Prime Minister Addresses the Increasingly Troubling Issue of Violent Crime in The Bahamas

PM Ingraham and National Security Minister T. Turnquest are among those pictured during The Bahamas delegation's tour of Beijing's "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium and its adjacent Water Cube Aquatic Centre. (BIS Photo)

Following the recent visit to China by the Prime Minister and his delegation which included National Security Minister Hon. Tommy Turnquest, the Opposition PLP had heavily criticized the FNM government on the issue of crime, including in their count, the recent rape in South Eleuthera.

The Prime Minister departed for China on October 22nd and returned on November 5th, following a stop in Barbados to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister of that Eastern Caribbean country, David Thompson.

National Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Bradley B. Roberts said in a November 7th statement, “The PLP continues to note with alarm the fact that the inept, hapless and hopeless FNM government continues to bury its head in the sand as crime and disrespect for law and order run rampant and out of control.”  He continued, “Policemen have been attacked in front of the Courts; the Courts have been broken into and ransacked, and there has been a brazen robbery at a Police Station. Within 48 hours we have experienced the shooting of a prominent businessman in Fox Hill, the rape of a Nun and the shooting of a businesswoman in Grand Bahama.  Last week, the maximum security wing of the prison was without electricity and without a generator. Also, we saw in the midst of rush hour traffic a confrontation that could have had tragic consequences.”

 
“Still, no matter how much is done by Government, our shared response to an unacceptable level of violence demands that individuals and families, churches, and indeed the larger society work together to combat the criminal threats to our national security and Commonwealth”, Mr. Ingraham concluded before taking questions.