Volney: Backlog will be addressed

Volney made this comment at a ceremony to mark the opening of the third lane of the Uriah Butler Highway at Mt Hope, hours before Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs said a total of 462 persons were arrested to date since the state of emergency went into effect last Sunday.

Asked by reporters whether the processing of the persons arrested during the state of emergency will create a backlog for the country’s already overburdened judicial system, Volney said it would but “every challenge has to be dealt with in the fullness of time.” Volney said he had no role in the creation of a tribunal to review cases of persons detained under the state of emergency.

“As Minister of Justice, that is not my function, that is the function of the Attorney General and the Chief Justice,” he explained. Describing his role in the Government’s decision to call a state of emergency as “a voice of moderation, a voice of counsel”, Volney said the state of emergency should be kept in place until its objective is achieved and he believed that 15 days was not a realistic period to achieve that objective.

Asked what was the objective of the state of emergency, Volney replied, “To clean up the country of all these thugs and criminals and put them behind bars. That is the objective and to bring normalcy into the life of our country.”