From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
DNA: A Tragic National Milestone
By Branville McCartney, Leader, DNA
Nov 8, 2015 - 11:26:12 PM
With less than two months left in
the year, the Bahamas has surpassed the highest number of murders ever recorded
in our nation’s history. As the country marks this tragic milestone we are
reminded of the hundreds of young men and women whose lives were abruptly ended
as a result of violent crime.
Over the course of this year,
media reports have detailed the many instances of violent crime; newspapers
have recounted the stories of fathers snatched away from their sons and mothers
from their daughters. So far this year, we have learned that none of us are
safe from the ever increasing levels of crime and criminality facing our
nation. All of us, be we preacher, politician, child, or senior citizen, cannot
escape the impact of crime. Whether we ourselves have fallen victim to the
criminal element or have had family members taken from us as a result, one
truth is certain: we are all in this together. Crime is everybody’s business
and everyone must play their respective roles in eradicating it.
As the saying goes it takes a
village to raise a child, unfortunately our collective village has not done
enough to raise an entire generation of young Bahamians. Our village, including
parents, teachers, church leaders and mentors have an important role to play in
teaching our children fundamental life lessons such as discipline, respect and
conflict resolution. For failures in that regard we must all accept a modicum
of responsibility.
Perhaps the most important role
of all however, belongs to the government. I have long said that it is the
chief responsibility of any government to keep its citizens safe. On that front, this Christie led government
has failed us. Even after claiming to have the answers this Christie
administration has failed to carry out the laws on the books with respect to
capital punishment; failed to effectively address the inefficiencies within the
judiciary; failed to balance the need for rehabilitative and punitive elements
of our justice system and
FAILED to
stamp out criminality and corruption within their own party and governmental
structures.
A DNA Government
WILL NOT FAIL YOU. As the next
government we commit to rooting out the systemic corruption which has all but
crippled our still developing nation. We commit to sweating the small stuff.
Full scale enforcement of all our countries laws, even the smallest infractions
will send a message that we are SERIOUS about ensuring that the Rule of Law is
followed at all cost. No man or woman, regardless of the socio-economic or
political position should be allowed to flout the country’s laws without
consequence.
A DNA government will ensure that
laws are in place so that the Privy Council is duty bound to carry out the
death penalty. A DNA government will
implement the necessary victim resources to help families HEAL and the
necessary rehabilitative resources to reduce recidivism.
The DNA’s first and foremost duty
will be to protect its citizens.
Branville
McCartney
DNA Leader
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