Barbadians can’t turn a blind eye to crime in the country.
However, chief executive officer at the National Cultural Foundation Carol Roberts-Reifer is confident that the Barbados Police Service will do its job to keep patrons safe.
“I have every faith in the Barbados Police Service and that they are going to do what they have to do,” Roberts-Reifer said.
She made those comments yesterday to the Sunday Sun during the Ceremonial Delivery of the Last Canes at Portvale Sugar Factory in St James.
Although no national events have been hampered by crime and violence recently, some people have been fatally shot and injured while attending or while they were near private fetes and limes.
While acknowledging that the police and other security officials would be present at their events, Roberts-Reifer stressed that law enforcement had to be supported by others in society.
“There is nowhere for us to go in Barbados so we can’t say ‘there seems to be a crime problem so we’ll go some place else’. Therefore it is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to raise our children in a way that ensures they are upstanding citizens. It is the task of everyone to come out with a clean heart and clean spirit and be on our best behaviour. . . and to also assist the constabulary forces in their investigations if incidents occur.
“It’s the responsibility of all of the agencies and non governmental organisations, the church, schools, communities and households,”she added. (TG)