The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MONTELL Heights Community Development Association President Clinton Minnis yesterday called on National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage to reconsider the government’s proposals to initiate lock downs of notorious criminal areas in the capital.

Speaking to The Tribune after Urban Renewal’s outreach initiative in Montell Heights yesterday afternoon, Mr Minnis said the government needs to adopt a “multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted approach” against crime “instead of trying to lock down communities.” He also said that the government needs to “split up” the Englerston constituency as it is “too big for one MP to manage”.

“If you make this a police reaction to a problem, you may get some reactions that I am not too sure may be good for the country,” Mr Minnis said.

“I am putting the warning now: Be careful what reaction you may get in the process. This generation is more loose than the ones before. We have a younger generation whose heads will trip easily and do certain things. So when you talking about lock downs you need to start praying first before you even talk about strategy, because you may have some revolts you didn’t even plan for.

“I am asking the state minister, minister of national security and his citizen’s security unit to speak to the people in these communities. Take it from a different angle so we can have multi-disciplinary and a multi-faceted approach as to how we can resolve the problems in our communities. I think we need to have a ‘talk down’ to our young men. Not talk down to them, but have a time to talk with them instead of trying to lock down communities.”

On Wednesday, Dr Nottage said the government is considering a “lock down” of notorious crime areas in the capital, but only “to the extent that the law permits it”.

He said the lock downs were not the same as a curfew, but would monitor traffic going in and out of designated areas in New Providence. The lock down would also allow law enforcement officials to go into people’s homes known for “reports of illicit activity” and to check places where “drugs are sold or other illicit activities take place.”

A week ago, a shooting in Montell Heights claimed the life of one young man and left another in hospital in serious condition. At the time residents told The Tribune that the incident had marked the third day of shootings in the area. A video was later posted on Facebook which recorded the incident. The video, taken by an unknown woman, showed two men arguing before six shots rang out, resulting in both men being shot. One of the men, later identified as 20-year-old Akeem Oliver, died while in hospital.

After the shooting, residents said the community was in fear and is concerned that Glenys Hanna Martin, the MP for Englerston, wasn’t doing enough about the recent wave of gunfire in the area.

Yesterday, Mr Minnis partially agreed with the residents’ claims, but said Mrs Hanna Martin was “doing the best she can” despite Englerston being “too big for one person” to manage.

“I think she can do more, and the people have been telling me she can do more,” Mr Minnis said. “She’s doing what she can but this is too big for one MP. There’s no use in her trying to play hero believing she could handle all the problems in Englerston, because I would tell her myself she joking. She’s doing what she can, but the challenges are bigger than Mrs Hanna Martin.

“The government needs to reduce the size of the constituency of Englerston in order to make it more manageable. You cannot say to a politician they’re not doing all they can when they have to manage a massive undertaking. When they go back to the polls they need to reconfigure the boundaries of Englerston and make it more manageable.”

Mr Oliver’s death pushed the murder count for this year to 88, according to The Tribune’s records. Dr Nottage said on Wednesday that an important part of the government’s plan of action against violent crimes is “thwarting all efforts to smuggle illegal firearms into our country”.