Former Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite Criticizes Government Policies Amid Rising Crime Rates

Former Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite says Government is reaping what it sowed.

Weighing in on the current crime situation with the upsurge in homicides and gunrelated incidents, he pointed fingers at some of the policies of the current administration.

“In many ways, this Government is reaping exactly what they sowed. Because I saw, much to my astonishment, the relationship between the Barbados Labour Party . . . going to every block, every community and having a chat with the bad boys and making them promises – they would legalise marijuana, they would ensure that they received licences and so on,” he told the MIDWEEK NATION

yesterday. “These are the things that the guys were saying to me, that if you guys are serious, that you guys got to free up the weed, because the Government has promised that they would free up the weed when they get into Government. And then, of course, in 2018, when you had the change of Government, you looked to see some of the characters that were invited to Parliament, who more or less then were able to go back on the block and say, ‘Man, we told you we have arrived’.

“So, in many ways, they are reaping what they sowed, and you can’t have the double standards. You can’t go on the block, on the one hand, and say to the fellows, ‘We gine look after you’. Go to the police and say to the police, ‘Do your job’, then pick up the telephone and call . . . and the police say we have to back down . . . .”

Mixed messages

Brathwaite, who was part of the Freundel Stuart-led Democratic Labour Party administration,

stressed that “you can’t be sending mixed messages across to the law enforcement and then wonder why you have challenges”.

“The police, for example, must know that when they get into anything with the public, that the Government, that the minister, that the ministry, is behind them and have their back. They must know that, so they can go out without fear and go into the communities and do what they need to do. They must know . . . that they have Government support, not just in word and in terms of rhetoric, but they must know it and feel it. And I question whether or not that is the case at this point in time.”

He also queried the operations of the controversial Peace Programme.

“How could you have two ministers, one minister saying one thing and the other saying that he has a peace programme in place? He’s going on to the block and going to all the drug guys and talk to them . . . and he has everything in order. What kind of stupid policy is that?” he asked.