UPP calls out gov’t for under-reported crime, CIP

The under-reporting on crime and the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) were among the issues on which the United Progressive Party (UPP) rated the government poorly during a rally on Thursday.
“What we are facing now is a result of an underreported crime situation by the hierarchy of the police force in Antigua and Barbuda,” Trevor Young, caretaker of the St John’s Rural East constituency said.
Young said the impact of the criminal activities that the police have downplayed, undermines the effort to combat crime and the integrity of the police force, and gives citizens a false sense of security.
He called on the Commissioner of Police Wendel Robinson to present a short-term strategic plan for combating crime in the country. He also appealed to Attorney General, Steadroy ‘Cutie’ Benjamin to present the state with the list of criminals that are alleged to be members of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.
Political leader of the UPP, Senator Harold Lovell expressed similar concerns about crime in the nation and cited Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s fallout with Chisange Chekwe, former head of the Citizenship by Investment Unit as a reason behind the recent termination of Antiguans and Barbudans’ visa free travel to Canada.
Lovell said that Chekwe, who was the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Citizenship Immigration and International Trade in Ontario, Canada “came to Antigua on a two-year contract and left in less than six months” due to a fallout with Prime Minister Browne.
He then asked the crowd, “Would it be a surprise that shortly after he returned to Canada, the visa waiver was gone?”
(More in today’s Daily Observer)