Unit that the incidents had traumatised teachers and students.
But Edward said after meeting the police high command, there were assurances that the security situation had improved and measures were in place to allow schools to reopen.
“As a Ministry and as a government, we are taking the situation very seriously and working very closely with the police to put measures in place to improve the security that would allow for schools to continue as they would have prior to the eruption of gun violence towards the tail-end of last week,” Edward stated.
“We are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis. We are in conversation almost on an hourly basis with the high command of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force and even some of the officers on the ground because it is a very dynamic situation,” he stated.
“Once we get to a situation where we believe the situation has become volatile again, we will not hesitate to close schools,” Edward declared.
However, he said he was satisfied with the police measures.
The Minister disclosed that attendance was affected at two schools he had visited before the media interview.
He said at the Beanfield Comprehensive Secondary school, attendance was at approximately 50 percent.
But it was between fifteen and twenty percent at the Vieux Fort Primary School.
“That probably has a lot to do with the fact that the main catchment area for the primary school would be the communities in Vieux Fort where the gun violence has erupted. In the case of the secondary school the catchment area is much wider,” Edward explained.
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From Independence Day Feb 22 , there were 7-8 people shot an now a next 7 so that’s 14+ people since Feb 22. What’s up STLT u don’t like my comments hitting to close to home and the truth bc u bypassing postin my sh…t for couple days now! come on people, freedom of speech!
yall just doing that for a week and yall disappear again. As of right now why is it there are no longer police patrolling the chausse road again? yall waiting for another killing to show up again? smh if there was more police presence alot of these crimes maybe would not have happened or the criminals would be caught. I am not hearing that they are robbing school children again in the entrepot/marchand vicinity, have the police stop showing their faces there to when school is over and the kids are walking home? the last time i checked the motto of the police is “to protect and serve”. i didnt see it say “to protect and serve sometimes”
Does this photo depict any level of seriousness?
It took how many lives and practically threaten the populace livelihood to only hear narratives dominate the airwave about the recent killings these days. While some may have the opinion of criminals was born yesterday there are something you called inheritance in family culture, inheritance of society culture amongst others that will lead to outcome of this magnitude. Few weeks from now this will become a laughing matter and a repeat might be imminent. the minister for security can expedite a police outpost there even though one is just a stone throw from the village where these crime was committed, the perpetrators do not have no fear whatsoever because at BLCF they live like kings, Free food, electricity, cell phones, zero maintenance. few years later they come back out and repeat same or someone within the family tree is prepared to continue same. When sports can we used as a tool to create an opportunity for others. Ministry of sports is already fractured for decades. It is the sports like individuals who come together and form leagues to play cricket and football, some can bring other franchise here to play only seasonal sports. There should be a call for all ministers to take a salary cut and put the money into good use for vulnerable areas to develop something.
All they are building is prisons take for example 4 million for custody suites but were is the money for housing were is the money for life skills where is our health care where is our minimum wage where is our agro processing plants but they have mine to build prisons to put young black men in jail when it is the politicians and policy makers that should be in jail