Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has refuted claims that unemployment is the leading cause of crime and other deviant behavior in our society.

He expressed this view while speaking today on WEFM’s Morning Program, where the matter of crime and violence was being discussed.

The Prime Minister noted that while unemployment is a concern, it should not be blamed as being the main reason why people engage in criminal behavior.

He noted that some people fueled by greed prefer to deal with drugs as a short way to acquiring material possession.

“While we have to talk about the Police Force being more efficient, we must not get away from individual responsibility people who pull the trigger, people who decide that they will rather deal with drugs and a short way to material possession…fueled in part by a human greed.”

“We mustn’t forget these things in all of this discussion because you have 6,000 people…more employed today than in 2001, the Census in 2012 showed that,” the Prime Minister said.

There are instances where people who are employed have found themselves involved in criminal activities.

Dr. Gonsalves pointed to the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago which he said has the lowest unemployment rate in the Eastern Caribbean; however that country has one of the highest murder rates in the region.

“But in Trinidad where you have the lowest unemployment rate in the Eastern Caribbean, under five percent, is the place where you have the highest murder rate, you have fifty odd people every month getting killed in Trinidad, one point something persons a day, I’m talking statistically…so the issue has to be put within a context,” he said.

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