(Trinidad Guardian) Prime Minister Rowley says the war against crime is one which the region cannot afford to lose, moreso because, “violence is destroying our paradise in the Caribbean Sea.”
The Prime Minister made the comment during his welcome address at the Caricom Regional Symposium: Violence as a Public Health Issue – the Crime Challenge at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
“As we are now well into the 21st century, the record will show that for all of the new era, we all have continued to be haunted by violence from the domestic quarters at home, to our school yards, to our streets and our borders. In short ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, violence is threatening to destroy our paradise in the Caribbean Sea,” Rowley said.
“This is not to say that we have not been struggling to cope with this truth, on the contrary we have been, but if we are not careful its stubbornness and metastasising malignancy could overwhelm us. Violence in the Caribbean is a public health emergency which threatens our lives, our economies, our national security and by extension every aspect of our well-being.”
Rowley also wasted no time in challenging detractors, specifically the Opposition (who were present at the symposium), who have been calling for the removal of Fitzgerald Hinds as National Security Minister.
He listed the number of ministers of national security, referencing the late Martin Joseph, who served for seven years under the Patrick Manning administration, and then noted the number of ministers who served under the People’s Partnership and the three who have served since he became Prime Minister in 2015.
“The indisputable fact in all these musical chairs is that the violence has not abated,” Rowley said.
“It has, in many instances, increased and become even more cynical. Clearly, the problem does not exist because of a shortage of minister or ministerial output.”
Noting that territories across the region were under siege from the acts of crime and violence by elements of their own societies, Rowley added, “This is a war that we cannot afford to lose. In this engagement Governments are open to uncomplimentary charges of, some say, indifference, others say impotence, unimaginative planning, discrimination, abdication of duties, poor leadership, and with repeated calls for resignations. Ole talk is cheap, we know that but let us try and extract some light from the expressions of the next two days, in the fervent hope and expectation that the beast of violence which has stalked us for virtually all our existence in this blue Caribbean Sea, will be starved of its sustenance, condemned to wither and die so that we all may live in peace, safety and harmony from the home to the school to the streets to the borders.”
The Prime Minister also laid out the costs to taxpayers for medical treatments to violence.
“For the thousands of wounded victims and perpetrators alike, a surgical intervention to the head costs $170,000. A surgical intervention for a chest wound would cost about $135,000. A shot to the leg requiring surgical intervention would cost approximately $100,000. A leg shot without surgical intervention could easily cost $40,000. All of this before you leave the hospital and that medical care and attention. All of these are frequent daily incurred costs, and that will be borne by taxpayers at every level, from scarce revenues diverted from other more deserving productive priorities.”
Guardian Media was provided with the exact figures for the treatment:
Head with surgical intervention – $170,330.00
Chest with surgical intervention – $134,380.00
Leg with surgical intervention – $94,200.00
Leg with no surgical intervention – $40,250.00
Between 2019 and 2022, 1,415 gunshot wound victims at the country’s public hospitals cost taxpayers somewhere between $56.6 million to $240.6 million, Rowley said.
Rowley said the prevalence of violent crimes across the Caribbean is not only claiming a worrying number of lives but is also placing a burden on the region’s economy.
