Concern over crime’s impact on economy
Crime is hurting the economy, including tourism and foreign direct investment, and could cause more of Barbados’ best brains to leave the country.
These are among the reasons, said Independent Senator Andrew Mallalieu, why he is supporting the Interception of Communications Bill, 2025 once due process is assured.
Mallalieu was speaking in the Senate yesterday for the first time since being injured while participating in Rally Barbados on May 31.
The businessman, who is chief executive officer of real estate firm Terra Caribbean, said Barbadians “don’t feel safe”.
“I can tell you my own experience with my children going out this year, with Kadooment and so on, I was asking them more and more ‘which party that is?, come straight home, be careful’. I was extremely worried as a parent, as Barbadians, we are worried, so I don’t need to paint the burning platform,” he stated.
Beyond concerns about personal safety, Mallalieu said crime was negatively impacting the economy.
“The next thing I look at with this crime is the economy is going to be harmed. It is being harmed, that horse has left the barn, as they say. Tourism is going to be affected, I have seen it being affected,” he said.
“Brain drain, . . . I worry that my children are not going to choose Barbados. So, it is one thing to think about brain drain is people leaving Barbados, adults who are leaving here and choosing somewhere else.
“That’s not necessarily what I am focused on, I am asking, do our young people see Barbados as their future, or are they leaving? And part of that is how they see crime. Do they feel safe? Can they move around in this country?”
He added: “Foreign direct investment is affected by it substantially. That question is being asked. Whereas a few years ago, there were questions [about] ‘oh, well, man, you got a prime minister who has big footprint on the world stage. Yes, Barbados, let’s invest’. Today, the first question I am being asked about is crime.”
He was also concerned about “the loss of confidence in the rule of law”.
The senator acknowledged that a lot of people were focusing on the right to privacy concerns related to the interception of communications, but he pointed out that “your right to privacy protects lawful personal choices and communications, but it does not protect criminal conduct”.
His “personal feeling” was that when compared to other Caribbean countries and Singapore, “this particular law . . . hasn’t gone far enough, it could go further, because we have a serious burning platform in this island”.
“We have a threat to our existence in our country. When you look at all of these different things, we’re going to lose our young people who don’t see this as a future, we’re going to lose foreign direct investment,
you’re not going to have tourism,” said Mallalieu.
“People are not going to feel safe in their homes, your prisons are going to balloon and all kinds of other people are going to take over this country that is our beautiful country.
“So, if these are the tools that our police force needs, if these are the tools that the Attorney General, need to get this done, I shall not be standing in their way, that is my position.
“However, I will listen very carefully to the lawyers around the table with regards to the due process and that part of the legislation, . . . but the fundamental premise of what is in here has my complete support,” he said.
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