1. Caribbean News Now!
News from the Caribbean: Tuesday June 28, 2016
Commentary: The Bahamas needs the EDER Approach badly!
Tuesday, June 29, 2016
By Neals J. Chitan
The Bahamas, an internationally acclaimed popular tourist paradise of 700 islands, has had its
reputation tarnished because of its unstoppable growing crime rates during the last decade.
Closing 2015 with 149 murders, that anti-social homicidal virus has
delivered its excruciating pain indiscriminately on the lives of Bahamian
families from the barely known to the upper class like that of the late
popular businessman Kurt McCartney, leaving the poor and rich alike
writhing in grief and pain.
No wonder, Branville McCartney, a lawyer, founder and leader of the
Democratic National Alliance (DNA), penned his personal letter to the
editor of The Nassau Guardian, published in the June 27, 2016, edition,
describing the pain, grief and anguish the 2015 murder of his brother
Kurt had on the life of his family, siblings and parents. Yet the mayhem
still continues in 2016.
On June 23, 2016, The Nassau Guardian staff reporter Jayme C. Pinder
reported that, driven by the horrible impact of losing his brother Kurt, the
leader of the Democratic National Alliance Branville McCartney has
promised a return of the death penalty if elected to govern the country,
because crime has gotten progressively worse.
In the June 25, 2016, edition of the paper, under the caption “Two More
Murders” a staff reporter painted a ghastly scene where two more
individuals were blazed down by the fiery bullets of gunmen, bringing the murder figure to 60 for 2016
already. And of course, who can help but observe the statement made by the leader of the Free
National Movement, Dr Hubert Minnis, vehemently condemning the report in the House, that crime
rates are down in the Bahamas, when as he said, “Two more murders just took place.”
Claiming the country is “No longer a safe place to live”, Branville McCartney promised that a
Democratic National Alliance government would see to the punishment of all criminals. “We will deal
with crime,” McCartney said. “We will make sure that those who are committing crimes will have
consequences. “We will sweat the small stuff so that there is law and order.”
Neals J. Chitan is the
Grenadian-born president of
Motiv-8 For Change
International -- a Toronto
based High Impact Social
Skill Agency that is specially
dedicated to the social
empowerment of
individuals, families and
communities

2. And again, I have no problem believing that McCartney is bent on accomplishing his enforcement and
death penalty agenda, one that may be driven more by the pain of personal grief and loss of a brother
rather than the national pain felt by Bahamians across the board. But again, who can blame him,
“Who feels it, knows it!”
Here is where I again give the ministry of national security and Royal Police Force of St Kitts-Nevis
high praises for getting pass the prevalent “enforcement only model” to crime reduction and
developing a six-point strategy that perfectly fits our recently presented multi-dimensional EDER©
approach to crime reduction in the twin island federation.
Although I can feel the pain and anguish of losing a brother to the hands of criminals, I want to
suggest to Mr McCartney that an enforcement and punishment model to treat crime in The Bahamas
will not produce the sustainable crime reduction for his people. Yes, it may scare them quite a bit but,
my friends, punishment alone will not change menaces into mentors.
What The Bahamas needs is a multi-faceted approach that can deliver four major components to
sustainably reduce crime. Yes, you do need an Enforcement arm to arrest and clean up communities
of criminals, but then after enforcement, you need Diagnosis to get to the roots of the triggers feeding
criminal behavior. Once you have determined the causes, an Education component that captures the
heart and re-wires the thinking of individuals at-risk with criminality is vital. Finally, there is a dire need
of Rehabilitation for those who were arrested, incarcerated and made to pay for their crimes if The
Bahamas hopes to break the cycle of crime and reduce the incidences of violence.
Any approach that can take criminals off the streets, socially empower them, change their thinking
and decision making process, take them full circle and release them as community builders has to be
the answer! That in effect is the EDER© approach, a four-dimensional blueprint for sustainable crime
reduction.
As an international social skill consultant and crime reduction specialist, I will be happy to respond to
the ministry of national security and other stakeholders in The Bahamas for discussions and
consultation on our copyrighted EDER© Approach as we just did on June 4-11, 2016, in St Kitts-
Nevis.