 The Police Powers Act is a welcomed legislative tool that authorizes the Minister for National Security following consultation with the Commissioner of Police to designate any location in St. Lucia, an area of escalated crime. Vefontown has been so designated to allow the police force to move in and initiate the appropriate tactical operations to neutralize threats to public safety and also capture and detain the criminal suspects along with the accomplices responsible for the upheaval in the community. Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre continues to demonstrate his support for the law enforcement officers charged with combating crime in St. Lucia. Prime Minister Pierre again toured Vefont and led a delegation through the Bruceville community on April 10th. We have to wipe out that criminality. That criminality must stop and I make no excuses for it. I am going to say to you the government will use all the resources the police have been instructed to use all available means within the law. All available legal means to wipe out that criminality in this country. Visiting the affected areas afforded the Prime Minister as well as members of the affected communities an opportunity to directly exchange views on the impact the upsurge in gun crime has had on the residents. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Vefont North MP Hon. Moses Jabaptis, Attorney General Hon. Leslie Mondezi, Commissioner of Police Krusita Descartes-Pelius and other senior police officers during the walkabout. It's a small, small part and I don't want us to stigmatize any part of the country. I don't want us to pretend that the whole of Vefont or the whole of a particular area in Vefont is what you like to call a crime hot spot and it's unfortunate just a few people. So we are hoping that the message is clear, the message is clear, social intervention, the community outreach, the empowerment will continue but the criminality must stop and all legal means will be used to wipe out that criminality, legal means. In the weeks following the enactment of the Police Powers Act, the police have reported numerous crime fighting successes that include several arrests which have led to criminal charges preferred against homicide suspects and the confiscation of illegal firearms and other contraband out of the hands of criminal suspects. A contingent of officers attached to the regional security system have also provided the police force with hands-on assistance to maximize the impact of tactical operations in the designated areas. From the office of the Prime Minister, Rihanna Isidore.