PM Defends Decision to Engage Rival Gangs: ‘They Were Abandoned’

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PM Browne Highlights Efforts to Reform Deviant Youth Through Engagement and Support

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said that more must be done to support young people who are at risk of falling into criminality, revealing that he has personally intervened to help reform deviant youth, including rival gang members.

Speaking on his Browne and Browne programme on Pointe FM, Browne said he had observed that many of these young men had been abandoned by key institutions.

“I thought that they were abandoned and nobody wanted to touch them,” he said. “Within our school system they literally expel them, and I’ve always said that I think sometimes our schools are too quick to expel or in the first instance condemn these deviant students.”

He said the lack of support at home, in schools, and from religious institutions contributed to their vulnerability.

“They weren’t getting the support at home, not getting support at school, and evidently they don’t go to church,” he said. “So I think many of them found themselves in this situation.”

Browne said his decision to engage with rival gang members came from a place of care, not for recognition.

“It’s not that I was looking for any fame. Again, it’s just out of care,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that his administration is taking a more holistic approach to governance by going beyond economic concerns and focusing on social development.

“We have to go beyond the traditional aspects of governing. Before, the focus was almost exclusively on the economic aspects — providing a job, helping people to earn enough money,” he said. “I think we have to look at the governance of the country in a more holistic way.”

He pointed to the government’s Second Chance programme as an example of efforts to re-engage youth who may have dropped out of the traditional education system.

“One of the reasons why we started a Second Chance programme was precisely to try and capture them in their adult years and to help them to matriculate so they can then go to university and qualify,” he said.

Browne said that while poverty is often cited as a reason for youth crime, it is not the sole factor.

“It doesn’t stop you from instilling sound values in your children,” he said. “I think part of it too has to do with our culture of having all these single-parent homes… and many of the fathers, they just do not pull their weight.”

He also called on churches and spiritual leaders to be more proactive in reaching troubled youth.

“Our spiritual leaders have to reach out and probably take their message into the communities rather than sitting down in the church on a Sunday or standing up in the pulpit and hope that people come,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s remarks followed comments from his radio co-host highlighting his role in brokering peace between rival gangs.

Browne acknowledged the observation but stressed the importance of systemic reforms in education, community outreach, and family support to address youth delinquency in the long term.

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