By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
DEMOCRATIC National Alliance (DNA) Chairman Andrew Wilson has proposed that the DNA could reduce crime by seven per cent by “enforcing the law on vagrancy”.
In a post from his Facebook page last week, Mr Wilson called it an offence to be a vagrant.
He suggested that if the DNA was elected as the new government of the Bahamas in 2017, it would relocate vagrants to the Bahamas’ “700 plus islands and cays where they will be taught the laws of survival.”
When contacted yesterday for comment on Mr Wilson’s Facebook post, DNA Leader Branville McCartney said the chairman’s statements “do not reflect the policies of the DNA”.
Mr Wilson made the announcement on Friday, posting in at least two groups on Facebook.
He said: “A DNA government will reduce crime by seven per cent over a three-year period by enforcing the law on vagrancy. It is an offense to be a vagrant. A vagrant is a person of no fixed address, having no visible means of income, being found in a public place with no valid reason for being there.”
The post reportedly drew anger from fellow users on Facebook.
When asked what would happen to the homeless people, Mr Wilson responded by saying: “We have 700 plus islands and cays where they will be taught the laws of survival.”
At the time of the post, he provided no further information to back up the suggestion that seven per cent of crime can be linked to vagrancy, but his post prompted a reaction from other Facebook users.
They asked if the DNA was against the homeless, and whether they would be jailed or if there was a plan to create a housing programme for them, which led to his response about the “laws of survival”.
A short time later, the statement was deleted from the groups it was posted in.
When The Tribune contacted Mr McCartney, he refused to comment except to emphasise that Mr Wilson’s views “do not reflect the policies of the DNA”.
Attempts to reach Mr Wilson for clarification on the matter were unsuccessful up to press time.
Comments
Sickened 9 years, 4 months ago
Sounds like a good plan! Put the criminals, people society does not need or want, on a remote island to live out their natural lives. If we were humane we would give the criminals each a bottle of poisoned water upon arrival. In a week or so we would have a very civil society. The end would certainly justify the means.
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