As the town of Portsmouth prepares to celebrate ‘Possie Town Mas’ this weekend, Mayor of Portsmouth, Her Worship Kerry Breedy-Prince, has gone on the record to state that violence has no place in that community.
Her comments came following what she cites as a recent increase in gun violence in Portsmouth, with a shooting incident occurring last week in Lagoon.
“I just want to encourage everyone who loves Possie Town Mas. I understand your concerns and the fears attached due to the increased gun violence in Portsmouth,” she said. “And I just want to reiterate that violence has no place in our community, and it would never define who we are as a people. We are Portsmouth.”
She continued, “As Mayor, I want to assure you that we are working closely with law enforcement, the Dominica Police Force, community leaders, and event organizers to strengthen the safety measures and ensure that everyone can participate and celebrate with confidence.”
Breedy-Prince mentioned further that Portsmouth has always been a town of culture, unity, resilience, and peace, “but we will not allow fear to silence our joy or erase our tradition.”
She emphasized that Possie Town Mas is about life, it’s about music, and togetherness.
“And together we will move forward safely,” she stated.
She also stated that she encourages everyone to come down to Portsmouth on Saturday, January 17, where festivities will start at 3:00 PM, to have fun.
Really nice message to the Possie people, but there is a major element missing in this passionate condemnation. The real issue was not addressed: HOW?
We have always heard that the idle hand is the devil’s worship: Not my words (Please read Proverbs 16:27-29).
Ms. Mayor you neglected to speak on how we could address the issue to combat the rising tide of violence specifically in Possie, and in the country in general.
My advise: put young people to work and there will be a significant reduction in crime. Why, because these young people would have the necessary funds that would definitely reduce their desire to engage in criminal activities.
Bwa-Banday, garçon at that time there were not so many lawyers in Dominica as there are today. There would a significant increase in civil suits as a result of your suggestion because this would constitute the violation of the civil liberties of the people.
Minority report will not work in today’s litigious environment.
Do like the police did with a few carnivals in the early 80’s after the attempted coup. They identified the trouble makers and locked them up for carnival to “Prevent a further breach of the peace”. They also executed search warrants on all suspected trouble makers and even if nothing was found the said rouges and vagabonds were given a sit down and reminded they were under surveillance. That kept quite a few at bay. In Mahaut you had man like Lagandy, Cozy, Goombay and even Japa and Sabata from Massacre were visited by the popo to explicity warm them they were under surveillance.
Possie and Dcans at large should NEVER allow any criminal minded person to rain on their good times. LOCK THEM UP BEFORE THEY CAN ACT!