The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard yesterday said the noticeable disconnect within the Christie administration has played a factor in the skyrocketing levels of crime in the country leaving Bahamians under “siege” by criminals.

Mr Pintard further called on the government to reveal what it plans to do with the $20m it received from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to aid in the fight against crime.

In an interview with The Tribune, the senator said while citizens await the government’s much talked about new crime initiatives, the Christie administration has turned to “scapegoating” as a public relations campaign in an attempt to free itself of any blame for the country’s crime woes.

He said considering last year’s murder count of 149 and two recorded murders already just five days into this new year, it was clear that Prime Minister Perry Christie, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, State National Security Minister Keith Bell and Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade could not agree on the best strategic approach to get a grip on violent activity.

“Political considerations should take precedence over a genuine search for solutions,” Mr Pintard told The Tribune.

“Keith Bell and the prime minister’s attempt to throw the commissioner under the bus is a recognition by them that the public is fed up with them and their inability to bring incidents of violence under control. They, the politicians, then seek to protect themselves by casting the blame on others.

“Everyone has been blamed in this instance, the parents, the opposition, the commissioner, the courts. So again rather than take responsibility they have used scapegoats.”

Mr Pintard said while be believes the government has discussed the issues as it relates to breaking the back of crime in The Bahamas, there has been an overall failure to agree on the necessary steps that should be taken.

During the New Year’s Day holiday weekend, two men were killed and nine other persons were left in hospital with gunshot wounds after a shooting spree in New Providence.

Another man, who was stabbed in December in Abaco, also died of his injuries in the Princess Margaret Hospital, pushing the 2015 year-end homicide count to 149, according to The Tribune’s records.

The rate of violent crime led FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis to call on the government to declare a “war on guns” and establish a dedicated intelligence gathering facility to partner with the international community for this purpose.

Dr Minnis said The Bahamas needs an agency similar to Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a drug interdiction agency established through a partnership with the United States to stem the flow of drugs.

He said on Sunday: “The criminal element is having a huge impact on our society, we are losing young men, women and families – the economy is being impacted. It is having a significant strain on our healthcare resources, the social fabric of our nation and it’s also leading to a brain drain.

“As you speak to the young people abroad, they are deterred from coming home because of the violence they are hearing about. It is time for the government to declare a war on guns. In the 80s, the US declared a war on drugs, the drugs were moving through the Bahamas and into the US, and affecting the US way of life.”

Dr Minnis continued: “As a result of that, OPBAT was established. Now the guns are coming from the US and affecting the Bahamas. Individuals are selling guns and ammunition. There is a market for guns and a market for bullets – the criminals are establishing an underground economy for guns and bullets.

“Therefore, The Bahamas must declare war on guns and establish an agreement to create an entity like OPBAT for guns. With intelligence gathering and the US involvement we would be able to tell where the guns are purchased – we must get at the source so we can stop the flow of guns from America into our cities.”