By Dr. Neals J. Chitan

Despite months of social intervention in the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis, the guns are still intermittently popping, stealing the lives of targeted and unsuspecting victims alike.

Of course, the numbers have shown an encouraging decline, like the 45% drop in homicides on the mainland of St. Kitts from 27 murders in 2016 to 15 in 2017, but until we have achieved a sustained reduction is the figures we cannot sing the victory song!

The recent brazen gun shot execution of a bus driver in Basseterre while allegedly sitting behind his wheel with passengers inside, tells the story of an ongoing gang revenge battle that can erupt anytime on the streets endangering the lives of innocent citizens and putting the public at risk.

As a social skill consultant and crime reduction specialist contracted by the Ministry of National Security, my work will be deemed insignificant and useless if we cannot show a level of consistent reduction in the incidences of crime and violence.

The question though is, “Is a sustained reduction in homicides a doable expectation when most of these incidences are predominantly gang revenge related?” The answer is still a resounding yes!! However, a well engineered social bridge which is designed uniquely for St. Kitts-Nevis will have to be urgently installed if we hope to close the gap between local rival gangs and see more tolerance, patience and love amongst the young men of our various feuding communities.

During my first three months assignment in the Federation, January to March 2017, I was constantly bombarded by the question of our program relevance to St. Kitts-Nevis. And if the truth be told, I could only answer based on the powerful impact and results we made across Canada, the USA, England, Africa, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Vincent, Cayman Islands and Grenada, and which we also hope to deliver in St. Kitts-Nevis. However, hope is not enough, the old adage “Action speaks louder than words” must be implemented if results are to be seen, and I was ready.

So, using the following contract year, June 2017 to June 2018, a deep study of the social landscape of St. Kitts-Nevis was done by immersing and involving our “Social Commando Team” into every possible social issue and event to get a first-hand experience of the acclaimed uniqueness of Kittitians and Nevisians, so that we can deal with the question of program relevance with confidence and assertiveness.

It is with this operational framework and first-hand experience in mind that we were able as social engineers, to go back to our program drawing board and design what we have uniquely captioned the “SKN GANG BRIDGE” – a social bridge engineered on three solid pillars of prevention, intervention and rehabilitation.

Using the words of Julie Andrews’ song in Sound of Music “Start from the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start” I am suggesting that we must take a serious look at crime prevention with young children, because that’s a very good place to start. As a result, we have designed the “SKN GANG BRIDGE” with it’s first pillar dedicated to crime prevention at the Grade 6 level.

If we are honest, we will acknowledge that although the high school is the launching pad for successful and productive citizens, it is also the breaking point for failing, frustrated and negatively profiled students who fall through the academic cracks and frequently drop out into a life of crime and violence, thus feeding the gang subculture.

Working in court diversion programs, young offenders rehab programs and community crime reduction programs over the past twenty years, I have concluded that the failure, frustration and drop-out we see in high school, especially among boys, is due to lack of preparation for transitioning into high school from elementary. With no goals set, no path towards success charted they were just going through the motions of daily routines, which of course involved rebellion and defiance to figures of authority who demanded conformity to rules.

And so, to break this trend and deliver more focused, purpose driven and career minded students, we have designed as the first pillar of the “SKN GANG BRIDGE” our Grade 6 Students in Transition Program “MOVING ON UP”- a powerful inspirational eight session student empowerment series which delivers concepts and strategies to stay focused, to improve work ethics and to create and achieve their dreams.

I am pleased to announce that our “MOVING ON UP” program has brought a high level of exuberance, excitement and phenomenal dreams to the Grade 6 students in the 27 primary schools in St. Kitts-Nevis during the 2017-2018 school year, and on Monday June 25, 2018, under the distinguished patronage of Prime Minster Timothy Harris, over 673 transitioning students will be assembling at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel for a jubilant celebration of accomplishment. Hopefully 673 that will be more prepared to take on the challenges of high school and beat the odds to the finish line!

However, this is only the first pillar of the SKN GANG BRIDGE. After prevention at the primary and high school level, we are set to engage the second pillar, the intervention piece. Currently across the Federation exist rival gangs which have left local youth incarcerated in their respective communities. They are unable to venture outside the boundaries of their local communities for fear of revenge or random attacks. As a result, the only employment they could find is within their communities, which can be rather limited, and cannot even visit their children, relatives and family who live in rival communities, for fear of reprisal.

To address this issue, we have designed the “I’M MOI”-Men of Integrity Program to socially empower men nationally, addressing all the systemic, domestic and self-inflicted traps set to damage male leadership and render men socially bankrupt, dependant, frustrated and criminally inclined.

If we are to make the maximum impact and get best results, the plan calls for the national participation of men from all communities which will promote and achieve social empowerment and growth simultaneously across St. Kitts and Nevis. This will breed male camaraderie and respect as we dissect the deep-seated roots of division, anger and hate among men and bring self-respect, tolerance, focus and male bonding to the discussion table.

We applaud the national Skill Training Empowerment Program where most of the community men are employed for its partnering with us to deliver our “I’M MOI” twelve session series within their local villages.

Finally, the third pillar of the SKN GANG BRIDGE centers on rehabilitation, and targets men and youth who are on remand or incarcerated. The aim is to help them identify and address the social issues that have created the criminal behaviour they are experiencing so on their reintegration into society, they can better cope with the challenges of life and even positive influence others to make better life choices.

To get the desired results of turning menaces into mentors, we utilize our “OPERATION ANOTHER CHANCE” Program which is designed to strengthen the rehabilitation pillar of the SKN GANG BRIDGE approach.

We are confident that in answer to the original question of the relevance of our program to St. Kitts and Nevis, we can confidently and unequivocally answer with the SKN GANG BRIDGE- a powerful three -dimensional approach designed specifically for St. Kitts-Nevis that will yield immeasurable and sustained success.

Furthermore, we are excited that the Minister of National Security and Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris has accepted this SKN GANG BRIDGE proposal in principle and is willing and ready to engage it to address crime and violence in a sustainable manner while delivering a bridge over the troubled waters in “Sugar City” federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.