The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I have said it before and I will say it again. The Royal Bahamas Police Force, under the stellar command of Commissioner Anthony Ferguson, ably assisted by the high command, inclusive of Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean and the outstanding Assistant Commissioners of Police, Clayton Fernander and Ken Strachan, et al, especially Chief Supt B K Bonamy, are doing a wonderful job in fighting and detecting crime.

The recent alleged abduction of an eight year old girl from her home in the dead of night is the tipping point. Bahamians must now stand up and demand that the state affords more robust efforts to protect our children. No one wishes to speculate the motive behind this alleged abduction, but when couples with non-intentional shooting deaths of minors, caught in the cross fire between alleged criminals, enough is enough. We have to save the children of this nation from criminal madness and mayhem. The buck has been passed around for too long.

The late Bernard Nottage, a former Minister of National Security and his Minister of State for that portfolio, once waxed eloquently for the necessity of a Sexual Convicted List....the so-called Marco’s Law, when they held sway. It must be borne in mind that young Marco has long been dead and gone and successive politicians, most of them putative fathers, have done next to nothing to advance this concept. In the meantime, countless numbers of our minor and younger children are being killed; sexually abused and mentally destroyed. Yet, our erstwhile politicians, across the political divide, continue to dither and play crazy with semantics and inordinate delays in bringing this proposed Bill into law.

The current administration has an opportunity to finally get this show on the road, for real the nation can ill afford another one of our little darlings to be done in while politicians pay lip service. The police investigations in this matter, no doubt, will play out to the conclusion and appropriate charges laid. Without pre-empting what the judicial system will do in such a case, it is a given that no bail should be granted and that the charged person should be placed in Cell Block B.

I have withdrawn my political support from Mr Dames, who is the useless MP, in my view, for Mount Moriah where my family and I reside. He is, no doubt, a good human being, but he seems to be on cruise control. Mind you, I do believe that he is capable of more, if he focuses more on his portfolio and spending less time being buttered up by all and sundry. His public outburst towards his so-called FNM colleague, McAlpine, ‘The Rejected One’, sends a terrible message to young Bahamian males who are, themselves badly conflicted with conflict resolution issues. “Don’t butter me up...?” Parliamentary language?

We urgently need to reform our criminal justice system as it relates to youthful offenders. To incarcerate a youngster of 18 years or so into the general prison population is a guaranteed breeding ground for vicious and dangerous hardened criminals. To add insult to injury, it is alleged that over 65% of the male inmates are either being buggered or are doing the buggering. It is not likely that condoms are being used, generally speaking.

The results? A bunch of sexual dysfunctional male ex-offenders who find it difficult to start and maintain a stable intimate relationship with his/her peers. We then see the emergence of sexual predators who will seek out children and senior citizens. It would appear that we have some dead lazy or dead dumb lawyers within the Office of the Attorney General. I beg them to please properly research and draft a Bill that would reflect the mission statement of Marco’s Law. To God then, in all things, Who said, plainly: “Suffer the little children to come unto me” in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr

Nassau,

March 6, 2019.