The Tribune

THERE was understandable outrage in the community to Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn’s recent suggestion in the House of Assembly that to solve today’s social ills legislation should be introduced that unwed mothers of more than two children should have their “tubes tied”. He quickly apologised for his indiscretion.

Although, his suggested solution to the problem was untenable, the social problem that led Mr Lightbourn to his remedy must not be ignored. And so the mandatory “tying of the tubes” statement cannot be used as an excuse to turn a blind eye to one of society’s major problems — children having children, many of whom, with little home care and even less education, enter a life of crime.

“My words were really misinterpreted and I would have hoped that this matter here would have given this House the opportunity to direct its attention toward a matter which is of serious concern to this country,” Mr Lightbourn told the House last week.

“We need to have this conversation with regard to sexual responsibility to our country and I don’t think that we are going to serve this House and the country well unless we stop pushing this matter under the table.”

We totally agree with Mr Lightbourn. An in depth discussion on this matter is long overdue. Some solution has to be found if we are to solve our many problems, especially crime.

We have been on this newspaper for over fifty-years and in that time have watched a poor, but proud people steadily descend to the depths of human degradation — many of them unwanted children grown into society’s unwanted criminals.

We remember many years ago doing an interview with a charming elderly lady on her front porch Over-the-Hill. She was lamenting the fact that young girls were now becoming so “fast and loose.” “Why in my day,” she remarked — even by then we had been around long enough to remember her day — “if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock, she would be shown the door –- and there was no help and no return. Even the shame in the community was too much. It was more than we would dare do!”

The shame and rejection was punishment enough to put a brake on ignoring society’s moral rules. The Bible was The Book and they lived by it. Not so today. They may carry it to church on Sundays, but many spend the rest of the week breaking its “Thou shalt not…” rules.

We also recall the day half a century ago when The Tribune made its last call to the hospital to get the list of babies born that day. A cub reporter at The Tribune always started his/her day with a daily call to several government offices, which included the sailing of the mail boats to and from the islands and the births at the Bahamas General Hospital (Princess Margaret). These had been published daily for years, and a hospital staff member had been assigned to answer our daily calls.

On that fateful day, The Tribune announced that that morning a son had been born to the wife of Mr X at the Bahamas General Hospital and that “mother and baby were doing well”.

It was the same routine story, but when The Tribune hit the streets that night – they were the days when The Tribune was an evening publication – the town was ablaze with scandal. The story was half true. The named gentleman was indeed the father of the child, but the mother was not his wife. Mr and Mrs X were a popular couple, but they had never had any children. That was the day that The Tribune dropped its birth column and the hospital was scratched off its list of daily calls.

As the years rolled by there came a day when we were in discussion with a Princess Margaret Hospital doctor. He was weary, he was dejected. He was concerned for his country’s future. “I have just come from the factory that is manufacturing this country’s future problems,” he remarked as he brushed a lock of hair from a worried brow.

That day on the hospital’s gynae ward were children – 13,14 and 15— giving birth. The 15-year-old girl by then had had more than one child — and for different men. They refused to give the name of the fathers.

According to a fact sheet released on HIV/AIDS in 2013 “since the first HIV case was diagnosed in the Bahamas in 1985 and until the end of 2013, 13,082 persons in the Bahamas have received an HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Over a third of these cases have died of AIDS.”

There was panic in the community. Many men, reluctant to give up their wayward ways, were looking for safe sex. The talk that got back through our reporters was that they were stalking young girls who they felt were young enough to be infection free. They had no morals. They were consumed by an evil lust — some of the names drifting through our offices at that time would shock our readers.

We recall the debate during the period of decisions being made about national insurance. It was argued that to give unwed mothers maternity leave payments was only encouraging their promiscuity.

In the end they were granted payments, but an organisation was formed to help them finish their schooling and assist them with the care of their children. We haven’t heard much about it lately, but hope that it is still active.

By 2009, the births to unwed mothers had escalated to 62 per cent, dropping slightly in 2010 to 59 per cent.

The face of society – and its problems— had changed. In the days long gone by, there were grandparents at home to take care of the children while their parents worked. Today, with women giving birth at such a young age, there are no longer grandparents as guardians at home. This generation of young grandparents are still working and their children, with no responsible caretakers, are problems for the community. Herein lies the problem of which Mr Lightbourn spoke.

And then we had the drug years; success meant being a millionaire. Children were told that with the advent of the PLP they would no longer be “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”

Towards the end of his administration, Sir Lynden admitted his mistakes. “I didn’t know then what I know now, that any work breeds character,” he said. “Too many young men lack character today: too many, too often shirk responsibility because they have never been held accountable for their actions at home, in school or in society. Therein might lie the heart of the problem.”

That is the problem — all that we have listed above has contributed to the problem. Instead of condemning Mr Lightbourn, it is up to this community to come together – recognise that over the years a once decent society has been turned on its head – and try to find ways to put it together again. Do this, and the nation could be well on its way to solving crime.