OSWALD BROWN WRITES
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 3, 2019 — A neighbor sent the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory on The Bahamas to my Facebook inbox and asked if I had seen it. “What’s going on in The Bahamas?” she pointedly asked. “This is really not good for your country.”
Not only had I seen that particular version of the warning – given the fact that it was a news item on the website of WJLA-TV, the local ABC channel in Washington, D.C., — but the disastrous threat to The Bahamas’ economic lifeline had been widely circulated by various other news media seemingly throughout the United States.
It was extremely painful for me to read comments such as this: “I can say first hand that this advisory should be taken seriously! During a jet ski excursion on the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas this summer one of the jet ski operators tried to coerce my 14-year-old daughter to leave with him while she was out on the water with him. Of course, she was frightened because this was a grown man.”
That mother went on to explain that her daughter “did the right thing by staying calm, but as soon as they pulled back up on the beach she immediately informed us about what had happened,” then the mother added: “Of course I went off and they tried to dumb it down and say that the operator would be sent home for the day. That wasn’t enough for me, I asked for the police to be called. Ironically, the police was there in a booth watching the whole thing play out. They also attempted to minimize the situation. In that very moment it hit me that they were working together, and this was the norm…”
Potential visitors to The Bahamas who read those comments certainly would think twice about choosing The Bahamas as their vacation destination if they seriously believed that “the police was there in a booth watching the whole thing play out” and “also attempted to minimize the situation,” not to mention her conclusion that “they were working together and this was the norm…”
There is no doubt in my mind that this woman’s version of what transpired was an exaggeration of what actually occurred, but the questionable behavior of jet-ski operators has been a matter of serious concern for quite some time and it is long past time that some very strict rules and regulations be put in place and vigorously enforced to prevent them from doing incalculable damage to the good name of The Bahamas.
But an even more serious aspect of the State Department travel advisory are claims that “crimes such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults are common, even during the day in areas frequented by tourists,” specifically noting that the “majority of the crimes are taking place on New Providence and Grand Bahama island.”
Coming as it did during the Spring Break season, with New Providence and Grand Bahama being two popular Spring Break destinations, there is no doubt that the State Department warning triggered a great deal of consternation among American parents with children in college who may have already chosen or planning to choose The Bahamas to get some respite from the bitter-cold winters of northern America.
Obviously, it was good to read that Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson said the police are doing all that they can to ensure that all visitors and Bahamians are safe in The Bahamas, according to an article in the Nassau Guardian.
“We are very aware of what is being said,” the commissioner said. “We are doing everything that we can in order to make the entire Commonwealth of The Bahamas safe for every single Bahamian [and] every single person who would visit our shores, not just one set of people. I think if we start to do a good job with ourselves then we can do a good job with other people.”
Commissioner Ferguson also noted that overall crime in The Bahamas decreased by eight percent in 2018 compared to 2017. Be that as it may, Commissioner Ferguson must strictly maintain and enforce a Zero Tolerance Policy regarding the crimes specifically mentioned in the State Department Advisory.
Those Menaces to Society who persist in committing crimes that could eventually destroy tourism, the main economic pillar of The Bahamas’ economy, should know that they will pay for their destructive behavior by any means necessary, even if it includes denying them certain civil liberties.
This is in essence what Jamaica did for several months last year. When crime spiraled out of control in some popular tourists’ destinations, Jamaica declared a State of Emergency and announced “a zero tolerance approach to crime in the parish of St. James, where Montego Bay is located, and nearby communities,” according to a news report at the time. The State of Emergency included a strictly enforced curfew in some areas.
As part of his crime-fighting strategy, Commissioner Ferguson should immediately move to impose a curfew in certain areas of Over-the-Hill where criminal activities are prevalent and increase police presence in those areas frequented by tourists. Persons who break the curfew and cannot provide a good reason for doing so should be arrested and released the following morning. The bottom line is that it should not be “business as usual” for criminally inclined persons in The Bahamas.
Fortunately, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar and his management and promotional teams at the Ministry of Tourism have done such an excellent job marketing The Bahamas as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations that their success has resulted in a wellspring of good publicity that has to some degree offset the bad publicity generated by the State Department travel warning.
To be sure, in the court of public opinion, “It’s Better In The Bahamas,” is more than just an advertising slogan, and the recently launched Lenny Kravitz “The Islands of the Bahamas Fly Away” advertisement has reinforced this viewpoint internationally.
This being the case, Commissioner of Police Ferguson has more than sufficient incentive to “play hard ball” with the criminal elements in our society who are hellbent on destroying this country’s good name and in the process our economic lifeline. Declaring a State of Emergency should certainly be given serious consideration.
