Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin is calling on the government to address crime as a national emergency following the spree of shootings that occurred on Monday night.

In a statement yesterday, Mrs. Hanna-Martin said, “This epidemic of violence requires the government to go to another level; they must on an emergency basis collaborate with all relevant stakeholders in our country to develop a comprehensive plan that will yield results, both in the immediate short term and in the long term.

“And I now call on the government to do so as a matter of grave urgency. The Official Opposition stands ready to collaborate in this national emergency.”

The murder count has reached horrific numbers in the last four months as 40 persons have been murdered.

The total murder count for this year is 97, according to The Bahama Journal’s record.

The increase rate of killing and bloodshed combined along with an alarming increase in armed robberies, have accelerated levels of fear and created a sickening unease within communities.

Two fatalities in multiple incidents occurred Monday night in New Providence and such incidences are of grave concern to all right-thinking Bahamas, Mrs. Hanna-Martin said.

Last week the nation experienced a tragedy when an eight-month-old infant was murdered and three others murdered.

The rate of violence that is moving at such a quickened pace is unsustainable to the wellbeing of our country and according to Mrs. Hanna-Martin, “it is threatening our social and economic stability as a nation.”

“We are reminded of the trite irony of the attractive political ad of the now minister of national security where he guaranteed that under the FNM, Bahamians will feel safe in their homes.  Where is that smug guarantee now?” Mrs. Hanna-Martin said.

“This worrying dilemma of violence in our country is not the subject of some prideful political stance. It is both destructive and complex at the same time. It impinges on multiple factors, including the apparent ease of availability of guns, the severe economic pressures bearing down on many people, the substandard physical conditions people are forced to live in and the deprivation suffered by many of our children.”