The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Chamber’s chief executive yesterday called for a concerted public-private partnership (PPP) to tackle crime and mitigate its impact on the economy, with the private sector seriously concerned with both the cost and fear of crime.

Edison Sumner said: “In many cases business persons find themselves victims of crime when it comes to armed robberies and theft within their organisation.

“The business community is seriously concerned with the cost of crime, but also the fear of crime and criminal activity against businesses persons. We hear a lot about business persons being held at gunpoint or their establishments being broken into.”

The Bahamas leads the entire Caribbean on economic losses stemming from crime, losing $434 million or almost 5 per cent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) to the scourge, according to a recent Inter-American Bank (IDB) study.

The study, ‘The costs of crime and violence: New insights in Latin America and the Caribbean’, reveals that the Bahamas is one of only two countries in the region where crime costs its citizens and residents more than $1,000 per person annually.

Once currency differences are accounted for, crime was shown as costing Bahamas residents $1,177 per capita annually, second only to Trinidad & Tobago’s $1,189 per person.

“We have to look at ways to reduce criminal activity, reduce the impact of crime on businesses and crime against the persons, which is even more of a concern because many business people may have insurance that protect them against certain kinds of activities,” Mr Sumner said.

“We have businesses persons having to spend money on insurance each year to protect themselves against certain kinds of criminal activity. We have businesses who are paying a lot of money installing alarm and surveillance systems.

“We need to work together. There needs to be a concerted effort from the Government, public and the private sector, as well as academia, to explore ways we can reduce the incidents of crime or criminal activity.”