The debate in the upper house came to a still silence yesterday when Senator Michael Pintard took a swing at members of the upper and lower houses for representing known criminals. Speaking in the upper house last week, Pintard said, “I firmly believe that there are persons in this country who function as defense attorneys, even in the Parliament of The Bahamas, who, have earned their living defending persons who are known to be career criminals. The alternative is if they do not know that these persons are career criminals then they are not fit to lead, because everyone knows otherwise.”
Senator Jerome Fitzgerald contested Pintard’s assertion and asked that his comments be withdrawn.
However President of the Senate Lynn Holowesko conceded that, “Senator Pintard is making statements that no one in the country today will want to deny. It’s a general truth in our country sadly.”
Senator Hope Strachan noted that this was not the first time Pintard has attacked attorneys in the upper house.
“It is on more than one occasion Senator Pintard has sought to denigrate attorneys. Our constitution says all are innocent until proven guilty. He seems to suggest that these persons do not deserve to be defended. I have to say that if that was the case,” then obviously we are not operating in a democratic society.
She stressed that it is important for an attorney to be totally dispassionate towards a case.
“It is important when a person has taken an oath to do these things,” she said, adding that, just as doctors treat individuals with gunshot and stab wounds knowing that the matters are crime-related, attorneys must do the same.
“We can’t denigrate people because of their profession,” she stressed.
Pintard also remarked on thecriticism the opposition made towards the package of anti-crime bills previously debated in the House of Assembly.
“The very members of Parliament who criticize the government and claim that it has no vision, are themselves out of touch in terms of what is happening in this country. Those same members of Parliament represent areas where when you look at the crime statistics; they consist overwhelmingly of persons who commit heinous crimes or are victims of such crimes.”
“My question to those members is, where is your youth program for young people of school age, and to what extent are you collaborating with schools to assist in the mentoring of these young people so that they are positively engaged? Where is your program?”
He remarked that those MPs that are criticizing the government have no track record of establishing positive programs in their communities to stem the tide of bloodshed. “We require programs that meet young people where they are and help in their transformation, so that tough laws like the ones debated are not necessary. We cannot build enough prisons, we cannot imprison everybody, clearly we aren’t catching everybody and much of whom we are catching, we’re not convicting.”
Minister of Labour and Social Development Dion Foulkes also took a swing at the PLP yesterday:
“I heard the opposition say that crime was diminished under Urban Renewal, but it was not, true, even though we wished it were so.
“In 2003 the murder rate was 50 and in 2006 it was 60, an increase of 20 percent So we saw a rise in crime under the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
“In Farm Road, the murder count was two in 2004, In 2005, at the height of Urban Renewal in Farm Road, the murder count was six, a 200 percent increase. This clearly shows that what was said about Urban Renewal reducing crime was a lie,” he said.
“The PLP is now proposing Urban Renewal 2.0 [if they win the election]. It so happens that the Free National Movement (FNM) is already at Urban Renewal 3.0. We are doing more in our Urban Renewal offices than the PLP ever did,” he said.
Foulkes noted that there are six new programs operating under the FNMs leadership of Urban Renewal, which include intrapreneurial activities, environmental conservation programs, dance classes, adult literary programs, boxing clubs and arts and craft classes.
He said if the FNM wins the next general election it will take Urban Renewal to 4.0.
Source: The Nassau Guardian
