The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner yesterday blasted Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin over her response to the United States Embassy in Nassau’s ban on its employees using Jet Ski rentals in the capital saying it lacked “compassion” toward the victims of the alleged sex crimes.

The former FNM deputy leader further questioned why the government had not taken precautions to safeguard Bahamians and visitors alike ahead of what she described as the “strongest worded” warning against The Bahamas by any other country that she had ever seen.

Days after an American woman was allegedly raped by a man who was riding a Jet Ski at Cabbage Beach, embassy officials in Nassau said on Tuesday that it had “prohibited” its employees from using Jet Ski rentals in the capital saying the industry is “minimally regulated”.

The embassy also advised American citizens not to patronise Jet Ski operators in Nassau as it also warned US citizens living in or travelling to The Bahamas to “be aware of their surroundings and remain on heightened alert to avoid being victims of crime”.

“I think we have reached a very low point where I have never seen such a strongly worded warning from any country regarding crime. It appears that we are in a war zone in this town,” Mrs Butler-Turner told The Tribune.

“I was really taken aback by the fact that there was no compassion toward the victims of this alleged crime in that statement sent out by the minister of transport and aviation. The fact of the matter is that we had a heinous crime committed here and there are repercussions that can be so damaging.

“We now have this warning not just to visitors but to those working at the embassy. No matter how we want to look at it, the Americans are taking it very seriously that many of their citizens are falling prey to crimes in The Bahamas.”

She added: “As the minister, I understand her need to clarify that this man was not a part of the Jet Ski operators industry and that operators might be more responsible but the bigger picture is the crime and that there was no empathy in what she had to say.”

Meanwhile, Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney blasted successive governments for leaving the water sports industry unregulated for decades. He said this sector of the country’s tourism industry now threatens to destroy a sector that the Bahamas thrives on.

He went on to also criticise Mrs Hanna-Martin’s statement on Tuesday, saying it offered no real comfort or a plan of action on the way forward as it relates to clamping down on the industry.

He said: “In years past, fatal accidents involving tourists on water vessels drew the ire of the international community and prompted calls both locally and abroad for the industry to be better regulated, and safety laws enforced. According to recent reports however, tourists – particularly women – face a new level of danger, this time from sexual predators.

“Just this week, the US Embassy issued its latest security warning for its citizens visiting the Bahamas. In it the warning lists five separate instances of alleged sexual assault on the part of Jet Ski operators operating on Cabbage Beach as well as Cable Beach. Compelled by the frequency of the alleged attacks the embassy has forbidden its personnel from patronizing those entities and has encouraged all its citizens to follow suit.

“Under no circumstances should the targeting of any woman be condoned, or ignored. Sadly, having failed to deliver on its promise of a gender equality (referendum) more than a decade in the making, is it any wonder that this Christie led administration has continued to ignore such warnings to the detriment of our tourism product?”

He added: “The level of inaction displayed by successive government administrations on this issue is a scathing indictment of the country’s leaders who have ignored, and thereby allowed a potentially dangerous decision to develop.”

The former Bamboo Town MP said now more than ever The Bahamas’ water sports industry is in need of real and effective regulation.

He said should the DNA be elected to office, the party has a plan to establish a regulatory body that would not only oversee the safe use of various watercraft, but would also be responsible for issuing licenses to operators and ensuring that all member operators meet and keep a set of pre-established industry standards.