Dr. Peter K. B. St. Jean has written an Open Letter to the Prime Minister Skerrit on the issue of crime in Dominica.
According to St. Jean, he was contacted by the Prime Minister through Athenian Benjamin, the former DLP candidate in the Wesley Constituency, to develop a proposal at maintaining a peaceful Dominica. (The proposal may be found at http://www.da-academy.org/uploads/9/2/0/3/92034718/peaceful_dominica_proposal.pdf ) According to him, he and the Prime Minister discussed the proposal a few times then communications broke down. Since then, he tried to re-establish communication even volunteering to do his part of the project.
St. Jean, like many Dominicans, believes that the murder rate in Dominica is on the increase and needs to be addressed urgently. He believes that it is possible that the recent senseless and bold murder of the young man from
St. Jean says further that many persons from Silver Lake say that they are ‘completely exposed, without protection from those factions that have been habitually victimizing them. Some are said to ride up into and past the community with their guns visible on their bodies while riding motorized cycles.
He also stated that instead of implementing meaningful youth and community development strategies, persons in Government are cozying up with those with questionable characters. He cited Jamaica, Trinidad and st. Lucia as examples of how violence escalates when misguided political influence affiliates with ‘questionable street corner elements’ to the point where justice is not executed appropriately.
St. Jean proposed enhancing community policing and providing seed funding for human, social and economic development. St. Jean says that his letter is based on ethnographic data collected between June 30th and July 23rd.
