By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
FORMER FNM Chairman Darron Cash yesterday criticised the government for failing to deal with poverty in the country. He said it’s “only a matter of time” before Bahamian communities “explode” from the pressures of bad governance demonstrated by the Progressive Liberal Party.
Using embattled American towns Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland as references, Mr Cash said the “realities of poverty, neglect, unchecked police violence and the consequential violent demonstrations” in those cities are all themes with which Bahamians living in poverty can identify.
He said those issues, as well as poverty in The Bahamas, reflect the “failure of political leadership to rise to the occasion necessary to provide the level of transformation that is really needed in poor and under-served communities”.
“Bahamians can identify,” Mr Cash said. “Our inner cities, and increasingly the fringes of the south, bear witness to misguided public policy. Recently, the writer of The Tribune’s Insight column reminded the Bahamian people of Prime Minister Christie’s sustained periods of neglect of the constituency he represents.”
He added: “It’s just a matter of time before these communities explode. Mr Christie is content to throw good Urban Renewal money after his political big shot friends. While they should all get angry with the slow pace of life transforming programmes, they are rather angry that their collective failure to manage scarce money spent on buildings has become a source of embarrassment.
“For the average Bahamian watching the US news, the reality is evident: Baltimore could be Bain Town, and Ferguson could be Fox Hill.”
Last year, this newspaper reported that children under 14 had the highest poverty rate in The Bahamas. National statistics revealed that more than 40,000 persons in the country lived under the poverty line on less than $5,000 a year.
Findings showed that 12.8 per cent of the population were living in poverty with a 3.5 per cent hike in the annual poverty line since the last recorded study in 2001, from $2,863 to $4,247.
Living conditions, the report said, were significantly worse for Haitian migrants, who represent 7.5 per cent of the total population. They are the poorest population in The Bahamas with three out of every four Haitians falling into that category.
Mr Cash criticised the government for failing to address policy, and said the failings in Ferguson and Baltimore “remind Bahamians of the failures of our current prime minister.”
“Many Bahamians who have travelled to North American cities for education, work, business, or leisure – particularly in South Florida and along the East Coast have first hand knowledge of the challenges faced by poor an disadvantaged people of all races in North American cities,” he said. “The recent events in Baltimore, Maryland now emerge as a reminder of the consequences of years and years of neglect. The realities of poverty, neglect, unchecked police violence and the consequential violent demonstrations now being highlighted in US cities are realities with which Bahamians can identify. They reflect the failure of political leadership to rise to the occasion necessary to provide the level of transformation that is really needed in poor and under-served communities.”
This week, unrest, reports of looting and riots in Baltimore grabbed headlines in the US. The uproar started on April 25 after the death of Freddie Gray, a black youth who died in police custody days after being arrested. This year there was similar uproar in Ferguson after the death of Michael Brown, also black, who was shot and killed by police.
Comments
Chucky 8 years, 11 months ago
Exactly
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