Is it not time for the young men and women who are hell bent on tearing this country apart “be shamed” instead of them being locked up 24/7?
They should be used in the community wearing either bright orange or pink overalls with “Fox Hill Inmate” written on their backs. They should then be used to clean the streets or the many public beaches, paint old buildings, assist in refurbishing damage done to properties by other vandals, or better still put them to work in Andros.
I met a farmer there this weekend. He cannot get labor for love; no money. These prison inmates could help produce food for the nation instead of using illegal immigrants. They might enjoy working the fields and get a sense of achievement back in their souls instead of destruction. We could oversee them by using some of the retired defence force and the retired wiser police officers. This will enable them to continue mentoring the young men and women. So maybe the next time a person has a mind about doing a crime they will think twice knowing they too will be wearing the pink or orange overalls for all the world to see.
As for those who will shout “human rights”, why shouldn’t we be the only country in the world that says yes we are looking at human rights – the human rights of the law abiding citizen. We must take crime seriously and show that we will not tolerate the minority spoiling it for the majority and our visitors.
I am not saying let out the violent criminals, but you have many in jail who persistently commit crime in order to get free board and lodge. Let’s make it harder inside so they won’t want to go back. Somebody has to take a stand and mean what we say. Take Singapore; there is very low crime in that country, or our neighbor Cuba. They both have no tolerance. The price for doing this is far less than the price we are now paying.
Nobody then will be allowed to mess with The Bahamas’ reputation of being the best little country in the world. One other thing. It would be great if the newspapers would stop using the crimes as headline stories. This only gives the criminals kudos. I agree it should be reported but make it page five instead. We have to stop the criminals from having bragging rights.
By: Dr. M.U. O’Neil
October, 2012
