President makes call for united effort against crime

In his address to Parliament, Richards minced no words, saying that the criminals, whatever their differences, had found a way to unite and it was now up to the nation — especially the parliamentarians — to come together to repulse this threat and make life difficult for the criminals.

Richard was addressing the ceremonial opening of the fourth session of the Eighth Parliament at the Red House.

Noting that all Parliamentarians made promises in the election campaign, Richards said it was time for the electorate to "call in those promissory notes" and demand that they (the MPs) deliver. "Deferrals will not do," he stressed.

"When innocent children can be shot at in a panyard and the killer or killers remain at large, that speaks to me of crisis. Bomb tests around our capital city, again with perpetrators on the loose," he said.

The President did not join the chorus of criticism against the Government and the protective services. Though he stressed that those agencies which had a special responsibility for crime should not shirk it. He insisted, however, that crime was everybody’s business.

"This is the time, regardless of political colour, to unite behind the goal of ridding the country of bandits, mastermind or peon. They are no more intelligent than the rest of us. The critical difference is that, in spite of expected rivalries, they are united in their goal and their recruitment strategy works in the current climate of misplaced hostility and adversarial stances that are out of step with possible solutions to the problem," he stated. Richards reminded Members of Parliament that they held a special position of public trust and were "as guardians of the public weal." He said it was not a time to point fingers, but to make collaborative broad-based decisions and take action.

Among those listening to Richards was the Opposition UNC, which has consistently refused to support all legislative initiatives brought by Government in an effort to deal with the crime situation.

The President commended those civic-minded people in the society who were not prepared to yield, and who had formed themselves into groups such as the Noel Committee which gathered "well over one hundred thousand signatures."

Hammering the point about the role of the Parliament, he stressed that elected and appointed Members of Parliament must not yield leadership to persons and entities outside of Parliament.

Richards said there were no "special targets" in the crimewave, since even the poor were victims of kidnapping. Appealing to politicians on all sides of the political fence, Richards stated, "My call to this Parliament is to demonstrate the kind of leadership that will give hope and encouragement to the loyal inhabitants of this country, and in particular, the children whose future is our responsibility."

Richards repeated his concerns about poverty eradication, health and malnutrition. However, he went further, calling for action to make food affordable. He said unhealthy and malnourished children and people could not benefit from educational opportunities and processes. He pressed for collaboration of those engaged in pricing, consumerism and other elements that go towards making food available at affordable prices.

Richards also reiterated his advice about economic transformation and diversification, since oil and gas were wasting assets. He cited the successes of Finland "which has transformed its economy from one dependent on natural resources to one at the top of the list of most indices of global competitiveness."