The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune,

Please permit me space in your column to respond to Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph (“Comrade”) Gonzales, who suggested recently that the Bahamian Judiciary must be residents of Mars if they seriously feel that it is justifiable to continue bailing murder accused in an environment where they now make up a solid proportion of victims and reoffenders.

Firstly, as a Bahamian and a person who believes in debate that does not sink to the level of insult, I will remind the Rt. Honourable Gentlemen that there may indeed one day turn out to be life on Mars, in which case our new planetary neighbours will rightly take offence with that comparison.

Secondly, an observer would have to travel to far deeper and darker recesses of the universe to find comparatives with the species of logic employed by our judges and politicians, who continue to subject our country to a spiral of easily-preventable violence on the spurious and weak-kneed grounds that they do. If you want more examples, check out the light sentences for illegal firearm possession, too.

What makes it all the more maddening is the tendency of both politicians and judges to deflect the problems of their own obvious making onto everything from bad parents to young people who can’t resolve disputes, to US gun manufacturers.

But while all these factors equally apply elsewhere, Gonzalves’ response to our unique Bahamian situation would be the first response of any rational outsider looking in.

Welcome to The Bahamas, Comrade! Trust me, this is not the only area of policy and administration here that would equally baffle rational Earthlings and Martians.

ANDREW ALLEN

April 19, 2023,

Nassau.