The show window at Grand Bazaar, located at St James Place and
Grenville Street, Kingstown was smashed around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday and some items removed by unidentified assailant(s).
Sanjay Jiandani, a director at RC Enterprises, owners of the store, told iWitness News that the company was able to determine immediately that some pots were stolen.
Jiandani, however, said that while the assessment was incomplete, they have been able to determine that between EC$700 to EC$800 in items, including a large pot, were stolen from the store.
He told iWitness News that they received a called just before 1 a.m. from a resident of the area who had responded to the sound of smashing glass.
The police responded sometime later and are carrying out investigations.
Jiandani decried what he said was the absence of observable police presence in Kingstown, especially now that it is the holiday season.
He said that while in the past beat officers were visible in the city, recently, they have been seen only at the Post Office and the Central Police Station.
“It is sad to see,” he said of the burglary at the store.
“There is no police presence. We don’t see it in the way it used to be in years past. Even at 3:30 a.m. after we had secured the store and were leaving Kingstown, we saw no police presence,” he told iWitness News.
Jiandani said that the show window was smashed in the past by some of the homeless persons in Kingstown — many of whom are believed to be mentally ill or drug addicts.
He, however, said that the fact that items were stolen from the store after the window was smashed suggest that it was a burglary.
He told iWitness News that there are certain security devices inside the store.
Bullshit! All businesses in SVG should have cameras installed, so that owners can defend their properties. Does this guy want a policeman in front of every business window in Kingstown? He can stay at home and monitor his business so that he can see whose approaching and what they are doing or have done to his property. A broken window could have sounded an alarm, so people would be aware of something happening and probably see someone running away from the area. Insurance should not cover businesses or homes that dont have cameras and fire protection devices installed. They would not be doing their job if they dont warn folks of the danger when these resources are not present.
The security inside is probably there to see if customers or workers are stealing stuff. It doesn’t handle criminals from outside. He may yet get a picture of the culprit if he/she didn’t cover his/her face.
More indications of worsening poverty in SVG resulting from the governmental greed of squeezing as much from the people in the form of taxes and Customs Duties. A PM that insists that he needs to raise taxes to create jobs means we are doomed to increasing crime and poverty.