From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Bahamian Politics
Dr. Minnis’ statement on "The Bahamas Crime Epidemic"
Feb 7, 2017 - 12:11:18 AM


Dr. Minnis, Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), issued the following statement on The Bahamas crime epidemic:

“The PLP continues to try and ignore the crime epidemic that has plagued our country these past five years but it is not going anywhere, and the problem must be addressed immediately instead of making more excuses.  In just over a month into this new-year we have already seen 19 murders, with five killings taking place in the past four days.  And now, we learn that The Bahamas tops the region on crime’s economic cost according to a new Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report.”

“The PLP’s failure to address the crime epidemic plaguing our country has cost us $434 million, which is almost 5 percent of our annual GDP.  This is a cost of over $1000 per person each year.  With an already struggling economy we need immediate action to address this growing trend, or we will continue to realize the negative impacts of the crime epidemic.  This PLP Government can continue to try and ignore the problem all they want, but even foreign countries can see the depth of the crime problem. Several countries have previously issued travel advisories warning their citizens about the crime rate, and this negatively impacts our precious tourism economy.  However, most Bahamians, with the exception of the PLP, feel the creeping encroachment of this crime epidemic in our streets and neighbourhoods.  Bahamians cannot ignore it like this Government does.”

“Empty rhetoric, broken promises, and more excuses will not fix this problem.  We must have a concrete plan to address crime in The Bahamas.  The FNM has a comprehensive plan to work together with law enforcement and our communities to rip it out at its roots.  We will develop a strong plan that will properly train and equip our police; we will collaborate with church leaders and educators who know their communities, and we will bring them together with social workers and community leaders to address the problem.  

“Our goal will always be to empower the people, not ignore them.  We will work every day to make all our communities safe and secure for Bahamians because they deserve nothing less from their leaders.”



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