Boat Captain And Daughter Robbed In St. Vincent And The Grenadines

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Apr. 20, (CMC) – Police are searching for a cutlass-wielding bandit, who robbed a 61-year-old British man and his 30-year-old daughter, triggering a fresh wave of frustration among residents, regarding the number of crimes against visitors to the southern Grenadine island.

“… we were held up with a cutlass by one guy who just wanted money. We thought Mayreau was the safest island and we had everything stolen from us,” said captain Richard Kent, after he and his daughter were robbed, on Monday night, as they made their way back to their boat.

He said the robber took their cash, credit cards, telephone, keys, and glasses.

“It’s just a huge inconvenience,” Hunter told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) adding that the police had responded to the incident 12 hours after he had filed a report.

He said the development was “just upsetting” for his unidentified daughter, who is on her first visit to the region.

“It is her first time in the Caribbean, which she loves, and it is just so upsetting,” Hunter said, noting that the residents of the area have been “just unbelievably supportive to us.

“And I just hope that they can sort the situation out, because it gives the place a bad reputation.”

It is not Hunter’s first trip to the Caribbean, but it is the first time that he is stopping in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We sailed up from Grenada through the Grenadines and it is the second time — first time with my wife and second with my daughter. It’s the most beautiful part of the world but it’s just a problem, which has got to be sorted out. Tourists do not like to go places where they feel unsafe.”

Hunter said that before coming to St. Vincent he had heard about the murder of a German tourist in Walliabou.

Among the residents expressing frustration with crimes against visitors to the southern Grenadine islands was Justice of the Peace and businessman, Dennis Forde.

“The whole island is frustrated. There were three robberies in one month,” Forde said, warning that the crime is having a major impact on the island.

“It is going to put us all out of business. A lot of security needs to be put in place here in Mayreau,” he said, adding that his hotel and restaurant was burglarised three times in one week and drinks and food supplies were stolen.