Free National Movement leader Dr. Hubert Minnis yesterday said National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage’s comments regarding crime in the country shows that numbers can lie.
“The tragic irony is not lost on the Bahamian people that as Minister Nottage stood on the house floor proclaiming the crime rate is down, two more murders took place – one of which happened only a kilometer away from where he stood,” Dr. Minnis said.
The opposition leader says it is clear that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) views Bahamian people as only numbers but to the FNM they are more than that.
“We at the FNM believe our people are more than numbers. Numbers can lie, as Minister Nottage’s rosy outlook proves. The PLP should try to convince the mother who lost her son to murder or the young lady that was sexually assaulted on her way home from work that things are getting better,” Dr. Minnis said.
“To the PLP those people are numbers, to the FNM they are tragic victims of a leaderless government that spends more time on rosy PR than on truly solving problems. We have a message for this government. Crime is literally killing our communities. We at the FNM believe every Bahamian life matters and we will fight and work every day to ensure our children, our mothers, our fathers don’t continue to become tragic statistics.”
It was on Tuesday during his contribution that Dr. Nottage said overall in the country crime was down by 29 percent.
Dr. Nottage’s comments did receive some feedback from the spiritual sector.
Pastor Emeritus of New Covenant Baptist Church Bishop Simeon Hall, while commending the National Security Minister and the police in their fight against crime says although records show that crime is down the statistics mean nothing to victims of crime and their families.
He said that even good progressive statistics do not move or deter criminals and also pointed out like Dr. Minnis did that while reading his speech two murders were committed.
Bishop Hall calls Dr. Nottage to lead the charge in extracting the small group of offenders from society he previously spoke of and laments that until fear is placed in the hearts and minds of repeat offenders, impressive statistics will not cut it.
