No criminal injuries compensation board

National Security Minister STUART YOUNG

People are saying that while National Security Minister Stuart Young has been bumping his gum daily all over the place about bringing stiff laws for gun offences and promising guns for the prison officers, he has forgotten about the victims of crime.

He has failed to appoint members of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) for the past nine months and the workers in the office have been going to work for the past nine months with nothing to do. The term of office for members of that Board which was appointed by the former PP government in 2014 has expired since July last year. The mission of the CICB is to award financial aid to Victims of Crime with respect, compassion, professionalism, and efficiency. The CICB was established in l999 to provide compensation to persons of the dependents of persons who suffered injury as a direct result of a crime of violence. The Board is given the mandate to evaluate and determine awards for compensation to such victims and/ or their dependents. The Compensation Board is a committed agency which function is to award financial aid to Victims of Crime and/or their Dependents in a timely manner and to make referrals to Support Services to facilitate positive recovery, according to the CICB website. Currently, there are hundreds of victims of crime who have been waiting more than nine months now for compensation because of FOOD CARDS TO LURE VOTERS added to the programme in the coming months before the two elections. The Food Cards denominations are of $510, $750 and $800. But many are saying that the PNM Food Card initiative, just like the PP, is a political ploy to lure voters. People are saying that the PNM and UNC are the same khaki pants. People are saying that the PNM appears to be using the same strategy as the PP government did for the 2015 General Election when voters were bribed with thousands of food cards to vote for the party. It did not work as the PP lost the General Election. When the PNM government came into power more than 18,000 people were removed from the food card programme because, according to the PNM, they were not eligible for the card. Many of the poor people suffered as a result and many more are suffering still. Now with the coming of the Local Government election later this year and General Election next year, the Social Development Minister Cherrie-Ann ChrichlowCockburn announced last week that more than 1,137 Food Card recipients have been added to the programme since October last year up to January this year. This, she said, was because of job losses and retrenchment in 2018. Sources say more are to be the failure of National Security Minister to appoint members of the CICB. Within the past few weeks, Young has only been extending condolences to the families of murder victims.