Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie attacked the government on the issue of crime in the House of Assembly yesterday, saying the Ingraham administration has "allowed the conditions that serve as incubators of crime to fester" during its time in office.
Christie suggested the high unemployment rate, the abandonment of the Urban Renewal Program in the form it existed under the Progressive Liberal Party administration and the elimination of school policing have allowed crime, especially violent crime, to grow.
"Your government does not have the capacity to deal with crime and that is reality," said Christie, while contributing to debate on the 2011/2012 budget.
"We saw the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the issue of crime and the fear of crime.
"In addition to strengthening, expanding and equipping the police with the support of the teachers union and based on evidence of weapon possession by school age children, we introduced police in the schools."
He added that the crime situation in the Bahamas is markedly worse under the Free National Movement administration than when the Progressive Liberal Party was in power.
"I need not go further than to say that the situation you are in is demonstrably worse in terms of crime and the fear of crime," he said.
"Our PLP government was working at holding the murder rate below 60.  There were 52 in 2002; 50 in 2003; 44 in 2004; 52 in 2005; 61 in 2006; 78 in 2007.
"Today, the count is at 57, virtually on pace to double our highest amount."
Christie repeated that under the Urban Renewal Programme there was a sustained "concentrated assault" on the root causes of crime in communities and the urban renewal centers were invaluable intelligence gathering centers.
He contended that urban renewal was one of those programs introduced by the PLP that the FNM could not admit was a good thing for the country.
Christie added that the economy was much more stable under a PLP administration, that the country received an 'A' rating by major sovereign rating agencies and that the unemployment level was significantly reduced.
"We need not get into any arguments or comparisons," he said.
"We can rely on the fact that the economic indicators showed positive results and that the correct conclusion to draw from the 'A' ratings is that we received such ratings because of the undeniably satisfactory manner in which we managed the economy."
Christie also spent a large part of his contribution outlining what the PLP had done for the country during its five years in office, including negotiating the building of the national stadium with the People's Republic of China (a gift from the Chinese government) and introducing the Winding Bay project in Abaco and the Albany project in southwestern New Providence.
He touted the jobs for Bahamians that came along with those projects.
"That is a fitting reference in support of the good works of my government," Christie said.
"Five hundred Bahamians employed in Abaco in the projects [brought by] my government and 321 at Albany, with more jobs to come."
 

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