The government is doing all it can to address the scourge of crime in The Bahamas, said Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.

And while Ingraham admitted that the fear of crime pervades the society, he said there was no immediate solution to the problem.

"The truth of the matter is we are doing all we can, the prime minister told The Nassau Guardian.

"We are very focused on crime, and matters relating to crime. The commission of crime is something that the state seeks to prevent as far as is humanly possible."

Last year, The Bahamas recorded its highest ever number of murders - some 79 homicides. It was also named among the most violent countries in the world in an international report.So far this year, the murder count stands at 41, and while the murder rate up to July this year is behind the number recorded for the first seven months of 2007, other crimes, such as robberies and rapes are up. Crime is also a major concern for other countries in the region, some of which recorded record-high crime rates last year.

Prime Minister Ingraham noted that beginning September 17, parliamentarians would start a full debate on crime, which will include changing a number of laws related to plea bargaining to address the chronic backlog of cases and monitoring suspects out on bail, hearing suggestions and points of view.

The government has also appointed a bi-partisan committee to report on crime.

And since coming to office last year, the prime minister said the government has spent substantial resources in the fight against crime.

"We have increased the number of police officers, we have increased their resources, in terms of vehicles and other essential equipment. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the number of magistrates is increased. We have a serious backlog in criminal cases.

"I don't know what else we can do more than what we have been doing," said Ingraham, who reiterated that many of the crimes committed in The Bahamas are by people who know each other, including drug-related crimes and domestic violence.

As for concerns that local crime could be a turn off to foreign investors, Ingraham said there was no evidence to support that crime in The Bahamas was negatively impacting foreign investment in the country.

However, the government has been asked to consider what the impact would be on investor confidence "in allowing this level of crime and disorder to continue."

Donald Sweeting of the Bahamas International Trade Associates Ltd., whose organization works with both large and small-scale British investors, mainly interested in Bahamian resort development, expressed his concern about the potential impact of crime on investor confidence to Guardian Business earlier this year.

The call for hanging convicted murderers has also grown louder as the crime statistics have climbed; however, the prime minister maintained that The Bahamas would not be looking to remove itself from the jurisdiction of the London-based Privy Council as a way to help clear the way for capital punishment.

"It would not be in the interest of The Bahamas to decide what its highest court will be based on one issue," Ingraham said.

Asked to respond to the criticism that the Prime Minister's Office has not been vocal enough on the issue of crime, Ingraham responded: "I don't know what it is that I must do that I am not now doing. There are always many, many, many people who are arm chair generals who believe they can do this job far better than I, and I expect that would apply to crime and anything else."

By ERICA WELLS