The Tribune

By PAUL G TURNQUEST

Chief Reporter

pturnquest@tribunemedia.net

POLITICAL activist Rodney Moncur said he does not believe he or his wife would be alive today if they had decided to sleep at their home in Black Village last night.

Around 4:30am their home on Heritage Lane was engulfed in flames. Reportedly the fire started in the main bedroom of the house.

Mr Moncur believes that something must have been thrown through the window of the house to start the fire as no one was inside the structure and his electricity has been off since October of 2011.

Leading The Tribune inside the burnt out shell of what was once his home, Mr Moncur pointed to where he and his wife would have been sleeping, and highlighted the damage done to his clothes and other personal items.

“Clearly this is arson. It cannot be electrical because my electricity has been turned off from the 27th of October 2011. So there was no electricity here. This is the second time there has been an attempt of arson on my home. Perhaps two years ago or more an examination of the police records would show that the police came here because there was some kind of explosion right here on the wall, affecting some of the banana trees. The investigation didn’t go anywhere.

“On the corner here at Rupert Dean Lane is where my office is and that has been burnt six times until it was completely destroyed. In recent times I sent an email to the Commissioner of Police explaining there were threats of arson against my home. That complaint was ignored. It was at that point that I determined that I was in trouble with the Commissioner of Police and the Royal Bahamas Police Force because I was not only a citizen making a complaint, I am a Justice of the Peace (JP) – for whatever worth or value that has.”

As to the “threats” made to his home before this fire, Mr Moncur said he was not in a position to elaborate on where he received this information – other than the “intelligence he received” was passed on to the Commissioner of Police.

With such a high public profile, especially in the wake of his recent arrest for posting pictures of a dead body after an autopsy on Facebook, Mr Moncur said it is difficult for him to pinpoint who to blame for what he believes was an attempt on his life.

“It is difficult to say. One has to be responsible because all kinds of people and criminals can take advantage of a perceived situation. I think what is required is a vigorous police investigation. I believe I can say that, because I would really, really would like to know who did this because my bedroom, and my bed received extensive damage. That is where my wife and I usually sleep.”

Taking extra precautions ever since his arrest, Mr Moncur said he has taken to the habit of “hiding whenever night falls.” If it were not for this act of sleeping anywhere else other than his home, Mr Moncur said he does not believe he or his wife would be alive today.

Pointing to the roof of his bedroom, Mr Moncur said you can tell that the fire was “intense.”

“The roof above the bed has melted. I don’t know what to say. All I can say is if my wife and I were in that bed and if we were nor alert we would be dead. We are living in a gangster town. We are living in a gangster society. This is a country where one can be murdered, where arson can be committed and nothing comes out of it. That does not augur well, particularly in view of the fact that I have lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Police. I think we need a Commissioner of Police who can rise above the political fray, who can keep his mind focused on keeping the peace and maintaining law and order and rising above the politics. Once the Commissioner of Police or police officials allow themselves to be sucked into the political fray it is not good for our democracy,” Mr Moncur said.

With his financial woes being well-known, Mr Moncur said he will not allow the loss of his primary home to deter him from continuing his “socio-political activism.” He said he is still committed to selling a piece of property that he owns on Carmichael Road so that he can pay the Mortgage Corporation the monies that he owes them.

“And then I am committed to seeing how best I can rebuild my home. It is (distressing) and it has a strong emotional effect but thank God my wife and I are alive. We have the opportunity of rebuilding our home. But I am trying to avoid coming to a serious conclusion outside of a proper and impartial investigation. I am trying to avoid pointing my finger at people without any clear evidence. In these kinds of crisis it calls for the greatest level of calm, maturity, and honesty. I don’t like taking advantage of this kind of calamity for political gains, but I would really like to know what this is.”

Mr Moncur said the police arrived at his home sometime around 2pm after the blaze had been extinguished for some six hours. He said they collected samples and took some photographs to assist in their investigation.