The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

THE Democratic National Alliance deputy leader yesterday called for all political parties to join forces in developing a national approach to combat crime, claiming that citizens are now “crippled by fear” after a recent surge in criminal activity.

Chris Mortimer told The Tribune that the political leaders should step away from the habit of pointing fingers and understand that crime is a national issue that has festered for too long.

“Everyone has to stop passing around the political football, pointing fingers and tossing around blame,” Mr Mortimer said.

“The truth is crime is the result of a number of factors. If those factors aren’t corrected or resolved the element of crime will persist.”

He added that the Progressive Liberal Party’s campaign promises to resolve crime were nothing more than promises. He said that the governing party needs to admit that it has failed and start to work to correct “the problem that is ailing our society”.

Three weeks ago, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage indicated he was concerned about the general feeling by Bahamians that they were not safe because of rates of violent crime. Those comments came on the heels of a week in which the nation recorded three murders in a 12-hour period. Since then, nine more have been committed.

Mr Mortimer said these incidents are the reasons people are afraid to leave their homes at night. “We have people that are in serious fear of what is happening. They remain locked inside their homes refusing to come out. They feel like at any time something could happen to them and their loved ones.

“Politics has to be removed from this discussion. There needs to be a united discussion between all sides. We are now fighting for our country and our people, there is no room for the political games.”

The country’s murder count now stands at 115, according to The Tribune’s records, four less than last year’s total and 12 less than the 127 recorded in 2011.