Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre hopes the newest addition to his cabinet, Micoud North MP Jeremiah Norbert, can prepare a national citizen security plan.
On Monday, Norbert took the oath as Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for Crime Prevention and Persons with Disabilities.
However, Prime Minister Pierre will retain the National Security portfolio.
“I want to make it clear he is not the Minister of National security. I am the Minister of National Security,” Pierre told reporters regarding Norbert’s new responsibilities.
“He is tasked with bringing together all the organisations, all the ideas, everybody who knows about crime suppression,” the PM told reporters.
“It is my hope that he can prepare a national plan which will be in for tweaking and changing to deal with citizen security,” Pierre explained.
“His job is to bring all the parties together, everyone who has an idea, everyone who has an opinion, everyone who knows what to do, there is a central body with a Minister,” he told reporters.
Pierre explained that all the anti-crime ideas, methods, and tactics people suggest would go to Norbert, who would work with him as National Security Minister.
The goal would be reducing, suppressing, and possibly preventing crime.
The PM noted that Saint Lucia was not ‘reinventing the wheel’ since other Crime Prevention Ministers were in the region.
He said he was pleased to have Norbert, a former police officer, in his cabinet.
The Micoud North MP lost a leg in a motorcycle accident before the last general elections.
Nevertheless, he scored a historic victory in Micoud North, a seat the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) had never won.
The Prime Minister praised Norbert’s grit and tenacity.
In addition, Pierre said the Micoud North MP embodied what someone with a physical disability could do.
Pierre said it was the first time that a Saint Lucia government was recognising the role of people with disabilities.
He noted that many people in Saint Lucia live with disabilities and need a voice to speak regarding their welfare and their inclusion in society.
What a joke 🙄!!
Congratulations to you Mr.Norbert. Mr Prime Minister,as an avid supporter I don’t like your tone. ” I hope he can prepare a security plan”. Is it a case you placed him in that position with the expectation of him failing? When we make statements we have to be careful as to how we express it. I maybe wrong, however, that’s my interpretation of your statement, please correct me,If I’m wrong.
The inmates are asking clowns for help in running the asylum. Bal fini.
This is necessary because of what…….. we run out of ideas or we never had a clue what needed to be done. But you expect a junior minister to achieve what you couldn’t. St Lucia wear pu chu.
How long before Noby can collect a pension, sounds like a good deal for him. If current police cant figure it out, let ex police take a crack at it, genius thinking. Y’all better stop playing.
Hopeium (English)
Blend of hope and opium, as though it were a drug.
A clinging to unreasonable or unfounded hopes.
That’s all Pip can be; a pusher of ‘hopium’!
If you were not scared before, this should do it. Pierre is out of depths and it’s showing everyday. It’s another Crime Symposium in the waiting. Consider the first one by What’s His Name a trial balloon. Having Pierre do the right thing is like trying to nail Jello to a partition. The solution from day one has always been to get a professional. We would pay a little more, however, the job would get done. Instead, Pierre has opted for trying a “lil ting” which will cost much more in the long run.
Well we can’t say Pierre isn’t trying….it’s either he is trying hard or hardly trying… I hope I am wrong but I can’t see anything significant coming from this. Why? Because one man cannot solve this issue..what Pierre should have done was to initiate a crime fighting agency to specifically deal with crime, gangs, gun imports, corruption in government and civil society etc etc….Pierre has shown he is a small mind thinker…in any case…I will give the newly initiated minister the due diligence he deserves and trust he can bring about some meaningful change….
This must be a joke. Pierre has taken such a responsibility and assign it to a Junior minister. It is not what Pierre said I heard. Instead I heard what he did not say. It was loud and clear that Pierre has no idea about Security and obviously Crime Prevention is not a priority to him. This guy has assigned this responsibility to Norbert who at this point is a Junior minister. I do not care what experience Norbert has acquired during his tenure as a policeman. The crime crisis in SLU has reached a level now that requires urgent attention. It is now above the pay grade of the police. We need experts in Security to mitigate this problem. The police will be part of the solution but at this point we need more than the police. The required expertise do not exist within our police system. As long as there is a dependency on the local police system, we are setting up ourselves to fail. The police react to crimes and a lot of cases they do nothing but just advice the public they are investigating. We need a security team of experts to strategize, standardize, provide guidelines, make changes as the situation arises. We need experts to keep records, track the criminals, minimize their movements. We need experts to to play the man in the middle when the criminals communicate. The biggest mistake in the crime war is to take a cell phones from the prisoners at bordelais. This could have been used to track and capture other criminal. This could have provided them with info and understand the culture of the criminal network. They missed out on a great opportunity. I would use the incarcerated folks to get all my info before seizing the cell phones.
Lots of young boys are dropping out of secondary school in Vieux Fort and are smoking crack cocaine, joining gangs and causing mayhem
Maybe we have a round table discussion on crime with our valued Ministers Hilaire, Frederick and Girard. Yardie can be the moderator. Topics that could be ventilated might include defrauding investors, defrauding customs, the drug trade, money laundering and gang warfare/murder. I am sure the participants might have valuable insight and contributions in solving these problems.
lolobeff i like your comment. I am in support of what u propose. SMH So plain and simple. Ppl of MIcoud whichever one NOrbert represents are planning to no vote for him again because they against him not being a minister so PJP is looking to once again Protect The Victory and Secure votes. Well done PJP. U hv once again fooled the mASSES.
What a smoke screen pjp you are only fooling yourself st Lucian’s are not stupid What other rabbit you will pull from your hat 😀😀😂. Phillip suh plan
Ideas, what a joker. That tell me they haven’t a glue. And how are these ideas going to be make available for the public.
I am not convinced, I could pick holes in his statements but I can’t be bothered today. It’s a wait and see.
One thing I know for sure, you can have all the degrees, use all the big words, extend your vocabulary till you are blue in the face, but you need common sense, exceptional problem solving skills and creative thinkers.. I don’t know the new guy but I will wait and see.
To effectively combat violent crimes, law enforcement officers and professionals require a holistic approach, a diverse set of skills. Do police officers have all the skills? If they don’t get support from other Caribbean Island who have successfully reduced crime rates. UK has expertise, but the culture of gang-related violence is different to St Lucia. And not to mention those white experts need cultural awareness/experience of how St Lucians live and work. You cant just get any old expert. I am not saying it won’t work, but be mindful of the difference in culture. For example, They will not know VF community culture like a local or similar caribbean expert in crime prevention. Invest in all police officers wearing body worn cameras when out on duty. Resources, resources, resources.
You will not get a good outcome Mr PM if resources are a problem. You can’t do this on a shoe string budget.
Violent crimes, gang-related organised crimes affects everyone. These criminals do not discriminate against whom they harm. Their activities erode all communities and not to mention the economy. You just had another cutlass attack in VF. VF the hub of International countries entering St Lucia, the welcome entry point….not good.
So it’s imperative that criminal activities are reduced, you cannot afford this upward trend of violence to increase because ultimately those who suffer are the victims of crime and you Mr PM suffer from the consequences of not doing enough. So I suggest get your thinking caps on, engage your brains, you are in for a rocky ride. Big words solve nothing, degrees don’t mean jack if you have no idea what you are up against.
Police don’t have the experience to handle this. Track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Resources, resources, resources.
PM between you as security minister, Norbert’s ‘grit’ as described by you and Hilaire tourism minister early intervention with investment in communities to help build community resilience against serious crimes and gang-related crimes is needed. The focus has to be intelligence-led approach and I repeat again, development of whole-system approach. Schools need urgent attention, school children attacking their peers in broad daylight that’s serious issues developing. Do not think for one minute this is a one off incident. It always starts with one incident, blink and you have more. Softly Softly approach is not going to work. Norbert must go in hard. You will need more prison spaces for adults and young offenders of school age. Looks like they getting lessons from the adult gang leaders.
PM you need to find other ways to grow the economy not just rely on tourism. Its a mistake in this day and age to rely so heavily on tourism. Has history taught you nothing? Economic growth results in more capital, more labour. Government, businesses and individuals with local wealthy all play crucial roles in fostering sustainable and inclusive economic development. Remember Ali’s words of wisdom….being more inclusive, blood ties. Some of all you in that government…You don’t like Indians, you don’t like mix heritage people yet you take funds from Taiwan. What does that say about you. Taiwan is looking for something in return, they have future plans for you. Look at your own back yard for economic growth. You and Norbert both need to visit the hotspot crime areas, go meet the people, be more inclusive, be proactive, be creative. You wanted ideas right ? MR PM well that’s mine right there, be more inclusive.
Disability issues are still a problem on the Island. How about including more disable workers in your team, more women in the top positions. All I see is men and very few women, not enough diversity.
Good luck.
When will this Lark of insights stop?
They both have no interest in combating Crime, poverty, and lawlessness in St Lucia..
It’s so sad and frustrating to see black men who call themselves educated with experience in well paid job, make a statement with no comfort to the citizens who are at the receiving end of all these upsurge in violent crimes. Not everyone in VF is into crime, majority of the people I have no doubt are law abiding, hard workers. The bad rotten apples just enjoy criminal activities and they bring fear and restlessness to their communities.
I keep reading comments about a living wage. PM is not going to implement a higher living wage from $3 to $10 an hour.
Higher wages will impact on inflation, cost of living is already high. Wage rise to $10 an hour will mean cost of goods will go up further because of a rise in wages. Employers will increase the prices they charge for the goods and services they provide. Maybe $5-$6 can be considered Mr PM? With a further review next year? I wish it were that simply to implement. I believe the reason it’s not happening is…
Essentially as wages rise the companies pass on the increased costs to you the consumers in the form of higher prices, contributing to inflation.
There is never an explanation by Mr Economy. So that every day people can understand why it won’t work or why its met with no response. He will just say, I can’t do that, I am not a policeman, I can’t do that I don’t run the businesses.
Difficult one, to be honest. Workers on low wages deserve more money because of high cost of living. But, but….by pushing up wages, employers may have to let some workers go. It will cost them too much.
Businesses have to make a profit too, whilst workers want more money….No easy answers.
What we are witnessing throughout the Caribbean is a culmination of years of neglect. The world of security was changing, and leaders were slow in understanding the implications. Their approach to security was addressed in three ways. First, a representative without a portfolio was given the responsibility just to give him a little “ting.” Second, the leader would assume management of security to add weight to his stature. Third, a senator would be made minister of security, with the hope of improving his chances come elections. Neither of his cases could adequately address a growing problem.
Crime, terrorism and militancy was morphing and yet leaders were slow in grasping the changes. They were too engaged in petty politics. These leaders and their surrogates have fail to understand that security is more than your regular police. It’s a field of discipline. Degrees are earned just like Economics and others. Those leaders are in a time warp. We are witnessing it right here, and now. Imagine putting a person who makes coal pots as Minister of Finance just because he won a seat. This is an example what we are witnessing.
Pierre’s claim to the security portfolio is that his father was a policeman (decades ago). Exposure to this level of piffle can be damaging to longevity. In this environment, common sense is a bête noire. Idiocy is the lion of the jungle.
Until
@lolobeff. You should include Miguel Fevriere and Rehani Isidore as co-moderators to help widen the the panel discussion to include the unseen crimes such as embezzlement and terrorism.
Looking at the prime minister photos through out those years being prime minister and minister of national security the man don’t look like someone very bright and articulate for this job heard him speak and very shocked looks like he’s speached impired doesnt seems to take this job very serious but again I don’t know the man or anything about him just what am see and hearing but looks can be decieving but time will tell if I was wrong and I have been wrong many times before but this time I think I hit the nail right on the head