...we are much exercised by what is not happening for the masses as the classes go from strength to strength

Beyond Pious Bleating
The Bahama Journal

As one crime-ridden day flows into another, some thoughtful Bahamians have begun a conversation among themselves concerning some of their more extreme conclusions about what is actually happening in our beloved land.

What we are hearing from some of these sources is that, crime –as it is currently being expressed might well have within it a kernel that suggests the early rise of a virulent form of class-driven warfare, assault and insult to person and property in today’s parlous economic times.

Here we are certain that while these conversations are going on, there are Bahamians who would out of hand deny any such class-based set of developments; here we do suspect that they do so to their peril and to that of the wider Bahamian society.

Our thoughts are turned in this direction as we reflect on some of the words and thoughts of the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham. The Prime Minister suggests that, "In a 21st Century Bahamas, if we are to become all that we might be we must aspire to transcend historic prejudices and break loose from the stereotypical bounds of the politics of race and class division that belongs to a bygone era."

He went on to suggest "That is behind us and we must leave it so that we can achieve full unity in our land with government dedicated to serving all Bahamians, black and white, middle class, rich and poor, young and old, able and disabled."

No right-thinking Bahamian would dare quibble with anything the prime minister says concerning this aspiration for the coming of that day when discrimination is no more in The Bahamas.

That will be a great day not only for The Bahamas, but for human beings everywhere. That is because were we to achieve such a feat, our example could provide a template for people all over the world.

The truth of the matter is that race does matter in The Bahamas. Class does matter in The Bahamas. Ethnicity does matter in The Bahamas. Gender and sexual orientation do matter in The Bahamas and so does disability. And for sure, so does poverty and wealth living cheek to jowl in the same society.

It matters little what people say about their aspiration to create this or that kind of Bahamas. What matters is what they do about it.

Experience elsewhere would seem to suggest that before a problem can be resolved, it must first be recognized as a problem; that being a necessary prerequisite to action, if we - as a people – wanted to be honest about any of these issues that do matter, we would do something about it.

Take for example, the manner in which we deal with people who are so-called ‘disabled’. We further hobble them when we decide that no changes need be made to processes like voter registration that would allow these people their rights to privacy in the sanctity of the booth.

Whoever never thought that in this day and age that voter registration and voting should not be made user-friendly for people, who are blind, crippled or otherwise challenged?

Or for that matter, whoever decreed that Bahamians born of Haitian parents should be forever stigmatized because of the fact that they are Haitians? What ignorance! What rot! What utter nonsense!

Closer to home from a racial point of view, how is it that so-called White people around the world have already acknowledged that slavery was a crime against humanity, while so few in The Bahamas even want to broach the issue.

Here we take little or no note of some of that literary stuff by this or that ‘artiste’ out to make a name by chatting about the issues at hand.

This and other such issues should be encouraged among so very many so-called ordinary people.

Like the late, great and seriously under-estimated Milo Boughton Butler, we are much exercised by what is not happening for the masses as the classes go from strength to strength.

That is why we counsel and caution each and every social observer who would dare think that they could understand a modern Bahamas without taking into consideration the raw reality that class does matter; that race does matter; and that gender and disability are also realities that matter.

The truth is that none of this understanding comes easily. And for sure, this is clearly the urgency in the current moment when things are so very bad for all Bahamians.

And so, we would suggest that, in the ultimate analysis, then, real bridges have to be built between where we are, who we truly are and what we are prepared to do with and on behalf of whom.

Otherwise, brave words about what we wish amount to little more than windy rhetoric and a most pious bleating about social justice.

November 18th, 2010

The Bahama Journal

...half of all deaths in The Bahamas are attributed to diseases that are caused by poor lifestyle choices

Historical Perspective on Bahamian Healthcare
by Larry Smith
bahamapundit

Experts say that to address the skyrocketing costs of modern medicine, we have to rely more on preventive and primary care rather than costly hospital treatment.

According to Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, about two thirds of public spending on healthcare goes to treat diseases that are caused by poor lifestyle choices. And half of all deaths in the Bahamas are attributed to these same illnesses.

For example, there are tens of thousands of diabetics in the Bahamas, and complications from the disease include kidney failure, heart disease and blindness. It costs taxpayers $60,000 a year to treat each of the more than 200 people with kidney failure who are currently undergoing dialysis at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

Bahamians spend about half a billion dollars on public and private healthcare today (some 7 per cent of GDP). This represents an incredible transformation from the early years of the 20th century, and it is interesting to take a historical view of this subject.

Back then, there were only three doctors outside of Nassau - at Inagua, Harbour Island and Green Turtle Cay - to serve 42,000 people living in the widely scattered out islands. According to Dr Harold Munnings in his 2005 history of the Princess Margaret Hospital, out islanders "obtained what care they could from untrained midwives, clergymen and herbalists".

The PMH began life as a poorhouse in 1809 and entered the 20th century as a place of last resort for those in need of medical care. According to a 1905 account It had four sections - for the sick, indigent, lepers and insane. Treatment was free, but patients were referred to as "inmates", and those who could afford it arranged for medical care at home - quite the opposite to current practice.

In 1925 several American visitors contracted typhoid fever in Nassau - a killer disease transmitted by dirty food and water, so the British authorities dispatched a senior public health expert to investigate.

He deplored the filth of heavily populated communities not included in the city's new water-works and sewerage system, then under construction. He also noted the prevalence of tuberculosis, venereal disease, gastroenteritis and tetanus, and strongly criticised public indifference to Nassau's dreadful sanitary and housing conditions.

Unfortunately, these conditions did not begin to change until the middle of the century, when a British official was still able to write that "Behind Nassau's picturesque old-world streets and the princely mansions along the East and West shores are slums as bad as any West Indian Colony, and far worse than anything Bermuda can show."

In 1953, two thirds of the homes on New Providence still had no running water. And preventable diseases were due mostly to overcrowding, ignorance, poor nutrition, and lack of public hygiene.

An unpublished medical memoir written by Dr Malcolm Hale about a year before his death in 2003 at the age of 77 offers a useful perspective on this period of modern history. Hale arrived in Nassau in 1954 on a three-year contract as a medical officer for the new Bahamas General Hospital (which was renamed after a visit by Princess Margaret in 1955), and stayed on in private practice.

"I arrived by boat from England on December 16," he recalled. "We anchored outside the bar and a tender came out to carry us in. On it was a reporter from the Guardian to interview the new doctor, and a photographer to take his picture...the effort hinted at the state of medical needs of the community."

He identified the new Emerald Beach Hotel on Cable Beach, the redeveloped Bahamas General Hospital and the first City Market food store as emblems of changing times for Bahamians. They represented a dramatic break with the economy of the past, he said, and were a sign that prosperity was beginning to trickle into the general population.

Shortly after his arrival Dr Hale was put in charge of the TB and geriatric wards at the Prospect Hospital, as well as the Lazaretto off Carmichael Road, which was no more than a narrow dirt track. This was in addition to his out-patient and casualty duties, as well as occasional out island clinics.

Prospect Hospital was a collection of wooden buildings on Prospect Ridge built for the American and British air forces who trained in the Bahamas during the Second World War. Like Windsor airfield it was handed over to the Bahamian government in 1945.

"The general health of the population was poor," Dr Hale recalled. "Tuberculosis was rife; new cases were discovered almost daily, many from out island settlements, some of which like Rolleville (Exuma) and Moores Island (Abaco), were heavily infected. Fortunately, my entry to the medical profession coincided with the discovery and availability of a whole range of effective medications...Now patients came to be cured, not to die."

He described the geriatric wards as pathological museums. "Especially impressive were cases of elephantiasis and the whole spectrum of tertiary syphilis. The leprosarium was a collection of small wooden cottages (with) about 20 patients when I took over, most in advanced stages of disfigurement, especially of hands and face.

"The few new cases I admitted were diagnosed in the early stages and so far as I know all were cured and returned undisfigured to society. The old cases stayed at the Lazaretto and died off over a period of several years. Most of the cases were white."

In the out-patient clinics, Dr Hale treated many malnourished children with intestines bloated with Ascaris worms. Vermicide was probably the most heavily prescribed drug at the time, and he credited it with making the greatest single contribution (except for penicillin) to the health of the community.

Dysentery was also common, as were sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. But the popular remedy for VD at the time, Dr Hale noted, was to have sex with female infants. "It took a major educational effort by the profession to disabuse the population of this idea, and I wonder today if we fully succeeded."

Although HIV-AIDS was unknown at the time, Hale suspected that "the occasional cases of multipathology which responded to no treatment, and which were unsolved diagnostic puzzles, and invariably fatal, may have been AIDS. Interestingly, as AIDS increased, the other STD’s declined and have become rare."

Epidemics of whooping cough were devastating, Hale said. "I remember Kenneth Eardley, an older private physician, telling me he had signed two or three hundred death certificates due to this illness in one outbreak just a few years previously. And how many times have I heard older women say 'I born 13 but I bring up three'?"

In the 1950s there was relatively little obesity and much less diabetes than now, Dr Hale reported. But one serious health condition has remained constant. High blood pressure was, and is, a common problem amongst Bahamians of all ages, together with its deadly complications of stroke and heart disease.

in fact, while he was a resident at the PMH, Dr Hale and others contributed data to a US hypertension study. In their 1958 report, the American researchers noted that:

"Almost everyone on the Islands has a relative that has 'the high blood,' died of hypertension, or has had a stroke...An analysis of the water supply in Nassau and several of the outer island groups revealed that the well water was significantly high in sodium content."

The study reported salt levels of less than a milligram per millilitre in the drinking water of major US cities, whereas drinking water at the PMH contained 129 milligrams and on Eleuthera 210 milligrams. This meant that Bahamians were ingesting up to 10 grams of salt per day from water alone. And that was in addition to the sodium found naturally in foods, or added in cooking. Nor did it account for the fact that salt pork was a common ingredient in most dishes at the time.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends an intake of less than 2.5 grams of salt per day for the general population - that's about a teaspoon - and even less for high-risk individuals. I can testify from personal experience that this guideline is as difficult to achieve in today's fast food-dominated diet as it was back in the 1950s when we all drank salt water.

Hale was one of a growing band of doctors who participated in the vast expansion of medical skills and services in the Bahamas over the past half century. His assessment of how things had changed over that time?

"Today the general health of the population is excellent," he wrote in 2002. "except for self-inflicted conditions, principally obesity (and its complications), HIV-AIDS, and gunshot wounds."

In fact, the current level of violent crime is straining our healthcare system. There were 51 cases of knife and gun attacks treated by the PMH in October alone, and ER doctors treated more than 160 other assault cases, as well as 94 traffic accident victims last month.

Apart from these walking wounded, most of the patients who crowd the PMH emergency room don't need to be there - they just don't know any better. Preventive medicine and affordable drugs are important, but public education to improve compliance or avoid problems in the first place is just as critical.

There is a growing awareness in government that we will never have enough money to solve our healthcare challenges using costly tertiary care approaches. Cancer, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and stroke, heart attack and kidney failure top the list of modern medical problems in the Bahama - and they all are preventable with education, diet and drugs.

For the time being plans have been shelved for a new $600 million public hospital, which surveyors were staking out only months ago on acres of prime forested land at Prospect Ridge. The enormous investment that would be required to build a new hospital has led successive governments to content themselves with redeveloping the PMH at its present site.

"I would love to work in a new, state-of-the-art hospital," Dr Munnings told me recently, "but a properly funded programme to prevent chronic disease has to be the priority."

November 17, 2010

bahamapundit

Baha Mar project is good for The Bahamas

Forward with Baha Mar
The Bahama Journal Editorial



By way of this commentary, we reiterate a point previously made to the effect that this Baha Mar project is good for the Bahamas and that as such, its approval should be put on the fast track.

We base our conclusion in our conviction that –as designed- this project promises to double the marketing this country now enjoys.

This in turn, promises any number of ancillary benefits.

As Stephen Wrinkle, Bahamas Contractors Association underscores: "Remember what an impact we had when they built phase three of Atlantis. What they’re doing with Baha Mar is equal to all of the phases they did at Atlantis and they’re doing it one phase. This is a big deal…"

As regards the question concerning labor and its role in the realization of the Baha Mar project, Mr. Wrinkle said they were sorely needed.

Here Wrinkle notes that, “…They are calling for 8,000 workers out there; 4,000 workers have got to be found; we can’t provide 4,000 workers. We’d be hard pressed to provide half of that. On these big international projects it’s just a fact of life. We’ve sat at the table; the BCA has tried to represent the interests of Bahamian contractors and workers and we’ve had some success with Baha Mar; they’ve been receptive."

For our part, then, we are very optimistic concerning the goods that come packaged in with this initiative. And so today, we can go no further except to note that, Baha Mar is apparently well on its way to becoming a done deal; this because the current administration has apparently been satisfied with the outcome of prime minister Ingraham’s talks in Beijing on the matter in hand.

This is eminently good news for the Bahamian people.

We wish all well who worked so long and so hard to bring this matter to this state of high resolution. Parenthetically so to speak, this venture yet owes a debt of gratitude not only to the current administration; but also to its predecessor.

And so today we note that, time, reason and commonsense having been congealed into something akin to real understanding are apparently working their magic in a Bahamas where petulance, spite and nit-picking sometimes wreak havoc.

And for sure, as we have consistently lamented, these are surely some of the hardest days experienced by most Bahamians alive in what some of them might deem a ‘modern’ Bahamas.

It is just as true that, some of these Bahamians –having grown accustomed to relatively prosperous times – are beside themselves in distress.

While these hard times might well persist for an indefinite length of time, there is reason for some optimism as certain storm clouds recede; with some of these once shadowing the Baha Mar project with a veil of uncertainty.

Mercifully, things seem to be going in the right direction as the government now signals its intention to move forward with this singularly important venture.

Yet again, we reiterate that, we would very much like both the governing party and its Opposition to know that each has done itself a world of good by working together so as to bring about an optimal resolution as regards this Chinese funded initiative.

Incidentally, all of these groups and interests support the Baha Mar project and recognize the immediate and real benefits they will gain from its going forward.

Here we are also quite certain that, in the fullness of time, both parties would come to the conclusion that, each was guilty of making a mountain of a mole-hill as regards the Chinese request for thousands of expatriate workers who would assist in constructing the resort complex.

In this regard, we advise all and sundry that, this matter is not the biggest in the world and that, we all stand to gain tremendously once the Baha Mar project is off and running.

As we have previously suggested and explained, “…Let there be no mistake about the matter at hand – the Baha Mar project is a very big deal; it is not only a big deal to the investors who are putting their money on the line; but for sure, it is a huge deal for both the government and the people of The Bahamas.”

And we also went on to explain, “…“And here, let there be no mistake about another aspect of the matter involving this project – this project brings with it a large chance that – once completed – tens of thousands of Bahamians will benefit, either directly or indirectly…”

This remains our view.

November 17, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

...it appears that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has very little to say about Grand Bahama

Is Grand Bahama being ignored by PM?
thenassauguardian editorial


They say looks can be deceiving, and from all indications it appears that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has very little to say about Grand Bahama.

That was made clear during the Prime Minister’s national press conference, which was held in Nassau on Sunday. The intent was to first brief the press on his recent trip to China and what came out of the visit, in terms of how it could benefit The Bahamas.

The press conference was also to answer any questions the media may have concerning issues related to The Bahamas. With that in mind members of the media who do not live in Nassau were invited to call in and ask questions about their respective islands.

It was interesting to listen to the prime minister talk on and on about Baha Mar, about road works in Nassau, about the straw market, even about his plan to run for office again in the next general election. The prime minister spoke in length about activities and development plans in Exuma.

However, when questions about Grand Bahama came up, the prime minister was very short and concise in his answers. In reply to questions about Hutchison Whampoa, Royal Oasis, and the proposed new cruise port, the prime minister had very little information to offer.

He said that he had to have a meeting with all of the people concerned in all of those areas, and then get back to the press with answers.

While one can respect the fact that the prime minister was willing to admit he didn’t know and had to seek out the information, it proved the point that when it comes to Grand Bahama, the prime minister either knew very little about what is going on, or chose not to say publicly what he knows of what is taking place in Grand Bahama.

With six representatives, three of whom are Cabinet ministers from Grand Bahama, the prime minister should have more insight into what is really taking place in Grand Bahama.

Besides that, the people of Grand Bahama deserve more than just a one-sentence answer to issues that they face and are concerned about.

Perhaps the prime minister is so well acquainted with Grand Bahamians’ laid-back and lackadaisical attitude, that he may feel it not necessary to go into any details.

But the truth is, Grand Bahamians would like to know when things are going to turnaround in their economy; they would like to know what will be done with the Royal Oasis Hotel that has been sitting there for years; they would like to know when and how many more visitors can be enticed to come to Grand Bahama; they would like to know what’s going on with Ginn and they would certainly like to know the status of the proposed sale of the Port Authority.

Yes, Grand Bahamians would like some answers to questions that have been plaguing them for years.

Instead, during a national press conference, which was a prime opportunity for Grand Bahamians to get some answers, the prime minister chose to be vague and short in his replies about questions concerning Grand Bahama.

Whether he knew it or not, the prime minister’s responses sent a strong message to the people of Grand Bahama.

11/16/2010

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's announcement that he planned to remain at the helm of the FNM, and fight the next election was indeed welcome news

Prime Minister Ingraham – we shall carry on
tribune242 editorial


PRIME MINISTER Hubert Ingraham's announcement over the weekend that he planned to remain at the helm of the FNM, and fight the next election was indeed welcome news.

Welcome news because the whole future of this country hangs in the balance and cannot at this point in its development be entrusted to inexperienced leadership.

Instead of jockeying for lofty positions within the party, FNM MP's have a duty to put their personal aspirations aside and concentrate on what the people sent them to parliament for -- and for which they are being paid. They have a duty to protect the interests of their constituents and at the same time to learn the workings of government. This is no job for political neophytes.

It has always baffled us that the only field that requires no special training is that of the politician. And yet it is the politician -- especially the uneducated ones -- who presume to make so many important decisions for a nation. They are usually the ones making the most noise and jumping to their feet talking bombastic nonsense to catch the attention of their grassroots base.

There are reports that there has been much political jostling behind the scenes in both parties about the future of their leaders. Aspirants are upsetting daily business as they campaign for positions. In the PLP Mr Christie has made it clear that he will lead his party in the 2012 election. However, he has left the door ajar suggesting that he might not serve out a full term if elected, but would step aside for his successor. Fortunately, Mr Ingraham has stated his position clearly -- as is his custom -- saying that he will not only carry on, but if elected will take his job to full term. This will leave his party free to concentrate on the people -- if elected -- for another five years past 2012. And this is what the country needs at this critical time in its history -- government without distractions.

As a matter of fact, the PLP seem not to have accepted their 2007 defeat at the polls, but have continued their electioneering almost on a daily basis. With problems more pressing -- jobs, crime, an uncertain future -- Bahamians are growing tired of their pin-pricks.

Why, for example, would Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, who had much to say on the Prime Minister's recent visit to China, especially about the Baha Mar deal, go out of his way to try to make the Bahamian people believe that Mr Ingraham had had no meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister while in China?

Mr Mitchell - one MP who knows his way around the web - should have known that on November 1, the same photograph that is published on today's front page with Mr Ingraham and Premier Wen Jiabao shaking hands was also on the web -- and is still on the web. With the photograph is a short article that said that "Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao met with his Bahamian counterpart, Hubert Ingraham on Sunday (Oct. 31)." And the article continued: "Hailing the sound political foundation of their bilateral relations, Wen said China would like to help the Bahamas improve its ability for self-development and deepen cooperation in infrastructure, finance, tourism, agriculture and new energy, among others. The Chinese Premier also called for both sides to step up cultural exchanges and safeguard common interests in addressing climate change and other challenges." There was more to the article of what Mr Ingraham said, but this is sufficient to prove that when Mr Mitchell told the Bahamian people that the two did not meet, he was telling a great big whopper! And to confirm the authenticity of the meeting- if more confirmation is needed - the photo and article were released by China's Xinhua news agency.

Mr Mitchell should remember that when you are caught out in the small ones, no one believes you when you tell the truth on the big ones. And for good measure we suggest that he recall the story of the boy who cried wolf once too often. It's a children's story, the moral of the tale being that what happened to the boy is what "happens to people who lie: even when they tell the truth no one believes them."

It is a little moral tale for children that we suggest every politician should keep in his hip pocket for reference -- especially when he gets carried away on the political podium.

As we were writing this article on Mr Ingraham being the right man with the experience, contacts and so much unfinished business yet to complete for the country that we were pleased he had decided to carry on as party leader, the release arrived in our newsroom about Mr Mitchell's false statement (see front page). It was a temptation that we couldn't resist and so we detoured from our subject and fell for the distraction.

November 16, 2010

tribune242 editorial

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham says that he intends to once again lead his party - the Free National Movement (FNM) into the next general election...

PM to run again
By CANDIA DAMES
Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com


Says FNM needs more time to complete agenda

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham revealed yesterday that he intends to once again lead his party into the next general election because the unforseen economic downturn would likely mean an unfinished agenda.

Ingraham made the bombshell announcement at a meet the press event held at the British Colonial Hilton in downtown Nassau.

He is expected to once again go head to head with Progressive Liberal Party Leader Perry Christie, who has said repeatedly that he is preparing the PLP to form the next government of The Bahamas.

Asked whether he intends to stay on as FNM leader and lead the party into the next general election, Ingraham said emphatically, “Yes.”

It triggered thunderous applause from the audience gathered at the event.

Ingraham was also asked why he has decided to seek re-election in what would be a fourth non-consecutive term should he win.

He responded: “Because I think, firstly, the party would like me to carry on. Secondly, there are a number of things that we had hoped to undertake in this our term in office that we have been unable to do largely because of the economic circumstance and conditions.

“Thirdly, it would not be appropriate I think under these circumstances for me with all this headwind, with all the experience I have... to go.

“So I consider it my duty to The Bahamas and to my party to carry out.”

Christie has already indicated that should he become prime minister again he would not serve a full term. But Ingraham said yesterday, “I make no such commitment.”

He added, “I’m not in a position where I’m going to do a deal because others are at my heel and I have to tell them ‘listen, there’s little space here for you’. When it’s time for me to be able to go I’m going to be able to go and the party will select my replacement, but I [don’t] have to make a deal [to say] I’m going to be here for a year or two years.

“No. Others have to do that.”

Yesterday Ingraham brushed off a suggestion that he and Christie are very close.

After saying that they are not, he added, “I saw Mr. Christie at a function for [St. Cecilia MP Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt] the other day and he wouldn’t look me in the eye.

“I don’t know why you vex with me, Christie. You are my buddy.”

Asked whether he had informed Christie of his intention to run again, Ingraham said, “You think I need permission from him? I said before, you know, that my actions would speak louder than my words and I said at the installation service for Mother Pratt (who is now an assistant pastor) that those of us who are going to be in Parliament after the next election will miss you. Mr. Christie was there.

“I think Mr. Christie understands that I would be the alternative to him or he would be the alternative to me in the next election. I look forward to it.”

Earlier in his political career, Ingraham had indicated that he would not serve more than two terms as prime minister. But when he returned as leader of the Free National Movement in 2005 after stepping down in 2002, he said he was returning to answer the call of the people.

Prior to the 2007 election, then Prime Minister Christie had vowed to “cremate” Ingraham, but failed in his efforts to do so.

Confirmation that Ingraham intends to stay on as FNM leader has huge implications for members of his party with great political ambition.

Yesterday, Ingraham did not directly respond to a question about his health and energy level, saying only that he had suffered a bout of the flu last week.

11/15/2010

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

Crime in The Bahamas

A Blight of Pathology and Crime
The Bahama Journal Editorial


By way of both preface and prologue, today we join our voice to all those that today sigh, cry and lament for a nation that is losing its way. The evidence is abundant that very many Bahamians are already lost; some of them bought – lock, stock and barrel – by new slavers.

This time around, the new slavery is one that calls on so very many people to get rich or die trying. The new tyranny calls on people who have disputes to leave no stone turned in their perfervid quest for what they think is justice delivered their way and on the spot.

Compounding the matter at hand is that collective delusion concerning the role the police are supposed to be making in this regard.

Day in and day out we are regaled with one long story after the other from this or that police spokesperson concerning the latest outrage.

To date, all of this has been either warmed over self-congratulation on the part of the police or some of the most wonderful nonsense ever chatted by anyone we know.

We have heard it said that crime is the fever chart of a sick society. As we see it, this statement speaks truth.

It might be very useful for us to analyze crime in The Bahamas as if it was one of our major public health issues.

Crime and social health are intimately connected. The more criminalized the society, the greater the degree of social pathology.

In every country, to a greater or lesser extent, violence blights lives and undermines health. Acknowledging this, in 1996 the 49th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution (WHA49.25) declaring violence a major and growing public health problem across the world.

Of note is the fact that the resolution ended by calling for a plan of action for progress towards a science based public health approach to preventing violence. The World Health Organization defines violence as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community, that either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation.

In just the past six years – coterminous with the so-called war against terror – millions of people have died as a result of violence. Many more have suffered injury.

Of the deaths, tens of thousands were suicides, almost a third were homicides. In addition, tens of thousands of children were slaughtered.

Note well that our own country continues to experience some of the effects of this dread mix of pathology and crime. Here we note that, as crime cascades throughout our archipelago; some of our people are beginning to wonder whether there is truth in the proposition that, the criminal element is large; that it is violent and that, in case after case, they have been able to baffle the police.

Indeed, such has been the insidious flow of this onslaught that, few Bahamians are today any longer outraged when they hear about the newest low to which some criminals can go. Instead, what we do get is some variant on the conclusion that, things such as these are to be expected in these last and evil days.

As we see things -- Such has been the extent to which rape, mayhem, murder and other dastardly crimes against the person and property now pervade public consciousness; few Bahamians take note of the fact that there are –quite literally speaking – murderers, rapists, thieves and other such thugs smack-dab in the midst of the likes of them.

This, in turn, has to do with the fact that, very many of these god-awful crimes sometimes remain unsolved; and as they recede from the public’s agenda of the moment; even more crimes are committed.

Commonsense alone suggests that, some of these crimes might well be the handiwork of some of these ‘successful’ criminals.

And so, like others who now despair, we wonder whether those in charge of the police force are themselves seized of the enormity of this conjecture; particularly as they chat here, there and sometimes seemingly everywhere about zero-tolerance and intelligence-driven policing.

Yet again, we wonder.

Evidently, then, while crime remains one of this nation’s premier public safety issues; it is also a seriously pressing health issue.

As a public health issue, the search for solution requires much more than policing. In addition, we take it as a given that, policing always works best in situations where people are disciplined and therefore self-policed.

You really do not have to be a genius or rocket scientist to figure out that once you have to call in the police, the game is already over.

There is also the real probability that crime persists precisely because we have become collectively delinquent; and that we routinely flout both the law of God and the law of man.

November 16th, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International