Govt alone can’t deal with crime

Hinds made this known as he spoke at a Drug Prevention workshop organised by the ministry, through its National Drug Council and the Social Development Ministry’s National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programme.

Entitled “Building Stronger Policies: Consolidating The Government,” the workshop was organised by The Deutscher Orden (DOH International) which has at its core, providing assistance to persons with disabilities, halfway homes and people suffering from substance abuse.

Hinds pointed out that Government recognised the clear need to continue to forge collaborations between and among the various ministries, community groups and other organisations both local, regional and international.

“We need cooperation from, and collaboration with, all sectors of society. The non-governmental organisations community has been a critical partner in many areas, but this has especially been so in the arena of drug treatment and rehabilitation,” he said.

The minister commended the work of organisations such as Rebirth House and others who have established Drop In Centres through DOH International. Rebirth House is in the process of building another Drop In Centre.

Hinds said the Ministry of National Security was “very concerned” about the growing number of persons who are substance abusers and who are otherwise connected to the drug trade, since the majority of the prison population, both male and female, are incarcerated for drug-related offences.

In February, 220 men and three women were convicted. The three were all on drug related charges, while for the men, 99 out of the 220 or 45 percent were convicted for drug-related offences.

Seventy-nine of these men or approximately 80 percent were convicted for possession of narcotics and devices used for smoking illicit drugs. “Those figures do not reflect persons who are in our prison system for petty larceny and other offences, that are used as income-generating activities to fund their drug habits,” Hinds told the gathering.

Social Development Minister Anthony Roberts, who also addressed the workshop, said his Ministry has embarked on a survey to find out the extent of alcohol abuse in the country. This survey is expected to be completed by the end of June.

And based on these findings, the ministry will put measures in place to deal with alcohol abuse.

The workshop ends today and its main purpose will be to assess the progress made by participants of the previous workshop held last year and to seek, develop and establish avenues for further collaboration and assistance.