Prime Minister Perry Christie has declared that the country is fighting a crime war.

With 11 murders recorded in April alone and the country now at 40 for the year, according to Journal records, the prime minister told reporters Thursday that there has to be a new strategy put in place to wipe out this deadly scourge.

“I have said to the police that I don’t need to tell you that you are in a war,” he said. “And that however difficult it appears, we cannot lose the war.”

For weeks the daily headlines blared the gruesome news, nearly daily police were called to investigate additional murders.

As many Bahamians grappled to come to grips with the direction the country is seemingly headed, government and police officials have been hard at work trying to arrest the problem.

After a month of pure carnage on the streets the prime minister yesterday broke his silence on the crime war The Bahamas is now forced to fight.

Most vexing about this issue for him though, is the fact that most of the murders and crimes committed, happen in his and the national security minister’s constituencies, Centreville and Bains Town and Grants Town, respectively.

“It’s a war that has a hostile arena with intelligence and actions that would recognise that people have to work, that people must have options, that the government must be much more proactive in being able to put its finger on the pulse to measure the temperature and know what possible solutions we could apply.”

The prime minister said there is no doubt that this war is a nationwide one and takes a holistic approach if the country is to be successful.

He added that this war includes the church, the government and private citizens.

But as leaders of the country, Prime Minister Christie said his government is on the frontlines of that fight and are aware of challenges that need to be handled immediately.

“We are committed to providing the resources, we believe there is a strategy that will work,” Prime Minister Christie added.

“We have to be satisfied that there be clear intention on the part of those who carry out the strategy to ensure that it is effectively done.”

But that is just one aspect of it all.

The prime minister said the crime situation has gotten so out of control that it is now challenging traditional policing.

“If you kill someone over a plate of food or if you’re riding in a car with your friend and you get vex and argue and shoot your friend, the unpredictability of such events is so extraordinary and enormous in their implications as to how you police that kind of behaviour.

“You have to resort to talking to people and explaining to them how this works.”

Mr. Christie said the government is in the process of mapping out a way forward and will continue to examine all of the strategies recommend to them that go into effectively dealing with this critical situation.