KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Caribbean people in their good-naturedness are ignorant of what it takes to keep them safe, according to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
Gonsalves said on Friday that collective will is needed to defeat criminal elements, especially those involved in organised crime.
“The public in the Caribbean is very good-natured and they are yet to learn, yet to know, what the ministries of national security and the police forces have to do to keep this place safe,” said Gonsalves, who is Minister of National Security here.
“A lot of gang-related activity is connected to drugs and the guns and those who are the big operators, we have to go at the source of their influence and power: their money,” he said at the closing session of a training course coordinated by the Regional Security System (RSS).
“And that is when they are shaken and we can do that through an admixture of policies, including the work that you do … [and] other policies and other kinds of activities. And I am appealing to the media and all right-thinking persons to understand what has to be done to keep this dangerous neighbourhood safe,” Gonsalves further said.
His comments came at the close of the second phase of a basic course coordinated by the RSS under the theme “Strength Through Unity”.
Participants were trained in skills at arms, first aid, map reading, disaster management, and jungle training.