Catholic priest Fr. Branker John has issued a call to those responsible for law enforcement in the country to take charge and deal with the “drug Lords and gunslingers.”
He made that call while delivering his homily at the funeral service of 29-year-old Grand Bay resident Jullson Baron who was shot multiple times to the chest and head and died as a result of the gunshot wounds sustained.
“Over the last few months, we have been waking up to news of young men being shot and Julson is one of them, there have been others. People in Dominica and other parts of the Caribbean and the world are saying whenever that happens, Grand Bay again, Grand Bay again. But the other villages in Dominica and others in the Caribbean and the world, should not put on any garment of self-righteous as if they are better than Grand Bay…no, no, no,” the Catholic priest stated.
He continued, “Nobody should put on a garment of self-righteousness and say Grand Bay again as if they are exempt and the problem is not theirs …no, this is not a Grand Bay problem, it is a national Cancer.”
“It is a problem all over Dominica but Grand Bay seems to be the epicenter now because we are having more funerals, but the problem is not Grand Bay, it is wider than our community. The question is, who is responsible for the death of this young man and others like him…there is a bigger problem,” the Grand Bay-based Catholic Priest said.
“Law enforcement officials, those responsible for the enforcement of the law are equally responsible for this man’s death and others like him. Those responsible for the law of the land don’t enforce the laws of the land. Those who allow drug dealers and gunslingers to operate with impunity, we know who they are and don’t clamp them down and we allow them to operate with impunity,” Fr. Branker John remarked.
He warned that “If we allow that to happen, we are responsible for deaths like these”. “When you turn a blind eye to illegal drugs you turn a blind eye to illegal guns also because the two go together where there are illegal drugs there are illegal guns because guys have to protect their merchandise,” he said.
He said “This is a wake-up call for us, our policymakers, our sisters and brothers in government we have to exercise the powers given to us by God to save the lives of our young men and women and this cannot continue. We cannot allow drug dealers and gunslingers to operate with impunity in our country, this is a crime.”
“The Lord said to me speak to you and I will speak to you…who is responsible, us, we, when the police come in our community to search homes and to arrest people who break the law, some of us curse the police, say nasty things to them, some of us want to throw things at the police because we think they should not come in our community and search or to arrest anybody,” Fr. Branker stated.
He stated that such behaviours are done in the presence of young people and children “so we are planting seeds. So, when our children are corrected in school we go to the school and give the teacher what that coming for him/her. When we do this brother and sisters, we are teaching our children disrespect for the law,” he stated.
Well said . A domino effect and lasting effect on the young ones who think that those behaviours are normal.