The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Our murder records indicate that we now have 83 murders for the year. The Guardian reported that we are committing murder at a 15 per cent higher rate than we did last year. We are on pace to equal our bloodiest year for murder in recorded history, which saw 127 murders committed in 2011.

Last weekend resulted in five murders in less than two days and this is the second time in several weeks that at least four murders were recorded in such a short span.
During this recent crime spree, the prime minister’s press secretary met his demise from a gunshot wound.

This is proof that murder has no face and that all of us are at risk, albeit some of us are more at risk than others.

I knew that the media would interview Prime Minister Christie on the slaying of his press secretary and I listened intently to what was said. Christie said that he will now have another series of meetings with Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade to come up with new crime prevention initiatives.

I will be the first to say that the government cannot solve the crime problem on its own. The public, civic organisations, churches and parliamentarians must all chime in.

But I believe that the prime minister has to play a vital role in leading the charge or at the least empower the right people to get to the root of our murderous problem and then lend a hand to effectively implement the solutions.

As a Bahamian citizen, I could make a good argument that we are at the point where we were in 2011. During this dark period in our history, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his government did make a haphazard attempt to slow down the mounting murders by passing a compendium of crime bills. This was an abysmal failure.

Christie’s plan is to speak with Greenslade. Let’s see how well these meetings work out. From my vantage point, the prime minister is showing no signs of urgency with this vexing problem and he seems to be a beaten man. This does not bode well for our country.

Dr Myles Munroe on a recent radio interview said, “Good leaders employ people but great leaders deploy people”.

Will Mr Christie rally the Bahamian people and convince us to work together to put steps in motion to solve our current crisis or will we experience more of the same in the coming months and years? Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) Loretta Butler-Turner said that in drastic times we need drastic measures. I think she is on point.

The prime minister must pick up his energy in this area and empower the relevant persons to get to work on this issue. We are not seeing any signs of improvement. If he has to reshuffle persons, fire ineffective individuals or bring in new talent then he has to make it happen. No apologies. Lives are at stake.

If we stay on our current murderous pace, an additional 43 persons will be murdered before December 31st, 2014. Anyone of us could be included in this number. Must we wait for another 43 of our sons and daughters to be killed before we give this matter serious and focused attention?

DEHAVILLAND MOSS

Nassau,

August 27, 2014.