Blaming the Gov’t for crime is a self-serving & dangerous narrative by Opposition- Premier
Premier Wheatley, during a live interview with Cathy O. Richards on The Big Story on JTV today, October 30, 2023, said the Opposition’s narrative is self-serving and dangerous.
Opposition Leader Hon Ronnie W. Skelton (AL), during a press conference on October 26, 2023, said he agreed with his “colleagues here at the table… That it [crime] just stems from the lack of job opportunities in your country, some of it, not all of it. It is important for us to start finding ways when our economy is sluggish, the private sector is not moving, for the government… to get people back to work at [getting] the economy moving.”
‘The job of the Opposition is not to mislead people’- Premier
Premier Wheatley responded today that the very individuals who left those “challenges on the table for us to solve” can’t say the government is taking too long “because, of course, we have a multiplicity of challenges which were left there by previous administrations. It’s going to take time to address them, but we are addressing them one by one. And I can assure the people of the Virgin Islands that.”
Hon Wheatley also agreed with host Ms Richards that the Opposition is there to put pressure on government to get things done but said the “job of the Opposition is not to mislead people”.
He said it is being dangerously promoted that crime is the result of a lack of opportunities in our economy.
“Now I see that as being a very dangerous thing to promote, because we have persons in our community working hard every day to be able to put food on the table. They are being responsible, they are not going to other persons and say 'I am going to take what you have'.”
Crime is a choice- Premier
Premier Wheatley reasoned that there are persons who have jobs but still make the decision to commit crime. “They have responded to an ideology and a mentality that I want the easy way out. I want easy money.”
Dr Wheatley continued that he has seen individuals who have been in prison but have turned their lives around and have become productive members of society. He said Mr Ramon George, who is also a talented musician, is such an example.
“He has come out of prison and he has been doing an awesome job in the marine industry. He is a boat captain. When I need to go someplace sometimes, he takes me to the outer islands.”
‘We are working hard to address those challenges’
The Premier acknowledged that there are a number of challenges we face in this community, “challenges not of the Government’s making, of course, these are challenges, like of course, the climate disaster we are facing, of course, we came out of a pandemic, we came out of CoI, and lots of different challenges we face as a people. We spoke about crime, unemployment et cetera.
“And I want the people of the Virgin Islands to know we are working hard to address those challenges, and we are going to be coming to them, especially as we get close to the Budget Speech, and letting them know the plans and initiatives in terms of solving some of these challenges.”
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24 Responses to “Blaming the Gov’t for crime is a self-serving & dangerous narrative by Opposition- Premier”
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Yall have yall greedy bill ready. thats why salaries aint salarying anymore.
Meanwhile, government should stay laser focus on performing the usual basic functions of government, viz, a)provide strong and effective leadership and management, b) maintain order, c) maintain security, d) provide economic security, e)provide public assistance, etc. Nevertheless, in small locales like the BVI with small economies, residents expect government to also be a direct employer, invest money to juice the local economy, meet their direct personal social and economic needs,etc. The political situation is a heavily dependent on government scenario.
Management science reports indicates that locales with high unemployment, ie, frictional, structural, cyclical, etc for the most part violent and property crimes also rises. In the area of economic security, residents expect government to set up the framework in which steady employment and income is available for enjoying a good quality of life and standards of living. It must also be noted that government economic security efforts can/may be overcome by events beyond its control, ie, inflation, contraction of economy in developed countries.
For our premier has not came into the fight with bruised ribs, Cindy cannot out last him
Are we going to pull down each other for the next four years and the country remains stagnant so the UK can take over.