CASTRIES,
St Lucia, Wednesday October 24, 2012 – Last week, gang violence at the Accident
and Emergency Department at the Victoria Hospital forced nurses to abandon
their posts and run for safety.
The
incident illustrated the upsurge in criminal activities that has presented
police with an uphill task in grappling with the situation and left National
Security Minister Phillip La Corbiniere extremely concerned about the path on
which the island’s future appears to be headed.
La
Corbiniere, who is also the Minister for Legal Affairs and Home Affairs, has
blamed the increase in criminal activity and gang violence on the illegal drug
trade which he said the authorities would spare no effort to dismantle. He added that the efforts would go beyond
capturing the proverbial small fish.
“In
a business you might start as a cleaner and end up as owner of the business,
and so it is the same in an unlawful enterprise, people start at the bottom and
move up become stronger and stronger, and eventually become a king-pin in the
trade.
“So
the point I have been making is that at all levels we have to dismantle the
drug trade,” he said.
La
Corbiniere, a former attorney general and minister of justice, warned of the
impact of the illegal drugs trade on St. Lucia.
“Sometimes
I am almost bowled over by the things that reach my desk in terms of the kind
of corruption that is ongoing, of the kind of involvement that we see in the
drug trade.
“I
am almost frightened about where St. Lucia is heading and going to be if we do
not begin to get some control over this situation,” he added.
SOURCE:
http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/st_lucia_news/626771.html#ixzz2ALOEaP6z
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