Battle ready

Police, soldiers and all other agencies responsible for maintaining law and order on the island are being assured that Government will make sure they are armed with the necessary resources to fight illegal drugs and gun violence.

With Barbados recording two homicides in just three days last week, Minister of Home Affairs, Edmund Hinkson, who frowned on the development said those engaging in deviant behaviour are affecting the island’s future as a viable society and economy.

“We will give the resources, equipment, the machinery, the manpower to make Barbados secure and stable,” the minister assured.

“It cannot be that this last week, every other night there has been gunfire across some part of Barbados with people being killed. There is an inextricable link between illegal drug use and criminal activity, guns and violence,” Hinkson said, as he delivered remarks at yesterday’s National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) Drug Awareness Month service held at First Baptist Church, Constitution Road, the City.

Last Tuesday night, around 9:55 p.m. 24-year-old tattoo artist Shaquille Toppin was gunned down outside his Retreat Terrace Danesbury Black Rock, St Michael home.

On Friday night, Ronald Raheim Rudder was killed at Ridgeway, the Pine, when his body was riddled with bullets.

“We cannot afford for our country to be overtaken by a very small percentage of misguided persons who engage in deviant behaviour. These individuals are affecting our future as a viable society and economy. The future of our children and grandchildren, some of whom are not yet born, is at stake,” he said.

Hinkson said the police, border security officers; and armed forces all need assistance from every right-thinking person in the country on this mission. Everyone in Barbados must play a role in wrestling the issue of crime and violence, Hinkson said calling on the church, non-governmental agencies, and all stakeholders, to help save the youth.

“The youth need to be involved in meaningful extracurricular activities such as sports, culture, the arts, scouting, Girl Guides, Cadets, swimming. Every Barbadian it is said must learn how to swim since we belong to an island. All of us have to assist the youth in their involvement in these positive extracurricular activities, in order to assist in their acquisition of positive characteristics,” he said.