The Tribune

THERE is a certain jarring difference between the topics that the Commissioner of Police, Clayton Fernander, is choosing to address and the issues on the street.

Recently, he declared that he was hopeful that despite murders going up, up and up, that the police force would keep the murder tally to no more than 100 this year. At the time, the total was 85 – and another two murders this weekend pushes that number higher still.

So what did Commissioner Fernander choose to address when he appeared on television?

He spoke about bail, which is an issue, he spoke about corruption – but he also spent time talking about himself.

He talked again about how he was forced to take vacation leave under the Minnis administration, and said how he was still searching for the reason behind the reassignment when that vacation came to an end.

He talked of his relationship with former Minister of National Security Marvin Dames, and how some of Mr Fernander’s former colleagues had been told to stop talking to him.

He talked of where the directive came from, saying: “Top of the police force. It was clear and it was sad to see that and some of those officers who did it have since left the organisation.”

Respectfully, Commissioner, as the murder count keeps climbing higher, it’s time to stop focusing on yourself.

What people want to be hearing from you is what you are going to be doing to stop the death count rising. They want to hear your policies, they want to hear what resources are being allocated to the task, they want to see and feel the police presence dealing with this year’s spike in murders.

Your gripes about your reassignment – valid though they may be – are some way down the list of priorities behind keeping people alive and catching the killers of those who could not be saved.

Also during the interview, Commissioner Fernander said that had it not been for the disruption to his career, he would have been retired by now.

He said it “only could be the good Lord working because at the same time if we were not disrupted, I would’ve been on pension as we speak and I was preparing for retirement”.

How must officers feel that they are only being led by someone who isn’t retired already because of a mess created by the former administration and leadership? How does that encourage officers to look to a future knowing the current leader is already so close to retirement – particularly senior officers who might have been the one to take on the mantle instead?

Regardless of what went before, Mr Fernander is in the top job now – and it’s time for him to stop dwelling on the past and put his every attention on what is going on right now on our streets.

There is a big job for the police to handle with the number of deaths on our streets – and nothing should be a distraction from that.

Simply put, it’s time to move on, Commissioner.

Solar power

It is a small step – but it could, and should, be a glimpse of our future.

Ragged Island now has a solar plant, and it has become the first major island in our country to become completely solar powered.

The demands of Ragged Island are significantly smaller than on some of our other islands – but this should be the model for our future.

We talk a lot about climate change and about the impact of greenhouse gases – well, this is the way we should be going.

The Bahamas is famous for its sunshine – wouldn’t it reinforce our reputation to show that our nation can be powered by the sun too, and other renewable sources?

We shouldn’t expect too much too soon, it seems – Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis played down talk of installation on other islands soon because of the challenge in finding funding.

But he also talks about the prospect of bringing in funds through carbon credits for our country. If that avenue of funding was directed towards expanding our renewable energy programmes, it would be a very appropriate use of such money indeed.

Ragged Island’s solar future is very welcome. A forward-thinking government would seize the moment to build on that.