Verla: Crime fight not a pappy show
Barbadians must be careful not to allow laws to be made at a press conference, warns Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spokesperson on crime and legal affairs Verla De Peiza.
The former DLP president, addressing a St Philip North branch meeting recently at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Ruby, was responding to the news that the deadline for the new tinting rules for vehicles has been pushed back by Government from October 14 to January 1 next year.
During a press briefing last Thursday, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, in presenting a number of measures to help curb the escalating violence in Barbados, said vehicle owners had until October 14 to get rid of tints that were too dark on their windows or would be fined. This, however, caused some confusion as people questioned the practicality of the request when there was not clear guidance as to what was too dark.
De Peiza said it was “not a case of they [Government] having a penchant for getting it wrong so we have to have dates pushed back all the time, but it is about setting a bad precedent”.
“The Prime minister chairs the Cabinet. Legislation proposed comes to Cabinet, there is a process of Green and White Paper and Cabinet papers before bills. So that there is scrutiny and consultation,” she said. “Clearly there was none in relation to tint, otherwise the date of the 14th of October . . . could never have been spoken.”
The attorney said the tint has now gone the way of the plastic bag and the Trident ID.
“We have to be very serious about the business of this country; it is not a pappy show. This is about giving your mouth liberty before you engage your brain. When we are talking about crime and finding crime solutions, we are talking about serious matters and having policy initiatives that have bite into instances of crime in this country,” De Peiza said.
She noted that while she understood the police were concerned about how vehicles were being used, it could not be just about window dressing.
De Peiza, who chairs the DLP’s Crime Commission, said the party was looking for solutions to Barbados’ crime situation.
“It calls for a significant engagement of critical thoughts. It is not about knee-jerk reactions and that is what we were visited with on Thursday. We cannot trivialise crime; this is something that impacts everyone of us. The message of the Democratic Labour Party in terms of crime prevention is that we have a greater interest in preventing crime than responding to crime.”
She added: “It is the job of the Government to put meaningful solutions on the table for the prevention of crime . . . . Mr [Darwin] Dottin [former Commissioner of Police] was in place December 2022 and it is almost December 2024 and we have not heard a peep out of him yet as to what his proposals are for anti-corruption in this country,” she said.
Last Saturday, Opposition Leader and DLP political leader Ralph Thorne announced that the party had turned down Mottley’s offer to be part of the proposed National Advisory Council on Citizen Security. (JS)
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