Prime Minister Perry Christie
By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday insisted that The Bahamas is “not a killing field” as he suggested that in a matter of weeks Bahamians will see the government’s new and aggressive crime fighting strategies implemented.
Mr Christie said the country cannot and must not allow the continuation of the wanton display of disregard for human life.
He said as long as the country continues to be a tourist destination, there must be a heightened interest in security and new levels of commitment to meet the costs of security.
“But this country cannot and must not allow what is happening to happen much longer,” Mr Christie told those gathered for the opening of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (BICA) Accountants Week at the Melià Nassau Beach Hotel.
“I indicated on Saturday when I said to the press it may mean impinging on people’s freedom as they move about. But there is no circumstance that will allow me to have The Bahamas, New Providence in particular, to have this wanton display of disregard for human existence. (It is) this extraordinary degree of uncivilised behaviour.
“(This is) not a killing field in The Bahamas and I hope in a couple of weeks you will see the evidence of what I am talking about.”
He continued: “We don’t have the right to allow young Bahamians to kill each other for whatever reason. It just must not happen.”
This comes as the country recorded three murders over the weekend, which pushed the murder count for the year to 133.
Two men were shot in New Providence, while a third man was stabbed to death in Grand Bahama.
According to police, shortly before midnight on Friday, Adrian “Fish” Munroe was sitting in a vehicle at Ghana Circle in Elizabeth Estates, when four men approached and shot him before fleeing on foot.
In Grand Bahama, authorities were investigating a fatal stabbing that claimed the life of a resident in Eight Mile Rock.
Police said it happened some time around 7.22pm on Friday. Two men were arguing at Andros Town, Eight Mile Rock, when one pulled out an object and stabbed the other, police said. The victim was taken by EMS personnel to the Rand Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
Another shooting death happened in the Pinewood Gardens subdivision in New Providence on Saturday. According to reports, shortly after 3pm, a man was sitting in the driveway of his home at Jacaranda Street when two men in a grey SUV approached and shot him, and then sped off. The victim was declared dead at the scene. Police said yesterday that they were searching for two men for questioning in connection with the death.
On Friday, Mr Christie said he is “distressed” by the country’s crime problems, which, he said, now require a more aggressive approach by the government and law enforcement.
At the time, Mr Christie said the new crime initiatives the government is mulling over might have an “impact on our own freedom to move about”.
He also pledged greater commitment on the part of the government to dedicate all of the necessary resources to get a handle on the scourge of violent activity in the Bahamas.
Mr Christie added that he has been in discussions with State National Security Minister Keith Bell regarding major strategies being put forward and also plans to meet with the heads of the country’s armed forces over crime.
Comments
digimagination 9 years, 1 month ago
Outside help needed. Period!
GrassRoot 9 years, 1 month ago
yep, he can just not get it right.
GrassRoot 9 years, 1 month ago
"He said as long as the country continues to be a tourist destination, there must be a heightened interest in security and new levels of commitment to meet the costs of security."
GOOD ONE!!!! I thought the PLP was all about "Bahamians first". So now we know, economically speaking, Bahamians are "Untermenschen" and tourists are superior human beings. I have to say, on that picture that was circulated recently of PGC, the Pinocchio nose was wrong. Everything else seems to be accurate.
justthefactsplease 9 years, 1 month ago
"He said as long as the country continues to be a tourist destination, there must be a heightened interest in security and new levels of commitment to meet the costs of security."
Who gives a flying f@#k about the tourists...improve the security for your citizens and the tourists will automatically benefit. Jacka&&!!!!
B_I_D___ 9 years, 1 month ago
So...impinging on freedom of movement...does that imply curfews? What ya going to do...24 hour curfews? A good portion of the murders lately have been in broad daylight. Today 11am...the other day was 3pm? A few more before that...
ohdrap4 9 years, 1 month ago
since the record has already been broken, no rush to come up with a plan.
until they come up with a plan;
NOBODY MOVES, NOBODY GETS HURT
shortpants 9 years, 1 month ago
State National Security Minister Keith Bell regarding major strategies is a no-no he is the cause of most of these problems stemming from years of underhand dealings ,we have with these young criminals .Payback is the mother of all criminal proceeds .I will not be subject to no bullshit these low lives implement ,because they had the answers to crime. House arrest the gang-bangers you'll claim you'll know where they are .The minute you call for curfew, our country will shut down and down the drain we go. These criminals are not terrorist .What a few want to belong young boys from broken homes , making the police look like school children getting bully by the rejects. Do they have the upper hand on our police . Well let me say time for the commissioner to get his hands what tied from his behind his back and do what you did to clean up Freeport ,even if you have to lock up the PM and he bunch of worthless cabinet .This country in a mess three years of free for all to do whatever they feel like doing .This all start from the top ..
lionfish 9 years, 1 month ago
Did he just realize we have a problem? So you are saying Mr. Prime Minister that we had to have a RECORD number of homicides before you felt necessary to come up with a "New Crime Strategy"?
realfreethinker 9 years, 1 month ago
Every few months there is a new crime strategy. I am not convinced this one will work because the same people are creating it.I am going to put on my sunglasses,my tourist shirt and touch up on my foreign accent so I can be mistaken for a tourist so that I can be included in the "new" crime plans
newcitizen 9 years, 1 month ago
Every few months they come up with the idea of coming up with a new strategy, then they hold a press conference and say how things are going to be great, then they do absolutely nothing.
All talk, no walk.
Honestman 9 years, 1 month ago
"He said as long as the country continues to be a tourist destination, there must be a heightened interest in security and new levels of commitment to meet the costs of security."
What a stupid statement. It implies that if we weren't a tourist destination then there would be no need for a heightened interest in security! So is he saying that if it weren't for the fact that we have to entertain tourists for our daily bread, 133 murders in one year would be nothing to get stressed over???
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
ya... thats pretty much what he's saying.... after all, it's the tourist who gats the money he's looking for...... not my youths from FoxHill
themessenger 9 years, 1 month ago
133 dead in ten months, including his own press secretary Latore Mackey but he claims Nassau is not a killing field. He must have just stumbled out of the turnip field.
realfreethinker 9 years, 1 month ago
I have always said we have an idiot for PM now this just add confirmation
shortpants 9 years, 1 month ago
He talk out of too much whole Mouth ,Ear, Ass
TalRussell 9 years, 1 month ago
Comrades no argument from me PM Christie talking fool. But he isn't the only occupant of the highest office to have talked fool. Who knows anything what's with the public persona their handlers and the media permits you to see of these two long-time friends but could it be traced back to their earlier days as law partners?
Here's the then PM Papa Hubert's crack at playing the fools role:
"You people need stop talking fool that the police should deal with serious criminals and not be fooling with people who break traffic laws, be throwing they's garbage in the road and how they's going to get fined. Same goes for rubbish falling off the back of trucks. And, let me put those cement trucks on notice. Stop spilling cement on our roads. This goes too for those people who like to mix cement on the road".
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
newcitizen 9 years, 1 month ago
Well Tal, he was right. This place looks like crap all the time. People have to realize that they can't just do what they want, from the small things all the way up to killing.
Franklyn 9 years, 1 month ago
The State of A Country is A Reflection of The Mind-set of Its Leadership.
The Needs of The Country And its People Has Excelled The Current Political Ideology. From 1967 - 2017 How Have We Progressed As a People? What Opportunities Have We Missed, Mistakes Made And How Do We Look Back at The Past 50 Years, And Move Forward To The Next 50 Years.
Can The Colonial Footing That Created The Old Bahamas Sustain a Future Bahamas? Fundamental Changes Are Needed For The Bahamas to Regain Its Once Held Position of Glory That Made Us All Hold Your Heads High and Proud To Be Called Bahamians?
Join the discussion
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BahDev5…
BaronInvest 9 years, 1 month ago
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
You missed the MOST IMPORTANT POINT -> don't be completely incompetent. I think this needs to be the main point of any crime fighting strategy round here......... If there ever is / will be one...............
proudloudandfnm 9 years, 1 month ago
Another promise of things to come?!?
Does this idiot actually think he has credibility????
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
He doesn't need any... his job is get up, talk smack, get paid, and ein no one round here can effs wid you.
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 1 month ago
Everybody in this country does the minimum level of effort to get paid. Stop in any police station and everyone is moving around trying to look busy. Ride around the streets and see how many police cars you see. Motor Cycle Cops died out with Bumpy Watkins. Not that Bumpy is dead but his ethic is long dead. YES - WE NEED A CONTINGENT OF U.K. Metropolitan Police who understand criminal minds. And then a prosecutors office that doesn't lose file when the persons charged is related to an important personage. And REVOKE Bail for any violent crime.
digimagination 9 years, 1 month ago
Team(s) of Metropolitan Police SCO 19 officers would very quickly stop these punk killers farting in church and getting away with it. And they don't run scared like the Bahamian Police do.
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
Is nuff fat officer too jhed, and i mean BIG
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
And when a bunch of white UK cops start arresting the real criminals.... you don't think people here will start labelling them racist? just a thought ...
John 9 years, 1 month ago
They have something on the computer (system restore) that if you pick up a virus on the computer or the settings are changed it allows you go back to a date before the change occurred and put the original settings on the computer. If there was a virus on the computer the damage the damage done may not be repaired and if you go back and access the computer that has the virus, your computer will be re-infected. So now the government must not only go back and see what has changed (and so much has) before the Bahamas became a crime infested, murder ridden country, New Providence especially. It must also look around at its neighbors and outside influences and stem or limit those factors that are contributing to its crime problem. If you look to the US, they have their challenges with crime and guns and to the south of US, Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominican Republic and yes, even Haiti, has more than enough crime of their own. But places like the Cayman Islands, Turks and Cacios and Cuba do not seem to be having the high level of crime, at least not violent crime, that we have here in The Bahamas. So what are those countries doing that is not being done in this country? In Cuba, for example, everyone knows that that government does not tolerate crime in the least. Law Breakers are quickly and severely dealt with and few, if any have the courage to challenge the decisions of government. In addition, the exposure of the average Cuban to the outside world is limited, even through cell phone, internet or tv. But more importantly, the family structure in these countries seem to be more intact in the Bahamas, in Cuba especially where there is not just the nucleus family but extensions of cousins, uncles, grand and even great, great grands. Just saying that while some immediate stop-gap measures are needed to stem crime, especially murder in this country, there is no magic button to fix it all. The standards of morality must be reestablished and a value system that has respect for law and order must be replaced. Those intent on breaking the law, especially where it results in the loss of life or serious injury to another must be dealt with swiftly and in a manner that leaves them with no desire to commit or without the capacity to do so. The appearance that 'crime does pay in the Bahamas' is having a strong influence on young people, males especially, and that perception must be changed. And the bible tells us that thieves and murders have come to kill and to destroy and they must be removed from society. If they are allowed to remain, not only will they continue to kill and destroy, but they will breed of their own kind and teach others to kill and destroy.
asiseeit 9 years, 1 month ago
Perry Christie is not believable in any way. This man lied about Crime (ready on day one to curtail it) VAT (we need vat to pay down our debt.) the Gambling referendum (I will respect the peoples vote) Corruption (I am not corrupt), what makes anyone think he is telling the truth now. Not all Bahamians are suckers like your supporters, ASSHOLE!
TalRussell 9 years, 1 month ago
Comrade Prime Minister Christie would have been better served had his speech writers penned:
"The spike in crime will never be allowed to represent a way of life for our law-abiding citizens and residents. Our nation's capital island city of Nassau is not a place where the government, nor its friendly and peace loving people will tolerate lawbreakers".
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 1 month ago
With all of the havoc and grief in the form of economic hardship and terrorizing crime that Christie has brought the Bahamian people you would think the people of this country would have by now marched en masse on parliament and picked up this delusional lunatic and thrown him out on the street where he belongs. But no, this has not happened and there is really only one good reason why it has not happened by now: MOST BAHAMIANS KNOW MINNIS IS MUCH MORE EVIL AND CORRUPT THAN CHRISTIE COULD EVER BE....AND FIVE MORE YEARS OF CHRISTIE IS PREFERRED TO EVEN ONE DAY OF MINNIS AS PM! It's simply a choice of the better of two evils come the next general election, and hands down Minnis wins the most evil award!
wearedone 9 years, 1 month ago
This guy is an idiot. No other explanation. Couple of weeks? You have had a couple of years and can't figure it out.
Emac 9 years, 1 month ago
Perry Gladstone, sits on his throne
While fooling the Bahamian masses.
Nothing truthful comes from his lips
Tho’ his words are as sweet as molasses.
Now Perry will do or say anything just to get your vote
But when he gets in power, he treats you like a goat.
Perry and his cronies are like modern day pirates
They wheel and deal and even steal from those who got them hired.
Now this whole deal with Bahamar, they think that they have won
But they have underestimated one Izmirlian.
Izzy did not know that this government was like sleaze
They trapped Izzy in a corner and slept with the Chinese.
Perry and his minions will go down in history
As tyrants who pushed relentlessly to make investors flee.
Perry and his inept crew love to play blame games
Like Nero, PG fiddles, as the country goes up in flames.
Now Nero Christie doesn’t know, the secret going ‘round
He thinks that people love him, but they see him as a clown.
Even his closest friends, will no longer defend
‘Cause they know come next election, Perry’s reign will end.
TalRussell 9 years, 1 month ago
Look at the positive side my Comrades.
banker 9 years, 1 month ago
Truly laugh out loud. There is no positive side. We are terminally screwed by a criminal moron leading this country. But for your sake, I have this for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQz…
Emac 9 years, 1 month ago
Tal, you insisted that that bloggers here are uncouth in their expressions, especially in regards to the good PM. Therefore, I have decided to just write poetry to portray my true feelings instead. Is that better?
banker 9 years, 1 month ago
How can you respect a criminal retard prime minister who utters foolishness every time he opens his mouth, and is incapable of seeing the truth of any matter in the country that he is leading to oblivion.
SP 9 years, 1 month ago
.... Too little too late - Christie is damed if he does, and double damed if he don't ! ....
Unless Christie's plan shows some immediate measurable success, it will very quickly be added to his long list of successive failures.
Christie finds himself exactly were he put himself. Between a rock and a legacy of failure!
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
Surely this new plan with join the rest of the old plans in actually increasing crime and promoting immoralities
digimagination 9 years, 1 month ago
Strategy? Let's move on from playing checkers to a serious game of chess and see what happens!
sheeprunner12 9 years ago
Perry will get up in the House tomorrow and make another senseless ramble communication about his "new crime initiatives" while the MONS (BJNottage) will sit there like a big ole dumbo and say nothing .............. they are so lost it is becoming a comedy show (except for the crime victims) ................... but Nassau is a "killing field" by world standards
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