Dear Christine,
I AM A VERY PROUD and concerned resident of Ashton Hall, St Peter. I have lived inthis area all my life and it was generally known as a very peaceful area. In recent years I have noticed an increase iillegal shooting in the are but now it has gone from shooting at so-called sessions to almost every week at night.
Just a few weeks ago the back glass of a vehicle was shot at and broken. Luckily no one was hurt during this incident. Now there is gun fire on more frequent occasions. I am a very concerned resident who is fed up with living in EI Paso with Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.
With my limited knowledge of firearms, I know that rounds can travel several hundred metres and can penetrate wood like hot steel through butter. That is what we have a lot of in this area – wooden dwellings housing families. The “reckless and careless elements” who carry out this type of behaviour will not stop.
We used to have a Task Force presence passing through regularly but now we don’t even see a police vehicle. We need to have this lawless behaviour stopped because the possibility always exists that a parent or child could be asleep or at rest and yet be shot and killed.
What bothers me even more is that members of the Royal Barbados Police Force live in and near the surrounding area and they seem to do absolutely nothing about the situation. I wonder if they are waiting for the death of some innocent person or child, aslong as it is not theirs, or if they just don’t care as long as the rounds don’t find their way through their windows before anything can be done.
At night many rest in fear.What are the people who are supposed to be protecting and serving the citizens of the country doing? Are they serving and protecting something else? What is becoming of the moral fabric of our society? God help us all!
– EXTREMELY CONCERNED CITIZEN
Dear Extremely Concerned Citizen,
You have every reason to be concerned and what you have disclosed is a very serious matter.
I am not going to knock the Royal Barbados Police Force but this level of lawlessness and criminal activity needs urgent attention before someone is killed, as you said.
Apart from taking responsibility for speaking to them about this matter, I also believe your letter should prompt police officers to patrol Ashton Hall and its environs more frequently and weed out those negative influences impacting our society.
– CHRISTINE
