Government
PDM fail to unpack Crime Reduction Plan; adamant it has one
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, February 20, 2023 – Despite giving the government a failing grade on their management of the country, so far, the People’s Democratic Movement has not said what their plans are to curb crime and the immigration crisis in the Turks and Caicos.
In a press conference early this month, the PDM maintained that they had new and improved plans to tackle the crime scourge, which has now pushed the Turks and Caicos to the top of the regional murder rate rankings.
The PNP Administration is heavily criticised for its ‘inaction’ on crime in the bloodiest season in Turks and Caicos history. However when challenged about its strategy, the PDM stopped short of explaining what the Opposition would do to curb escalating violent crime.
Edwin Astwood, Opposition Leader said he and others in his party had requested to see the PNPs crime plan, but it had never been presented to them. He said operating without a plan was a failing on the government’s part and
“What plan are they executing? We don’t know, they’re just going by ear and leaving it up to others,” he said, noting that, “The PDM has always had a plan, in the past administration we had a 12-point plan, and a lot of those points, most of the 12 were successful.”
Admitting that the 12-point plan “did not quite stop the criminal element,” he said the country was now playing catch-up and the PDM was creating a plan to move the country ahead of the criminal element; being proactive.
When questioned on this plan though, the Opposition Leader said he hesitated to give out any information that would give the criminals an upper hand.
“We believe that giving those specific points right now would be a breach of our national security,” he said.
A proactive crime plan, any crime plan, includes reforms in areas across-the-board, including financial services, youth and education, jobs and more, not just policing. When questioned on this, especially about what plans the PDM had for youth, to reach them before they enter a life of crime, the opposition leader had this to say:
“I truly believe that we have a plan and the plan is to address those issues— to deter them from going into a life of crime. This team, we have been working, we have been in the lab to find out ways that we can deter our young people, particularly our young men from going into a life of crime.”
Astwood said the party has been studying mass shootings in the US for preventative measures and maintained that they had a whole list of reforms, but did not say what those reforms were leaving the country with more questions than answers.