The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper said the country must do all it can to get control of the crime situation because it’s not only bad for The Bahamas but also its tourism product.

“Any crime in The Bahamas is bad for The Bahamas. It’s bad for tourism and we must do all we can as Bahamians to manage this issue,” the deputy prime minister said before attending yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

“If we see something, we say something and, of course, we find a way to settle our grievances and differences in a harmonious manner.”

He was responding to calls from tourism leaders for more to be done to crack down on the country’s escalating crime rate.

On Friday, Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s president, warned that rising crime, if “left unabated,” threatened to negatively affect our nation’s leading industry and society.

Noting that tourism is the leading source of income for The Bahamas, Mr Cooper acknowledged visitor safety as a critical concern.

He also said it was mind boggling that anyone would seek to kill or hurt “the goose that lays the golden eggs” and further called such acts a “stupid thing to do.”

“A crime against Bahamians is horrific. A crime against the tourists is simply a stupid thing to do,” he said. “The effect (of) what we would be doing is biting the hands that feed us. I said during the budget debate that 60 cents out every dollar that we get comes from tourism.

“We are reliant on tourism for our very way of life. We have maintained a high quality in standard of living and, therefore, it boggles the mind that anyone would seek to kill the goose or hurt the goose that lays the golden eggs.

“So, I’m calling on Bahamians everywhere to assist the police and assist the Ministry of National Security in terms of managing and curtailing and the reporting of criminal elements in our community.”

Last Wednesday, the US State Department updated its travel advisory for The Bahamas to include new health information.

The advisory maintains its level number two security alert for Americans in The Bahamas, which advises residents to exercise increased caution due to crime fueled by gang warfare and retaliatory killings.

The US advisory also reiterates concerns about the unregulated water sports industry in The Bahamas.

Despite these continued travel warnings, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said on Monday he doesn’t believe the country’s crime rate will affect the nation’s tourism product.

For his part, Mr Cooper said he was pleased that the overall US travel advisory for The Bahamas remained the same as it has for the past several months.

“I am satisfied though that in relation to the travel advisory itself, that it does not escalate the alarm so to speak for travellers to The Bahamas,” he said.

“I would say one more thing. The tourism product in The Bahamas promotes 16 island destinations within one destination in The Bahamas so notwithstanding that this level two has been in place for quite some time and it hasn’t been escalated they make reference only to New Providence and (Grand Bahama).”

“We have 14 other destinations and had they been rated differently, I would imagine that all of the others would be level one or not even rated at all so the fact of the matter is that there are criminal elements in pockets in our community, but we have 16 island destinations and this is what we send to the world as the message for what we have to offer.”

The Bahamas has recorded 107 murders so far for the year, according to this newspaper’s records.

However, if current crime trends continue, the country will surpass last year’s homicide count which stood at 119.