Alice Springs business owners have their say on cause of crime crisis

Alice Springs business owners have revealed what they believe is among the heart-wrenching cause of young offenders getting involved in the town’s escalating crime crisis.

Alice Springs business owners say “neglected” children are breaking into commercial building to steal food because they are hungry.

Commercial break-ins rose almost 56 per cent in Alice Springs in the 12 months to November last year.

Tony Habib, who runs the Mini-Mart in Todd St, had his front window smashed last week.

He is still waiting for it to be repaired because his glazier has been booked up for three days.

“The kid who broke this glass I’m sure he’s about 10 years old, maybe not even,” he said.

“He kicked the glass and broke it. Just a young fella. Don’t know (where) their parents are or what’s going on.”

He said children as young as eight were wandering the streets. Older teenagers often made younger children steal for them.

Alice Springs resident Tony Habib runs the Mini-Mart in Todd St and says he believes young offenders in the Central Australian town are hungry. Picture: Matt Cunningham

“I do believe a lot of these kids, they’re hungry,” he said.

“A lot of them just need food to eat. The parents are just walking around town.

“Not last Sunday, the Sunday before, my brother was up at the petrol station near the hospital, he went in to pay for the fuel and the kids went in and stole a lot of pies, pasties, out of the bain marie and took off.

Alice Springs resident Tony Habib runs the Mini-Mart in Todd St where his front window was smashed by a young kid 'about 10 years old' who kicked the glass and broke it. Picture: Matt Cunningham

“And this is seven o’clock in the morning. It’s a big problem, the kids not eating enough.”

Mario Nishikawa, who runs security business Territory Guard, said there was “a huge amount of neglect in the community”.

Mario Nishikawa, who runs security business Territory Guard, says there was 'a huge amount of neglect in the community' in Alice Springs. Picture: Matt Cunningham

“They’re left to fend for their own devices,” he said.

“You’re talking about kids as young as six, seven, just prowling the streets, they’re just trying to get something to eat most of the time so a lot of vandalism is caused because of hunger and neglect.”

Mr Nishikawa said demand for his business was increasing.

“They’re trying to prevent the massive amounts of break-ins that are occurring in the town, lewd acts, people getting robbed and attacked out of the blue, and they’re trying to protect the elderly too,” he said.

“The problem just seems to keep getting worse, there’s a revolving door unfortunately and they cops have got their hands full.”

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