The former PM adds that crime in the region is a public health issue. He says thinking of crime as a purely Saint Lucian phenomenon will not help the government reduce the number of homicides. Instead, a united front in the region is needed.

“The level of crime is very, very worrisome, and that is an issue that we have to tackle. I am on record elsewhere saying that the inability to solve crime in the region is the biggest public policy failure of the governments of the region. Everywhere in the Caribbean, we have incidents of crime that governments seem incapable of handling and managing and redressing. So it is a huge issue. It's not just a Saint Lucian issue or a Saint Lucian problem,” Dr. Anthony explained.

However, the prevalence of crime in the region should not be used an excuse, Anthony says.

“That doesn't mean that we should dismiss it.”

He says the government needs to continue intensifying its efforts and improving its strategies to handle the crime situation. Dr Anthony says the citizens need peace.

“Our tourism ministry cannot survive if there is continued instability with crime. So we have to tackle it. But more importantly, our own citizens require peace, our own citizens require stability. So it's just not an issue for the benefit of tourists, but we have to redouble our efforts in that regard. We have to be far more imaginative in dealing with crime,” he explained.

The U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas has issued travel advisories to U.S. citizens due to the high rates of gang and retaliatory killings in these two territories.