On June 17 2009 I was invited by Mr Leopold James, President SNBF & L'Esprit de Concordia, to join his delegation in a meeting with the Lt Governor as an observer. The topics discussed were:
1- Concerns about increasing crime
2- SNBF structural contribution to help fighting crime
Concerns about increasing crime, fueled by growing disintegration among natives and other ethnic groups are something everyone is aware of. This awareness was brought to light with the shooting of an Indian Merchant and what transpired hereafter. Root causes were presented in regards to the first topic. Then their proposed structural contribution towards combating of crime was presented and discussed more in depth.
I was very interested and eagerly awaiting Mr. James overview of the topics as coincidentally I had started a three part article about crime written exclusively for sxmislandtime and at the point of being invited, I was busy working on the final part which contained my conclusion and opinion. As my article also drilled down into the root causes and then finally gave some suggestions how to reduce the division, Leopold’s approach complimented my article as it addressed a workable solution to the growing crime and division trend. Phrases and words such as: division should not be underestimated, don’t understand each other, resentment, fear, control of economy, “we-them”, unity, and socio-economic-cultural partnerships were used during the presentation.
The governor was very impress with what was presented and gave some great input, and advice on how to proceed further, and his full cooperation and support.
For me, it was very intriguing to see how persons can be working and/or thinking in a certain direction and then somehow they are brought together by some divine inspiration with such overlap and synergism. I also realized and was made aware that it is up to us, the younger generation to step up to the plate and do what we must. It is no longer a question if we want to. We have to.
Unity comes as a result of something. So there must be an action before a result. Mr. James concludes that the action should be promoting social-economic partnerships and I agree. If we approach this structurally, rather than ad-hoc, then I believe that we will be on to something great.
Emilio Kalmera
