Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has expressed disagreement with the thesis that poverty is the principle cause of crime in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Prime Minister while speaking on the Issue At Hand program said that if that were the case, crimes would have been more prevalent in earlier years due to the higher rate of poverty during those times.
“I hear the thesis that poverty is why people are going toward violent crime. If that were the case you would have had a lot of violent crimes in the 1930s, in the 40s, in 50s, in the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, far more than you have today, because there is more poverty then than now, far more, and the opportunities were more constricted then, far more, than now,” Gonsalves said.
The Prime Minister later on in the discussion noted that a number of persons involved in crimes in SVG come well off homes, debunking the theory that poverty is the sole cause of poverty.
