In an exclusive one on one interview with TNN, Bermuda’s longest-serving Premier Sir John Swan said that, in his opinion, Bermuda and the world at-large is still mostly dominated by males.
As a result, a lot of young men still look to male role models for guidance on what is right and wrong. When
that good governance is not found through older males, Sir John believes that young men take matters into their own hands and commit violent and often murderous acts.
“ If your parents are hurting because they can’t pay the bills and feel disenchanted about Bermuda as a result, you can’t expect the children to do anything other than act out that process,”
he said.
One of the possible solutions to the recent violence epidemic, according to Sir John, is for the community to redefine the black male’s true worth in the community and society.“ When people understand their worth, they do things worthy of what they think,” he said. “
When people don’t believe that they have a worthwhile avenue in life, they take alternative courses . . . We have to remove a lot of these things by building a society that really looks after
people.”
“ At the end of the day, it’s not about material, money, how big of a house you have or how many trips you have taken, it really comes down to the individual and how they feel you care about them and what you do for them in that caring process,” he continued. “ I’m concerned
about how we take the resources that we receive from the International Business community and what we do with them that will help the average person who was born and raised here.”
Another possible solution to violence on the island, according to Sir John, is to have a more appropriately and adequately funded police service. He believes that due to this lack of funding,
the police here are lackluster. Back in the day, he himself used to be the Minister in charge of the police service.
“ When I was Minister of Home Affairs 45 years ago, we had a bigger police establishment back then than we do today,” he said. “ However, we have much more activity and many more things going on [nowadays], but we do not have the police. Instead of spending money on things that really could be put aside, what we need now is security and peace of mind.”
Sir John does not believe that any overseas help will solve the violence issue on the island, because once that overseas help leaves the island, the problem will come back and possibly
worsen.
Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
User comments posted on this website are solely the views and opinions of the comment writer and are not a representation of or reflection of the opinions of TNN or its staff.
TNN reserves the right to remove, edit or censor any comments.
TNN accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for the comments made by users.