CARICOM Summit | Gonsalves lauds Jamaica’s tech-driven crime response
Published:Monday | July 7, 2025 | 5:34 PM
St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has praised Jamaica for its advances in using technology to combat crime.
“You’re doing some splendid work using modern technology to solve crime and bring perpetrators to justice,” Gonsalves said on the sidelines of the 49th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in Montego Bay.
“Jamaica is ahead of all of us in the Caribbean. We have to learn from Jamaica.”
He also commended Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who assumed CARICOM’s rotating chairmanship on Sunday, for prioritising crime and public safety across the region.
“It’s an important focus,” Gonsalves said. “Among some of our countries, what we are witnessing is almost a low-intensity civil war between various groups. Some call them gangs. Some call them associational groupings. Whatever we call them, we need to act, and fast.”
Gonsalves also urged better coordination among CARICOM members and greater engagement from key international partners, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, and the European Union.
Following yesterday's opening ceremony, the regional leaders were led on a tour of Jamaica Constabulary Force exhibitions showing the use of technology in boosting law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the veteran regional leader has warned that that urgent reforms are needed within CARICOM to address deepening concerns over unequal treatment of smaller member states.
He cautioned that without reforms, the regional bloc cannot function effectively if it remains “unequally yoked.”
“We’ve sent over US$65 million in hard currency to Trinidad, mainly for petroleum and manufactured goods,” he noted. “But we can’t get foreign exchange for just US$4 million worth of agricultural goods in return. That can’t be right.”
He said St Vincent and the Grenadines is often forced to accept Trinidad and Tobago dollars in trade, which hold little to no value once outside Port of Spain. “What am I going to do with TT dollars when I leave Trinidad?” he asked.
Gonsalves also renewed concerns over the Aqua Flight Information Region, which governs airspace from Trinidad to Barbados and St Lucia. “We’re not part of that, yet the resources generated are from our property,” he said. “This must be resolved.”
While acknowledging the value of the CARICOM Development Fund to support disadvantaged states, he said some larger countries have not been contributing adequately.
He also pressed for a more equitable carve-out for members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which he said continue to suffer fallout from past financial sector collapses, such as that of regional financial services giant CLICO.
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