The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Democratic National Alliance (DNA) has joined calls for the government to release a comprehensive crime plan in response to the latest travel advisory to people visiting the country.

DNA Leader Branville McCartney emphasised the critical importance for the Christie-led administration to outline the concrete steps to enhance safety of visitors. He also called on for greater transparency on Baha Mar and the Grand Lucayan Hotel in Freeport, stating that it was vital to the future of the tourism product.

As reported in The Tribune on Wednesday, in an updated travel advisory the Canadian government advised its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to the Bahamas due to high rates of crime, especially in Nassau.

"For more than four decades, tourism has been this country’s golden goose, attracting millions of tourists to our shores and in that time we have continued to rely heavily on the revenue generated from visitors as a driving force for our economy," Mr McCartney said.

"Sadly, alleged acts of violence and sexually assault against visitors to our shores threaten to destroy our tourism product altogether.

"This latest crime warning follows countless others issued by the US and UK governments in the past few years; however it appears that such warnings have fallen on deaf ears within the Christie administration.

"It is clear that in addition to having no clue about how to address the criminal element, this government is equally clueless about how to protect our tourism product."

Mr McCartney lamented the updated Canadian advisory as a sad indictment.

"Many Bahamians will recall that in the run up to the last election, the PLP, then in opposition, outlined countless plans and promises which they said would address crime and the fear of crime," he said.

"Project safe Bahamas and Urban Renewal 2.0 were touted as the only real solutions to the country’s crime problem. In the years since those declarations however, we have seen crime and the fear of crime grow exponentially. The failure of these initiatives is yet another glaring example of the Christie administration’s lack of focus and follow through on issues of national importance."

According to The Tribune's records the number of murders under the Progressive Liberal Party government has reached 510 in just over four years, exceeding the 490 plus murders they highlighted in the five years under the last Free National Movement administration in the 2012 election campaign.

Mr McCartney noted that the PLP has failed to demonstrate a plan for tourism despite promises made while in opposition. He criticised both the Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe for their silence over the sale of the Grand Lucayan, underscoring that the island's tourism market and resort employees were hanging in the balance.

Mr McCartney said: "In the absence of an actual plan for tourism, the country’s natural resources - the sun, sand and sea - coupled with beautiful spirit of the people working within the industry our tourism sector has managed to stay afloat, although just barely.

"We are no longer the only option for tourists, and with Cuba opening its borders our leaders must begin to think seriously about ways to make the travel experiences to the Bahamas the best in the world.

He said: "Considering our country’s very heavy reliance on tourism, we cannot afford for visitors to feel unsafe, nor have their experiences tainted by the scourge of crime."