Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

As a 16-year-old boy is awaiting charges after being held by police for gun possession, the Turks and Caicos begins its “Reaching the Streets’ Program is wrapped up its Providenciales tour, and is onto Grand Turk in an effort to steer young people away from the jaws of the criminal underworld.

The initiative led by David Burrows and supported by the government and Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) opened on May 6th and last until May 8th in Providenciales followed by a similar session in Grand Turk until May 11.

The aim? To sharpen the eyes, ears, and mentoring skills of Turks and Caicos residents in an effort to have a population that can quickly recognize, interrupt, and lead young people, especially young men, away from criminal activity. 

Criminality has attacked the Turks and Caicos’ young men hardest, sweeping through their ranks. Some are dead, cooling 6 feet under, others are in prison for drug and gun possession, even murder, and a few have fled the country. 

One grieving mother Cherrybelle Smith, her son killed on January 3, 2024, said, “I beg all of y’all, let there be peace. Bring union, love peace. We don’t want any more young people [dying] look at all these handsome young men gone and left all these pretty girls with no men, y’all please stop. Give it up man,” she said, a lighthearted yet serious attempt at addressing the issue that took her son.

On February 8, 2024, one father spoke directly to Magnetic Media, his own son having just been killed hours earlier.

 “None of them can come up and say I do this because of that or I hate you because of this, the just- it’s just foolishness. I think [it’s] attitude, ‘hard mouth’. Back in the days it used to be a little fist fight, but now these fellas using guns, these children need to come together, somebody needs to get these children together and make peace or else we won’t have no young folks here” the parent told us. 

“Hurt isn’t even the word for what people are going through at this point,” Paula Arthur-Rigby, mother of Ahsaam Ahkeem Ali Arthur-Astwood said speaking via Facebook Live. Her son was killed on September 2nd, 2022, her brother was killed on July 5, 2023. 

For many parents and loved ones the pain can only be fully translated with a scream, a wail brought up from the stomach, witnessed by residents, politicians, by our own news team, over and over. It highlights the urgent need for participation in the upcoming program from all able residents and organizations. 

Leading the program will be four men, introduced to the public by TCIG.

Foremost, Pastor Dr. David Burrows, a Global Youth and Family specialist, who has advised the Bahamas Government on youth matters and served on councils advocating for youth issues. 

Dr Eric Fox who has been working in anger management for the past 30 years, following intensive training in the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, and Barbados. Presently, Fox serves as the Executive Director of “Teen Challenge Bahamas.”

Dr. Carlos Reid, (mentored by the late Dr. Myles Munroe), is in a unique position to speak as a former career criminal now a prominent figure in the Bahamas, focusing on youth work and community development TCIG says. He founded “Youth Against Violence,” aimed at guiding the younger generation towards positive influences. 

Finally, Orlando ‘Landlord’ Miller, who rose from humble beginnings in the Bahamas to become a successful figure in the gospel music industry.

“I am going on this trip because the older men who came before me who have poured into my life saw what I’ve become because of the knowledge they poured into me. They want to replicate that same thing in Turks and Caicos because if it has worked for me, it can work for them too,” said Landlord ahead of his arrival in the Turks and Caicos.