The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

TWO young men were gunned down in the Yellow Elder Gardens area last Friday within moments of each other adding more fear to an already terrorised island. Deadly shootings are commonplace in New Providence, most of the times resulting in the untimely death of our depleting stock of able-bodied young men.

These killings are no accidents. They are meticulously planned and carried out with deadly precision.

The latest killings have now raised the unofficial murder count for the year to 108.

In an archipelagic nation with less than 400,000 people it is mind boggling that our murder rate has quadrupled the world’s average, which according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2012 is 6.2 per 100,000.

This means that for a population of 400,000 people if we recorded a total of 25 murders per year, we would be at the world standard.

With 108 murders so far for this year we are already averaging 27 murders per 100,000 people and this is almost 450 per cent higher than normal with about one month left remaining in the year.

The police in my view in a lot of cases are doing a yeoman’s job when it comes to apprehending suspected criminals. But there remains a disconnect between the time when criminals are charged and go to trial.

Too often, persons who are charged with serious offences get bail and are able to continue their criminal activities. Too often persons who get bail, especially bail for murder, are themselves murdered. There is an accepted precedence in society today that most of these career criminals will never pay for their crimes in a court of law.

The criminal thugs from East to West and from North to South are running our streets. They seem to strike at will, brandishing their high powered military assault rifles leaving only a trail of terror. Right now they have all the say and they are enforcing their will on the Bahamian society, more so in New Providence. There is an unspoken code of silence and fear for criminals these days whether we like to admit it or not. We know that saying the wrong thing to someone can put you and your family in imminent danger, even if you are well within your right to protect yourself.

Don’t even think about being a witness in a capital murder case. We all know that this is not good for your long-term health. The rules on the streets are different.

People in New Providence who say they feel safe have a profound sense of false security. We have seen enough mayhem to know full well that the next victim can be anyone of us. Our collective fear has trained us though to think that this criminal problem will go away on its own eventually without society’s intervention. I beg to differ. This is an error of titanic proportions.

We also need a sustained and collective government effort starting with the use of technology to make education more appealing, a major redistribution of wealth and an immediate revamp of the criminal justice system inclusive of performance metrics for key players.

We are rushing to our homes in the afternoons, taking particular note of our surroundings. In essence, we are trying to be more vigilant, but we know full well that most of us are potential victims to crime because criminals are carrying guns and a willingness to kill while law-abiding citizens are carrying fear and hopelessness. This just in. Another homicide was recorded on Saturday, raising the murder count once again.

And what is our plan to take our streets back? We are not seeing enough positive results despite repeated statements by our political leaders, the commissioner of police and the Attorney General’s office on what they have done or are about to do.

The recent Court of Appeal ruling which said that hanging is over has not prompted any decisive reaction from our political leaders on the way forward. This is indeed a crying shame and law-abiding citizens need to take note. Believe me, the criminals have. A lack of political will means crime will continue to escalate.

Our political will must be ever present if we are going to effectively combat crime.

We are completely overwhelmed and we need a new mandate on crime, even if it is the removal of key players and a new team instated because thugs have complete control of our streets.

You live here. Is my opinion wrong? What does your gut feeling tell you?

DEHAVILLAND MOSS

Nassau,

November 30, 2014.