Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said the government is ignoring all warning signs from foreign governments about the country’s crime problems.

His comments come after the US government issued a stern warning to its citizens about the many crime issues The Bahamas – in particular – New Providence has.

“Before it was the Canadian Government, today it’s the US Government that is issuing a travel warning to their citizens about The Bahamas,” Dr. Minnis said in a press statement.

“This is the second warning this year the U.S. has issued to American travellers. The root cause of all these problems is crime. Our people don’t need a travel warning from a foreign government to know their communities and neighbourhoods have been gripped by crime. The murder rate has hit historic levels these past four years. Sexual assaults are ripping apart lives. Yet to hear this PLP Government tell it, according to them everything is fine, and there is nothing ‘unusual’ regarding crime in our Commonwealth.”

The opposition leader said the Christie administration is more than out of touch.

“Out of touch doesn’t begin to describe their lack of leadership. It has become all too common for foreign governments to issue travel and crime warnings, while it has become commonplace for the prime minister and his PLP Government to ignore the reality on our streets. And their failed leadership is hurting families here and also threatening our tourism industry – the lifeblood of our economy,” Dr. Minnis said.

Last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning to Bahamians – particularly to young men – to “be sensible” when they are confronted by American police officials.

This came after two African Americans were gunned down by Caucasian police officers.

Videos of the horrific shootings circulated worldwide and put a spotlight on racial tensions in the US.

When the US sent its warning out Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said it was nothing unusual to it.

But Dr. Minnis disagrees.

“It is sad when Minister Mitchell describes these warnings as ‘nothing particularly unusual’. It’s frightening to the people when this PLP Government dismisses the continued warning signs. And it’s demoralizing to the country as other countries see the clear and present danger, yet their own government turns a blind eye even as tourists look to go elsewhere where they consider it to be safer,” he said.

“It shouldn’t take foreign government warnings for the prime minister and the PLP to do their job and present and start executing a concrete plan to wipe out the crime wave infecting our communities.”

During its campaign, the PLP pointed out that there were 490 murders under the Free National Movement government.

In its fourth anniversary, there have been more than 500 murders.

“Four years ago they promised to root out crime, but it has simply gotten worse,” Dr. Minnis said.

“Four years ago they promised to reinvigorate our tourism industry but our tourism industry is spiralling downward. These are issues of life and death – both to our people suffering through staggering crime and then the impact the crime epidemic has on our economy.

“It is time for the prime minister and the PLP government to end their empty rhetoric and broken promises and stand up for the Bahamian people. The Bahamian people deserve leadership that will take action and fight everyday for them and stop the endless stream of crime.   The FNM will provide the leadership that the Bahamian people deserve and will stand side by side with them as we fight to root out crime in our country and make our communities safe for everyone.”