NASSAU (CMC) – Prime Minister Perry Christie says his administration will discuss new initiatives to deal with criminal activities in the Bahamas after gunmen shot and killed his press secretary Latore Mackey on Monday.
Mackey, the former Deputy Director of the Bahamas Information Service (BIS), was shot multiple times in his government-registered vehicle. Police are working on the theory that an argument inside a nearby club may have led to the death of Mackey, who was also the owner of Blue Reef Sports Bar and Lounge in the capital.
“For us now it is going back to the drawing board, reviewing where we are, testing to see whether what we are doing is having any kind of impact and what other strategies we can employ,” Christie said.
He said unless the country is able to come to grips with the situation “we have a real problem in the country that goes to the roots of how we react to one another”.
Prime Minister Christie said it is easy to believe that the crime is localised, but warned “when you see it now begin to stretch and extend itself to people who you least expect to be involved in any kind of underhand activity, then you know we have a lot of work to do”.
Christie said that on his return to the country last weekend, he had been informed by the Commissioner of Police that it was a very “heavy weekend, meaning that there were shootings and killings and that in and of itself has distressed me”.
He said he would be meeting with law enforcement officials during the coming days and that could lead to new strategies to deal with the crime situation.
“We cannot compromise on the security and safety of our citizens. We cannot have a situation develop where people are fearful to be out,” he said, noting that he had seen the body of a person shot with a high calibre gun.
“. . . [I]t brings home the reality that we have to do more,” he said, urging nationals to help law enforcement officers in dealing with the crime situation.
“At the end of the day to each of you this has to be of paramount concern to each of us as Bahamians,” he added.
