FOD: Fight crime with stiffer penalties

Leader of Friends of Democracy (FOD), Karina Goodridge, believes that a major way to deter crime in this country is to introduce harsher laws.

Addressing the FOD’s National Rally at Husbands New Development, St James on Tuesday night, Goodridge emphasised the importance of preventing the loss of life, pointing out that strict laws in some nations compel individuals to “think twice” before committing crime.

“We need to strengthen our laws in the country and have harsher sentencing when it comes to crime because we want to deter the persons that are committing the crimes as much as possible. 

“So that is why we talk about retribution, because we need those harsher sentences, and we need also to reassure the victims that their pain matters. We cannot sit by as Barbadians and not see crime as an urgent matter of national security,” Goodridge stated.

She charged that the controversial tint legislation had not reduced crime while placing further financial pressure on citizens.

Also speaking on the issue, candidate for St Philip North, Anya Lorde, said even though amendments to the legislation have allowed more judges to be appointed to address the backlog of cases, she maintained that the crime situation will continue if programs are not implemented to prevent it. 

She called for on-the-ground responses within communities to address the issue, pointing to policies in her party’s manifesto, including addressing mental health and providing skills-based training with paid apprenticeship programs and financial help for single mothers.

“There is little to no discussion about dealing directly with the issues on the ground, the issues that contribute to crime, because we can’t legislate away dysfunction at the family level. There’s no legislation that is going to solve the issue of a person not being able to self-regulate. There’s no legislation that is going to fix, or cure, or address a mental health illness,” Lorde contended.

“So we are going around in circles as far as I am concerned…You see that we speak about retributive justice but we don’t speak about it and leave it there. We acknowledge that we have to address mental health. You see that we speak about providing skills based training but we don’t just leave it there. We acknowledge and we say to you that we also have to ensure that there are paid apprenticeship programs so that the time that you invest in learning, you can see something tangible coming out of it.”

Lorde, an attorney-at-law, also revealed that there will be an out-of-court management fund for single mothers to receive $75 weekly in cases where funds from fathers are not paid in.

Touching on voter apathy, Lorde said it was driven by the main political parties’ lack of commitment to fostering community development and connecting with young people.

St James North candidate Steffanie Williams highlighted the need to ensure that the island’s senior citizens are looked after, outlining her intention to appoint community ambassadors to provide assistance to this vulnerable group.

“I have a programme called Seniors Assist, where you will see elderly ambassadors in the communities. They will be required to conduct monthly assessments of our seniors to ensure they keep their doctor’s appointments, that they’re not being exploited, that they’re not being abused, and that they’re not being neglected.

“Many times, our elderly feel lonely. When you talk to them, you could feel the pain. Sometimes they don’t live around their family, and we got to do better,” Williams said.

She also touched on plans to provide community legal aid for low-income earners.

Matthew Thorne, the candidate for St James South, detailed his proposals for the area, which he said focuses on creating continuous training opportunities for young people and generating jobs within the constituency. 

He also spoke about his current initiative, ‘Connect For Bim,’ a web-based platform designed to link residents with specific needs to approved individuals who can provide assistance.

“I have begun to create a web-based platform, and that is called Connect for BIM, and it allows residents to be able to either post some of the needs that they have in the community or perhaps interact via telephone or via the neighbour or via WhatsApp, some of the challenges that they have. 

“Some of those things could very well be things like home assistance, carpentry or masonry. Sometimes gran may have a gate that may need fixing, sometimes granddad maybe didn’t get a chance to sort out the plumbing, and we could think of some of the needs that the constituency might have because they’re never-ending needs, whether it’s an IT support, something to do with your cell phone or your tablet, whether it’s elderly care,” Thorne explained. 

“So the idea would be to directly match the skill of the individual with the need within the constituency. So when we pair the two together, there’s always a win-win situation, and obviously, these are scenarios where persons are vetted.”