The Chamber of Commerce has stepped up to offer to mediate renewed discussions on the current state and solutions to the rising crime rates in the Cayman Islands.

“We are not interested in just another discussion. The idea is to bring together the previous work done in this area and take a multidisciplinary approach to the problem. A coherent medium-term strategy with committed resources or a reallocation of current resources is needed immediately,” said President Paul Byles.

“Clearly as a country we have not come to grips with the issue and the previous approaches have not worked. We are better at treating the symptoms of crime after it has occurred, but we are failing to address the core root and cause of the problem.”

The Chamber is willing to work together with policymakers on both sides of the aisle, and with key stakeholders and experts to ensure we can help address the core issues causing crime rates to increase.

Identifying and supporting at risk youth, dealing with youth unemployment, under employed work permit holders, lack of parenting, investment into sports and in particular youth involvement in sports, are among some of the areas previously raised by experts and the wider community and we need to make a far better effort at addressing these root causes.

Crime is not a surprising event that just happened to us; it’s something we have failed to prevent for lack of focus on its root causes.

“The Chamber recognises that we cannot have a thriving business community in an environment which is not safe and socially harmonious. For this reason, our members have always invested heavily in youth, community and sports initiatives and will continue to do so,” added President Byles.