Peace progamme to assist businesses amid concern about robberies

The National Peace Programme (NPP) is being called upon to help businesses protect themselves amid an apparent spike in robberies at gas stations and other establishments.

Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with responsibility for Crime Prevention Corey Lane said on Tuesday that more is being done to address crime in general, and specific measures are being taken to assist businesses that may be targeted by criminals.

“I have asked the Director (of the NPP) to…work with our stakeholders in the Police [Service], those that deal with cash transfers and so on. Some businesses have too much cash on hand; they are not transferring fast enough and all these situations sometimes are a great cause for concern. And I think it’s time that we may have to have some national sessions with some owners and some select employees on how to treat to this situation,” he said.

“Crime prevention…is very complex. It is very wide-ranging, and we have to address it in different ways. We can’t do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. So, that is one of the things that we are seriously working on because it’s something that we are concerned about.”

Lane was speaking at a press conference at which he said the NPP would continue to roll out critical new initiatives this year to assist in improving the lives of citizens, especially the youth.

He told the media of upcoming initiatives and programmes, including the Play for Peace – the Gold Cup edition; Elevate the Peace; Activate; Youth on Track; and Critically Understanding and Rehabilitating Behaviour (CURB).

Lane said the NPP would be putting gloves and sports equipment in the hands of young people to train them and get them involved in sustainable activities, to assist them in becoming productive citizens.

“We have targeted a lot of young people not involved in traditional sports, to get them involved in traditional and non-traditional sports…. The National Peace Programme, through the national engagement pillar, has ensured that a number of those programmes have been launched, and they are ongoing. So, I’m very, very happy about that.”

He noted that a community parenting programme was started last Saturday in the Rock Dundo area, as he noted that the crime prevention aspect of the Office of the Attorney General would work with the Ministry of Youth and other ministries to have community programmes across the island.

“Parenting has been identified as one of the number one things that we need to address and improve if we’re going to see some long-term sustainable crime prevention and peace promotion,” Lane stated.

He said the CURB programme would be introduced in schools. However, he expressed concern about the number of calls received about issues in schools and highlighted that anytime NPP’s change agents were called to go to schools, they went within 24 hours.

“We work closely with the police … in particular Juvenile Liaison [Scheme], the principals, PTAs and so on, to ensure that we can do some case conferences. We found that has been the most effective way to do it,” he explained.

During Tuesday’s press conference, a special presentation was made to Christina Sargeant, the recipient of the Gaining Stripes initiative. She assisted a homeless man who was abused by another individual.
(BGIS/BT)