A Cabinet minister whose constituency includes one of the island’s crime hot spots, is calling for “harsh justice” for those behind the influx of illegal guns into the country, complaining that those dying by the gun are “all black young men”.
In the wake of the latest killings – a double murder last night in Marley Vale, St Philip – which brought the number of homicides for the year to 25, of which 21 were gun killings, Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Christ Church East Central Ronald Jones this morning strongly suggested that those supplying the illegal firearms were not the average Barbadian.
Speaking at the media launch of the e-version of the ruling Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) 62nd annual conference document entitled Barbados First at the party’s George Street headquarters, Jones struggled to come to grips with the increasing number of violent encounters that result in the deaths of young Barbadian males.
“What we are seeing a bit too much of is the presence of too many weapons in Barbados . . . illegal firearms. And therefore, the question that one has to ask [is], where are they coming from? Who are the suppliers to our black men? And we got to get down to fundamentals, you know. Who are the suppliers to our black men in Barbados of illegal weapons . . .cause the people who are dying are all black young men,” said Jones, whose constituency includes Wotton, which has seen its fair share of gun violence.
The minister, who the conference chairman, said he was perturbed by the fact that “black young men are preying on each other”, and he called for “more deep analysis and deep study” to try to get answers.
Jones surmised that those behind the importation of the illegal weapons were from the upper class, whole motive was exploitation of the country’s black males.
And with his voice reaching a high, crackling pitch, he emphatically suggested that “the movement of guns into Barbados has to be an extremely sophisticated enterprise, and somebody or bodies are responsible for that sophisticated enterprise and need to be brought to harsh justice.
“How long, historically and in a contemporary framework, black men have to suffer? If you go back in history, the exploitation first was vicious on the black men . . . denude and destroy. Today it’s once again on black men,” an emotional Jones stressed.
Linking some of the violence to the performance of young males at school, the Minister of Education noted that there had been some work performance and disciplinary challenges involving young men.
He therefore called for undergirding and strengthening of the boys, not only in the educational institutions, but across the wider society.
“You have to undergird and strengthen those boys who have low self esteem, who are given some of the most awful nicknames in which they cover up their anger in a controlled environment like a school, and when they get outside the school gate the anger bursts out and something happens. All of these are things we have to look at in the context of the total society and its impact on young men,” the Christ Church East Central representative said.
He also expressed concern at how easy young men were being drawn to those who give them confidence and a sense of power by supplying them with guns.
Meantime, Minister of Health John Boyce, who is also the Member of Parliament for the neighbouring Christ Church South constituency, pledged to hold hands with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite in fighting rising violence in Christ Church.
He spoke of “a direct connection” between violent crime and health, stressing that services such as Emergency Ambulance Service and our Accident & Emergency at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, were being heavily taxed by gun violence.
“So I hold hands with the attorney general and the Prime Minister and the law enforcers of the country as we try to battle this scourge which is regrettably, obviously taking some root in our country,” Boyce said.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb