Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader Philip Brave Davis yesterday accused the government of using "strong arm tactics" after it was discovered that PLP billboards about the record number of murders were torn down on the instruction of the government.
The billboards which read, 'Under the FNM government 490 plus murders', were taken down on the instruction of the Ministry of the Environment, Minister Earl Deveaux confirmed yesterday.
Davis held a press conference near the six-legged roundabout at John F. Kennedy Drive.
"These billboards which you see behind me, which have been torn down in numerous locations, and found in trash bins at government buildings, represent a larger pattern of strong-arm tactics normally associated with dictatorships.
"[Prime Minister Hubert] Ingraham has always been a bully. Now he seeks to be a dictator. He is crossing lines that have never been crossed before in the history of our democracy.
"His doing so signals his desperation and the desperation of those who require his continuation in power to keep their stranglehold on the Bahamian economy."
One of the billboards was on the Saunders Beach roundabout and another at Montagu - areas frequented by tourists.
PLP MP Fred Mitchell admitted yesterday that the PLP has received numerous complaints from its supporters and backers about the placement of certain billboards.
Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said tourists have also complained.
"They complained to our visitor information [desk]. [Some] people called in. Some of them have taken pictures of it," Vanderpool-Wallace said.
"We just hope that it's for their personal use and not something that's going to be publicized. But it's most unfortunate that in these kinds of times when we are just beginning to see a very robust rebound that someone would not think it a terrible thing to trash the country in such a way that the thing we rely on most heavily is going to be affected. It's most unfortunate."
But the PLP doesn't see it that way.
"We cannot hide the truth," Davis said.
"Are we about hiding the truth? Are we going to be concerned about the impression that the truth gives? The only way we can get rid of these things is to address the issue. The fact is that there were more than 490 murders in this country (since 2007), we can not run away from that."
Four-hundred and seventy-six murders have been recorded in The Bahamas since January 1, 2007, according to Nassau Guardian records.
At Montagu yesterday, one visitor said the billboard gave him the wrong impression.
"I thought [The Bahamas] had 490 murders this year and that concerned me a little bit because we have a lot of murders in the big city in Charlotte and so I thought that's a lot of murders," said Marshall Henson.
Asked what impression he got, he said, "It would determine whether we came back. If it's a crime ridden area, you don't want to come back."
When asked why instructions were given to remove the billboards, Deveaux explained that people have to get permission to put up public signs. However, he said that rule is usually relaxed during political season.
"But that is done with the understanding that nothing offensive to the public or harmful to the well being [of the] nation would be put up."
He added that signs that impair road visibility and road safety also pose a problem.
"We received a number of complaints from visitors, taxi drivers and the Ministry of Tourism about the signs," Deveaux said.
Yesterday afternoon, PLP work crews replaced the billboard that was removed from the six-legged roundabout.
One worker said he is prepared to replace all that have been removed.
Deveaux said the police have also been notified of the situation.
He said emergency crews will be called in to remove the signs relating to the murder rate wherever they are placed.
He explained that the police have been notified because when government workers removed one of the billboards it turned into a "hostile situation".
Deveaux added that instructions were only given for the billboards relating to the murder count to be removed.
However, Davis said several other billboards have been torn down, including ones relating to the high rate of unemployment and the ongoing roadworks.

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