Deeply disturbed by the recent outbreak of crime in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt said there needs to be an ownership of social problems at a “personal level”.
Mrs Pratt made the statement yesterday at the launch of what she described as the “flagship component” of the prison reform programme of the government – the reconstruction of the maximum security facility of Her Majesty’s Prison.
“The awful reality of a 19-year-old boy lying bleeding to death on a night club floor and consequent to that the distressing sight of four boys being brought in shackles before the court, these events did not happen by chance. It still takes a village to raise a child and these young men are the results of our stewardship,” she said.
Mrs Pratt said that government can build bigger and better prisons and provide more police officers, but still not provide the answer as to what propels young Bahamian men to arm themselves with knives and guns as they leave for a night of fun.
“And what is it that so deadens the sense of humanity that allows one human being to fire bullets or plunge a knife into the body of another human being? And what is it that generates the lack of respect for property that results in its wanton destruction or its theft or even murder?” Mrs Pratt asked.
Source: οΎ The Tribune, Nassau Bahamas
