Dear Editor,
Anguilla's upcoming election is very critical where it pertains to the future of Anguilla. We hear the cries of everyone within our society, except the cries of those we ignore; and those are the cries of the youth and the prisoners. We have been paying attention to the correlation between both of these parties. Hapgood came to our shores and was subsequently charged with "manslaughter". Not only was he granted bail for this charge, but he was allowed to leave the island under this condition.
However, it is appalling that the indigenous people of the island face a great degree of difficulty when obtaining bail, because they are regarded as a "flight risk". To add insult to injury, our indigenous people wait for years on remand before the preliminary investigation process is completed, while they continue to give special treatment to Hapgood. Did it ever occur to anyone that the police force might be using this remand tactic to wrongfully put an individual on remand to suffice as a sentence in their mind?
If some of the cases that individuals served multiple years of remand time in Anguilla, only to be released, made it onto the desk of a prosecutor in other jurisdictions, the prosecutors would tell the police force to get that tomfoolery off their desk. Where are the checks and balances that are necessary for stopping such travesties from occurring?
Young men today are thrown into institutions that barely have the resources to rehabilitate them. There are no vocational classes in the prison; that is a glaring issue that needs to be addressed. Why does a prison have a CXC program that is hardly prepared to groom its inmates? These prisoners are humans too. All of the prisoners who have taken the CXC exam in the past were entered into the prison system already equipped with the skills to sit the CXC exam, but just never took it prior to being incarcerated. Which politician and or highly influential people in the society will help to contribute financially to a vocational class?
Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, so if they are learning skills that teach them to use their hands productively, it is a win-win situation for the society and the individual. Our checks and balances are the visiting justice; however, these people are elderly folks and it is clear they only occupy the position for a cheque. They are unconcerned with the voices of the prisoners.
Who do we go to? Particular officers within the staff abuse their powers and there is no one to come to our aid. We endure verbal abuse on a daily basis and all some of us can do is shed tears because if we try to express our opinions respectfully, it is usually held against our trial date. Why does our society continue to neglect our youth, knowing that if we do not prepare them for a tomorrow without those that came before them, they will perish? When the pressure searches for a release valve, I hope the end results do not come as a surprise. A simple-minded person would hear that statement and immediately imply a threat. I acknowledge and understand that it is logic.
To the Anguilla society at large, please water the seedlings in the youth and the incarcerated, so the island can be bountiful during harvest time.
Concerned resident of Anguilla
