Prime Minister Allen Chastanet
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has given a commitment that his government will work to bring about changes to policing and the justice system, something he admits is desperately needed on Saint Lucia.
Chastanet said that these changes will begin with a Hall of Justice which will bring together the various courts on the island to better serve the people of the country.
“The idea of courts all over the place is not working. We are looking to get the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) put in place as quickly as possible. As you would know, Cabinet just approved the amendment to have the DPP’s salary increased. So we want to get a DPP as quickly as possible,” he explained.
The prime minister again spoke about the huge backlog of some 4,000 plus cases which he hopes could be addressed once a DPP is appointed and get the wheel of justice moving quickly again.
In addition to that, Chastanet said that his government is also working to build a new police headquarters, which will also house the Marine Unit.
“The building that the prime minister (Kenny Anthony) had earmarked for himself (Hope site), we have agreed to make that the new police headquarters. So, I have them putting together a presentation to present before Cabinet so we can finally make that final decision,” he stated.
Government is also looking to convert the Customs and Excise Department into a border control unit, to work in tandem with the Marine Unit and Immigration Department.
“What that is going to do is allow us to access funds through the United States because none of those border control entities is the police. So we are moving very quickly to address the situation but it has to come with improving the infrastructure which is both human and physical, in order to give the capacity to those two entities to be able to restore security in this country.”
The justice system has been plagued with a number of issues over the past several years and the ruling United Workers Party (UWP) had promised to address this and other critical issues if elected into office.
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