Posted By: Homiedontknome On: 1/23/2012

Title: Gratitude, not

Did the Bahamians ever thank anyone for anything ? think about the hundreds that were thrown out of Freeport in the 60s and 70s for constructing and designing what could have been a Garden of Eden. Families were loured in like fish and promised work permits for the businesses they started that would employ Bahamians. after a year or two, you ain't gettin no pemit, get off of our island. 500 years will go by and no one will forget. Bahamians Rise Up and slap this Ridiculous Government . Whoes running this country ???? Castro and Pindling Hay ? STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES AND "YA CANT FIX STUPID "Wake Up. Rise Up, all the violent gangsters , apply yourself, change your Government then you wont need to be thugs , punks or gangsters. , get the real gangsters OUT.

Posted By: Homie Dontknome On: 1/23/2012

Title: X Patriot

The Bahamas is a Joke. Nothing but crime all against whites and tourists by these Biggity Ignorant Pigs. Anyone that ever lived in the Bahamas that isnt a Bahamian has been jacked many times. Walk on egg shells. ? Murder you ? Kidnapp you ? Of Course. Anyway the wind blows . And you Bahamians in Denial ? You gotta be kidding. Now that your Govt and Police run drug smuggling the little people eat spam. Rise Up , Revolt , your So Called Government is a Flipping Joke. England should send troops in their and take the corrupt pigs out of office. Fist Pig to go to jail ????? Pindling. Wake the hell up. I wouldnt go to this rotten place after living their for 20 years if they were giving away free money. Let me catch some of the real pigs on my side of the pond. I will slap them down. Give them a dose of their own rudeness. You better start kissing up to the white tourists, as you have nothing except your Government scamming other investors that they are going to rip off. Go ahead , try and rip off the Chinese that now own you. Their will be so many Chinese their in a hundred years they will be in charge. I would suggest you Bahamians learn To speak Chinese. Also I hear that the Mexians have also moved into Freeport. That is because you lazy Bahamians think someone owes you a living. Watch out for the Mexicans , they will have so many babies down their your new Prime Minister will be Poncho Villa ( i doubt you even know who he is ) you will find out soon enough. You were all slaves that freed themselves fromEnglish tyranny, now you are slaves to the corrupt Rich Government officials who dont give a damn about the little people and are riding around in their hundred thousand dollar cars living in mansions on your poverty.

Posted By: Jazmyn On: 9/27/2010

Title: I L-O-V-E My NATION!!

Anywhere in the world things like this can happen! so dont make My Beautiful Bahama Land Look Bad Because of the series of unfortunated events that happened that unfaithful sunday!....I am teenager an i LOve My Land!...

Posted By: Realone On: 8/25/2010

Title: Jack is WACK

JACK! you dead wrong for 'bad mouthing' an entire race of people based on your experience and interactions with a few. It Bahmians are such horrible people, WHY THE HELL YOU TRYING TO FIND A BAHAMIAN WIFE?

Posted By: Jack On: 6/29/2010

Title: To Lac Will

By all means, do not come here to look for a wife. You will most likely find horror. There are a few girls out there for you but you need a lot of patience, time and money to keep looking for the right one. Good girls are not so easy to find here.

Posted By: Jack On: 6/29/2010

Title:

This article is so right. The Bahamas is a terrible place and the people are so damn arrogant that they hate to face the reality of their country. Bahamians are the most stupid, most racist, most intolerant, most ignorant, most selfish, most materialistic people who I have ever come across on the face of the Earth.
Not to mention the shitty food.

Posted By: Donna Reed On: 6/7/2010

Title: holed up in Nassau

I too, felt this way when I moved here 13 years ago.....now, I would not live anywhere else!! Your children have no fear, they can walk to school or run ahead of you at the mall or zoo.....they can swim every day or play tennis and have fresh, clean air to breathe into their lungs. I love the Bahamas

Posted By: Lac Will On: 4/24/2010

Title: Former Visitor Speaks

Visited the Bahamas approximately 16 years ago and has always looked forward to returning to find a caribbean wife!
The vivid memories of Bay Street, waterloo, Cable Beach, Junkanoo and eating fresh conch are within my many stories that I tell of a most idyllic place that I have always felt that the local population should never take for granted!
Has it really gotten that bad? Should I look elsewhere for a future wife?

Posted By: Sandra D On: 4/20/2010

Title: Face the Facts

Crime is getting out of control in The Bahamas and the Bahamians are getting
The blame. I think it’s time we face the fact that most of the crimes are committed
By illegal immigrants. Pay more attention to the last name of most of the criminals’.
Full blooded Bahamians are not violent people. If or government would get more serious about the illegal immigrants this country would be a better place. Then deal with the laws to fit the crimes.
With that been said, the younger Bahamians don’t even know our culture because they all practice someone else’s culture. Just listen to the rap music Bahamian produce, listen to what the young people are blasting in their cars. (GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT.)
Can you go to another country and here Bahamian music dominating their air ways?
Bahamians must learn to be Bahamians first then we will have a nation of Loving and Caring people like we use to be.
Please keep in mind behaviors are learned from example set by those around us.
Let us save the Bahamas one family at a time. Use more positive words in our home and not words like I’ll kill you, You so stupid or your no good. Some children actually believe the things we say to them.
MAY GOD HELP US ALL!

Posted By: Tones On: 2/13/2010

Title: Go Home

Mrs. Hewitt if you can afford to live in Old Fort Bay then you can afford an airline ticket to anywhere in the world. Go Home!!!! Or wherever utopia is!!! You will not be missed!!!...before you reach your preffered destination stop in Harlem...some part of ghetto Europe...or racist Austrailia who treat that continen's indigenous people like animals.......

Posted By: Kish On: 2/6/2010

Title: It's Better In The Bahamas!"

Yes, we like every place in the world have our social ills to deal with. No one is denying that. And if you check some of the sick news headlines in the countries these critics are coming from, you have to ask yourself what is their true motivation? Most of us are black, not uneducated and not criminals. At least we are not plagued with chronic cases of gun toting sick pedophiles.
Further, if you check where the Bahamas stands financially as it compares to the rest of this region, we are not poor by any means.
Additionally, to suggest that we should appreciate that foreigners brought are ancestors here, is to suggest that our ancestors should have appreciated the boat ride. I beg to differ.
Consequently, I strongly disagree with any assumption that we risk loosing anything God gave us. It appears to me that some of these comments border a charge of treason, and that at present, treason is our biggest threat.
We are a faithful people to the bone, and our natural beauty, faith in God, and continued potential for innovative solutions will sustain us for years to come. Who God blesses let "no man curse."
It has and will always continue to be, "Better in The Bahamas."

Posted By: Paul Hardcastle On: 1/28/2010

Title: Remember

No one has mentioned this small point in history.......
She is coming to Nassau to escape from another 'island' that
was founded by.........CRIMINALS !!!!!
Well Well...How about that then ???

Posted By: Blessed Bahamian On: 1/25/2010

Title: simmer down Bahamas

I can't believe my ears! I hear that some people are upset with this lady. Don't forget that it was Foreigners who brought our ancestors here, it was Foreigners who gave us this blessed place, and it is now Foreigners who allow us to survive. If Foreigners left we would have NOTHING! Because we produce NOTHING... or, I forgot, we sell fake Gucci bags. We're lucky we're sitting on a rock so close to the U.S. with pretty beaches and water... we better not mess this up. Think of your children's future- hug a foreigner and give them thanks!!!!

Posted By: Boo Ya On: 1/25/2010

Title: It is you, not the land.

Every country is a developing one... just not all in the same direction, which is due to the people. Blessed, lucky, or happenstance? Who cares? I'm not leaving, just changing the name of the islands!

Posted By: Shaun On: 1/22/2010

Title: bahamian citizen

I am actually really disturbed by the comments made about this article (and most comments i read are from people complaining about uneducated bahamians and their actually making up words) but the point is that i am amazed how people will throw their country under a bus. I actually want to cry because i love my country with all my heart we have problems (like many other developing countries).. I will NOT compare the bahamas to any other countries crime... I will NOT compare my leaders with other countries leaders and i will NOT pass this issue off as if i cant do anything about it.
I have attended private bahamian schools (all of my life) am college educated and live in a gated community out west. and have noticed that there is a serious problem with people who come into the country and judge my HOME with such severity.... They work there, enjoy the huge houses on the beach, give their children top notch private school education, drive expensive cars and COMPLAIN. You can leave MY HOME alone if it's that terrible i know i wont give up on it. I will defend it until my dying breath. It's so unfortunate that the crime rate is so high and my people are dying but we forget that we are a blessed country..when will we see it's beauty? instead of listening to what these aliens think about us. When we hear this 26 year old GIRL say she had a nightmare we want to say "i agree with her," "poor girl," How dare they live off of this land, make their money and point their fingers at MY PEOPLE..Help us if thats the case...would you like to set up a charity?, actually speak to real bahamian people and not just your "caged," neighbors. I'm not expecting her to do anything but i would like people to be realistic about these things. i urge all of those who hate it to LEAVE and let those young educated young people fight for our country because i know its not only me who WANTS it to succeed.
God Bless

Posted By: Anais Nin On: 1/17/2010

Title: An Ideas Revolution

I am sorry to read about poor Bec's nightmare. I know that crime is at epidemic proportions in our tiny country, you only have to glance briefly at the front page of the newspaper to see that. I have been back here for only a short time. I was one of the lucky number of Bahamians who called Australia home. Responding to Carrington, yes Australia is an interesting country, that has been unjust to the Aboriginal people over many years. However Australia is saying sorry, they are trying to make amends. I had great friends there, most places I went I was the only person of colour, enjoying a very comfortable lifestyle and everything that Australia had to offer, educationally and economically. I just don't see how crime in our country has anything to do with Australia. Australia is not crime ridden, you do not hear of murders everyday. If I may go so far to say, I am like Bec in certain respects, we have both come here recently from Sydney, and we are both coming to terms with the fact that this is not a paradise. There is poverty and hopelessness in our youth. Our people have no conflict resolution skills. The Bahamas is in need of a revolution. A complete overhaul of our education system that has proven itself over and over to be failing. A complete shift in our ideas about ourselves and what we have been placed on this beautiful land to do. We need to utilise our intelligent minds, people who have world class skills, who come here and are never able to find employment. We have lost many of them to Europe, London, Canada and yes even Australia. I know because I was one of them and could be again soon. We cannot keep repeating this bloody one act tragedy over and over. We have entered a new decade, lets try something new.

Posted By: HEARTBROKEN On: 1/16/2010

Title: HEWITT ARTICLE

I do not agree with the person who said Bahamas is filled with uneducated people, on the contrary, we have many intelligent and well educated people, people with good moral upbringing and values, people with utmost integrity in the Bahamas. The problem is...they are not the ones who come forward to help lead this beatiful bahama land. We have allowed things to get out of hand, every since the likes of the PLP, who came into power, back in the 60's and created an ALL FOR ME BABY syndrome, whilst removing Health Science and decency from the school systems, removing our truancy officers, and having statues in the Governments Offices, who sit and do absolutely nothing all day, use the systems, etc. and steal from our public treasury.....what do you expect, when dogs go astray! Then lets talk about all the churches on every corner, whose aim is only to rob its church members to become rich, and whose church members faithfully go to church almost every sunday, but still buy the hot stolen items from the thieves! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS....OUR BAHAMAS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ENVY OF THE WORLD...MY HEART WEEPS!

Posted By: Keep it real On: 1/11/2010

Title: Sweep it all under the rug

I was blessed enough to have a job in NYC where I lived for 4 years. I lived in the middle of the city, but never had a problem there. I walked at all hours of the night and never heard of my co-workers or friends being threatened. Sure, there was crime, but the criminals preyed upon other criminals. Goodness was stronger. Upon my return to Nassau in 2002, I was robbed by my new roommate who was of a "good" Bahamian family with a famous name, my friend was raped on Paradise Island, my co-worker was murdered downtown while trying to stop a fight. Since then, I've had 2 other friends murdered and witnessed countless armed roberies. All the while the people in power either suck teeth or show teeth and do nothing. We need to open our doors to new thinking. New change. We are immigrant, everyone of us!

Posted By: Tyler D. Wells On: 1/11/2010

Title: Nasshoules

Fearful, low self-esteem, and greedy Bahamians are to blame. Open up the voting citizenship to local foreigners and feel the fresh breeze. We are not indiginous, but happenstance- face it. We need new blood, not clots.

Posted By: K. Carrington On: 12/17/2009

Title: Gated Communites: Failed Eeconomic Policy

The definition of Insanity has been expressed as, "Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result next time".
When Barack Obama was nominated and won the Presidential elections in The United States, I almost wished that He was running for leadership in The Bahamas, so that we can at least have the illusion of change, while reversing local insanity.
While Obama is not a panacea for all of America's problems (it would be nieve to imagine that he was), he represents radical change of the kind needed to help reverse some of the problems The Bahamas has been plagued over the years. These problems are as a result of government after government, continuing uncreative economic policies. One such policyis that of development through large scale foreign owned gated communities in New Providence and elsewhere.
This story is typical of the development problems that small countries like The Bahamas face. When small developing countries go overboard to encourage this type of foreign investment, while not having the proper social systems and plans in place to ensure that local people receive equity in the land of their birth, these issues will continually arise.
Nassau is presently inundated with gated communities like Old Fort Bay where The Hewitts live. These communities themselves have helped to create a lot of alienation within and outside of its walls. Firstly, they hide pristine beaches that natives once roamed on freely. They then disturb almost ancient ecological life, while isolating the local peopulation.
Fourthly, these communities, which are said to encourage investment, really do very little economically for the country in the long term.
They are only really good at providing temporary construction jobs. Aside from these temporary construction type jobs, they may provide for a few doemstic help workers, and a few security jobs. In reality, these gated communities in fact contribute in large measure to the very crime, which they are supposed to protect its residents from!
The PR teams of a handfull of these gated communities will argue, that they give scholarships and grants to locals. Generally go to a select local elite crops of students for the most part, (principally from elite private schools on the island) whose parents in many instances can well afford the economic cost of a College education.
Many of these students go on to complete degrees, and return to simply join the ranks of the local leadership elite. They then continue to help support or formulate policies which in turn isolate the local population even more, by building more of these beach front monstrocities, in the name of "economic development".
As long as there are big name celebrities who come to The Bahamas to isolate themselve from the local people, and the world around them in these private utopian like fortresses; economic based crimes (such as armed robbery, burglary drug related killings and others) will in fact increase.
Furthermore, in today's environment, tennis and other celebrities of the Hewitt's ilk, invariably attract the kind of media frenzy and attention which can almost be compared to that which accompanies the assasination of a world leader.
The Bahamas seems to have no permanent plan of dealing with these problems which come up time and time again.
This is the real danger of policies which promote unplanned creation of these mammoth investment communities by wealthy foreigners. These comunities bring very little in real income on a day to day basis to local communities. The minimal tax income of these communities can hardly make up for the social costs which local residents must all pay for their existence. The concessions governments give to have these communities make little economic sense, if we just keep seeing these stories damage our international reputation.
Eventually, these stories will bring an overall slowdown in investment any way, if the country is perceived as corrupt and crime ridden.
If the real costs related to these communities (which must be paid through proper provisions of national security and press policy infrastructure) were to be paid (which hosting these type of people demands), it would be easily seen that the costs of these developments far outweight any benefits of encouraging this type of investment model.
Further more, the alienation (isolation) that these communities bring as they take up huge expanses of natural resources (such as the best land and sea scapes on a tiny island), in my opinion, and the opinion of many other residents of this pristine country, help to contribute immensely to wider social problems.
Promoting this type of policy has gotten so bad, that charismatic and influential local evangelical type ministers and other Clergy have jumped on the band wagon, preaching salatial messages every weekend from their pulpits to the masses inccluding words like:
"Man you are not really living until you livin' on a beach front estate home in the west or the east of the island".
Polticians upon getting elected to office, also seek to move into one of these exclusive gated communities, moving away from the 'locals'. It seems that the locals have come to expect this from a politician. The more exclusive your gated community, the better your chances of being elected it would seem to some. The local Professionals do not really consider themselves truly 'professionals' unless they can move into, or near one of these gated empires.
There are myriads of stories about Clergymen building lavish multi room homes in or near these communities themselves, at the expense of poor locals, while encouraging their members to drive Bentleys, Rolls Royces or Mercedes Benzs and aslo strive to live in one of these exclusive communities. It as become the new sign of prospertity and "blessings", as some put it.
What happens after these messages by some influential clergymen though?
A teen or twenty something young man does all he can in his power to get and attain this elusive lifestyle for some poor inadequate feeling and struggling mother, who hears these tyrades week after week. The lack of education and resources, as well as the inequity showed to this young man by the very governments he continues to elect, almost forces him to try to make his mother's dream come true.
The local population of The Bahamas is constantly getting a bad rap for the rich and famous using local officials, systems and sometimes clergy to fast track, bend rules, and in instances break rules (some suggest even laws at times) to facilitate wealthy foreign visitors, residents and their lifestyles.
The Bahamas has been inundated by similar stories in recent years, from John Travolta to Anna Nicole (anothers in the public domain), take your pick. Many local Bahamians in fact only know that these people live here when some local or international headline appears on CNN or elsehwere, bad mouthing the country and barating its citizens.
There is a serious risk to high profile sports people, actors, politicians and others taking up residence in a small country. If they happen to get bitten by a strayed dog, it makes international headlines, causing local Tourism officials to expend vast resources to attempt to counteract the bads press arising from such stories.
This problem rests in large measure to a set of 'lazy' economic policies of countries like The Bahamas, who have liberal investment and residency rules.
When foreign big names receive preferential investment and other treatment, while the local peoples experience high levels of red tape when they attempt to invest in alternate forms of investment (which would employ much more fellow locals, such that they would have little or no time to engage in activities which breed criminality), it is then that we will begin to see reduced crime levels.
When some members of the charismatic and other clergy stop preaching elusive lifestye messages, playing down the importance of faith combined with hard work, thrift and planning in attaining success, then we will begin to see reduced crime levels in The Bahamas.
Foreign readers of these types of stories have to also take the time to place The Bahamas in context and conduct proper research on the country. This is a country which is less than sixty (60) miles away from some the largest, most industrial yet crime ridden cities on the planet, our North American neighbours. Invarialy, this interaction will have some effect on a small touristic based society close by.
To Bahamian readers; It is government and some in the Clergy who must keenly bare a large measure of responsibility for ensuring that there is not a rapid influx of materialistic values through public policy. This large Multi Million dollar foreign based community development, is a failed investment model. This model of foreign based jobs, jobs, jobs, which election after election, is rolled like dice to the local peoples, enticing them to vote, must now end.
Further, the sad case of the Police killing of the young man (whether accidental or not) is a sad portrayal of the lack of accountability to local peoples by authorities in this country. Of course there is no perfect nation, but the local people must demand leadership which at least has the intergrity and resolve to make serious reform to protect the reputation of The Bahamas.
Finally, Austrailia is an interesting country.
When we speak of inequality, it is amongst those in the international community which epitomises the adage that "people in glass houses should not throw stones".
The treatment of the first Austrailians, the Aboriginees (who themselves were pushed aside for similar development in that country), can in fact be considered a crime against humanity.
Despite some efforts, these indigenous people remain marginalised in their own society. Many have also resorted to crime to alleviate their own feelings of alienation. Additionally, there are human interest stories emerging from Austrailia, involving Asians being discriminated against in recent times also.
Perhaps Woman Today should take an intraspection into its own society as well. Perhaps 'Mates', rather than sensationalising stories involving your celebrity citizens being fearful of living half way around the world, you may want to find out what is causing fear in your own own 'outback'.
Incidentally, The Bahamas is one of those countries which is ineligible for many forms of economic and technical assistance from Austrailia, despite being in The Commonwealth.
Austrailia sites our status as a 'middle income nation', not qualifying for its assistance. Perhaps this and other policies should be reconsidered to allow ordinary local Bahamians to take advantage of the well organised, advanced technical education systems in Austrailia, which other Caribbean nationals have done at little or no cost.
This may give some Bahamian youth the experience of a lifetime, and you never know; this may even help to reverse some of the social ills which these isolated and elitist gated communities have helped to create over the years.

Posted By: Thomas Jefferson On: 12/15/2009

Title: This country is in a FREE fall and too many MORONS... are in DENIAL!

Come on... Bahamas has become a DISGRACEFUL place to visit or to even live. It is extremely DANGEROUS and if one is NOT a Bahamas citizen, there is ABSOLUTELY... zero justice! That country needs a Giuliani or a Bloomberg. The country is OUT Of Control. HORRIBLE!

Posted By: Truth On: 12/13/2009

Title:

On a rock measuring roughly 6x12 miles with a population of about 300,000, there have been 532 ,,,I say it again 532 ARMED ROBBERIES IN 8 MONTHS!!!!
LOL. Could not have said it better.
Therealtruth- of course there will be more crime in england. it has 51 million ppl!!
if they didn't have crime i think the world would move there.

Posted By: The real truth On: 11/20/2009

Title: Bahamas no different than anywhere else

There will be crime wherever u go in this world so deal with it! I am a Bahamian student who has been living in Britain for over 6 yrs and the crime here is on a worse level than in the Bahamas; here they just happen to be better at hiding their crime problems and have a bigger population so statistically it doesnt look as bad. And before any Brit tries to deny it I have no prejudice to the Bahamas as I hold a British passport too and my father is from Devon so it is not about taking sides but rather bringing out the fact that crime is everywhere.
If she isn't happy living in the Bahamas then she is free to leave - no one is forcing her to stay there and as far as blasting our country she can kindly leave and fly back to her own country if its so perfect (which I'm sure it isn't!).
So Mrs Hewitt please leave and take ur scathing comments with u because other not so stuck up celebs live there just fine - Shakira namely (who actually lives in Nassau too!)...
Obviously u r too good for the Bahamas so go find another nation to write remarks about!

Posted By: billiebart On: 11/13/2009

Title: Put it in Perspective

On a rock measuring roughly 6x12 miles with a population of about 300,000, there have been 532 ,,,I say it again 532 ARMED ROBBERIES IN 8 MONTHS!!!! There is crime in every country but not too many can match that statistic.. There are cities with 3 times that population that don't have that level of crime, and that's not counting other robberies. So we can yell as much as we like and as loud as we can about being portrayed falsely, but the facts remain the facts. Those figures are from today's Tribune and I'm not sure it includes the whole month of August... ps. the fact that they are rich foreigners doesn't make it ok, Poor Bahamians get robbed too.

Posted By: Truth On: 11/12/2009

Title: Bahamas sucks

@Pissed With Rampant Ignorance, could not agree with you more! yes, i do not see how any of us would survive without bars on windows! i am working on leaving this country. i've been unahppy living here for years. i am trying to save up, get things together, and find a country suitable to my taste. when i'm gone i won't be coming back. i can't take it. you can't even call a company in this country and 99% of the time you get bad attitude/service/ or they just don't know anything. YES, every country has crime and problems. we all know that. DUH. but obviously to this woman, Bec, this country appears worse than her country. why can't she have her opinion? But everything said in the article is the TRUTH, is it not?? I would have a problem with the article if it was lies. it's not. not only is the government (and that means anyone that comes into power, whether plp or fnm) lousy, lazy, and have a no care attitude, except when it comes to foreigners building a business here or buying something (bcz it puts money in their pocket), the general people have a serious personality problem. they're very angry, lazy, sour faced, and have a bad attitude. just yesterday, drving with my boyfriend, a young guy blasting music from his car, seemed to not care that we were exiting a shopping center. he was trying to come in, and he pulled up so fast and close to us, almost causing an accident. he was driving like, "YOU better get your car out of the way." i looked at him to see if he was insane. he laughed and blew me a kiss. that EXACT reckless, dont care attitude, they carry into driving, work, interacting, and that's why we have so much killing and crime bcz they could care less. know that i am stating ONE example. i could go on and on with countless horror stories of bahamian men and women. 95% of the people in this country are horrible. to someone that says ppl everywhere are like that: i only know about HERE. when i live in another country i can comment on that country. right now i only know about the BAHAMAS. @BahamaMama. you are right about the police. and i can't believe this place has worst crime than Philadelphia. wow. that's really sad bcz this is literally a 2x2 country. we are a pencil dot on the map! while other countries are as big as a 25 cent quarter. we can hardly be seen on a map and have so many problems. i heard an american man on a talk show years ago, i think it was bodie's talk show, i always remembered it bcz of the man's reaction. he said, how can ya'll not be able to manage this country?! one neighbourhood in the u.s. is almost as big as this country with the more people! the gentleman seemed genuinely confused. i did say i won't return, but i may return to help the country, financially, e.t.c. i would like to correct the stray dog problem. dont have time to get into that. but it's horrible the amount of dogs who look like they're dying, roaming the street. this place needs all the help it can get.

Posted By: deaneal On: 11/9/2009

Title: Dear mrs hewitt

your life as a 26yr old am sure has a lot of carefree idle time seeing that your millionaire husband plunked down a chunk of change for life in paradise.you should be careful of the stones you throw coming from no doubt crime free Austraila. fact is the bahamas has 700 hundred islands over 2000 rocks and cays you and your husband choose the most populated so sorry you can't go clubbing at will there is crime in the bahamas as every where in the world it effects everyone as a small nation of about 300 thousand people you must understand that portraying your adopted country as savage leaves any reasonable person to say "At your Leisure please leave "your comments are damaging not because what you said is slightly true but in the hands of womans world and their spin its lethal to a struggling country because of the celebrity of the person it is coming from.highlighting crime in nassau is different from cat island, Exuma .Andros, Freeport, Abaco San salvador and so on if you decide to stay in the Bahamas please find a quiet spot may be in Ragged island or Acklins or Inagua there are lots of nice quiet places all in the Bahamas .Belive it or not crime free. your friend and countryman deaneal

Posted By: Responding to "Realistically" On: 10/25/2009

Title: "The Real Truth"

Whomever you are, I am a Bahamian too and more specifically a Nassauvian, and yes, Nassau does have its problems with crime, but so does any major large city with a population similar to ours. Lets not forget Nassau is a cosmopolitan city with a range of different ethnicities and a population of over 260,000. In comparison, Grand Bahama on the whole has a population of probably 55,000. I've lived in Nassau all my life, we sleep with our windows wide open, we have no problems walking our streets at night. So, for you to suggest that Nassau is such a dangerous place, when you don't live here is wrong. Grand Bahama too would have serious crime problems if it supported the kind of population that New Providence does. You are just as bad as whomever wrote that article because you are agreeing with them by saying "Nassau is an intimidating, crime-ridden place getting worse everyday". I live in Nassau, I love Nassau and won't want to live in boring, dry-old, nothing-to-do Freeport any day! And actually, when you consider the crimes committed proportinately to the respective population of New Providence and Grand Bahama, the numbers are almost the same.

Posted By: angel baby On: 10/10/2009

Title: never 4get your roots

honestly whoeva she is if she is a bahamian then she shouldnt 4get her roots.and who ever wrote that article needs to remember if u dont have anything nice to say dont say it at all not to mention since she doesnt know the bahamas like that it isnt nice to generalize a place just by the negative things that are going on. every place on this planet has its bad parts and am pretty sure that austrailia has it too but for her to say that is not appropriate. as for that lady bec, wealth can come and it can go, understandibly she is afraid, but money isnt everything. i wonder how she would feel if her husband left her high n dry wit ntn..... then wat???? never forget yr roots or where u come from because you could always go back or end up in a worse place.

Posted By: Realistically On: 10/8/2009

Title: The Truth

In reality we as Bahamaians know that Nassau is already a crime ridden place and it is becoming worst every day. I am not a native of New Providence, but am from Grand Bahama. The truth is that living is Nassau is highly intimidating I completely understand that this lady may be afraid to do certain things, however when misrepresenting the country and making it see like the entire country experiences these social ills it becomes a problem. Although Nassau (proper) may seem like a huge ghetto the truth is that other aspects of New Providence are surburban and accomodating to family life. In that respect I believe that whomever wrote the article in "Women's Day" need to revise her information and recheck her sources. It is also on the part of the Bahamian government tho' to promote the Bahamas as being more than Nassau.

Posted By: TS9J2 On: 10/3/2009

Title: DO YOU KNOW

YOU NEED TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW PLEASE BETH

Posted By: pluckus1 On: 9/25/2009

Title: problem in the bahamas

I am a bahamian my take on crime in this country stems from the way we small people see the law only targets the ghetto people land stolen people make down payment for house and cars to never see their money again then the police only targets the ghetto people fraustration is causing all this politicians seems to only care about selling beach front to expats and claim that they building a country while we feel left out so crime will get thier attention and also our government act as if only a few prominent blacks are bahamains and the majority rest is of haitain descent because the haitain numbers are overwhelming us and you cant tell who is bahamian and who is haitain

Posted By: BahamaMama On: 9/22/2009

Title: truth should not be ignored

It is very true, this island is crime ridden. I do not think the tennis player's wife should have entered this country without real knowledge of the place she was about to live in, which many ppl seem to do unknowingly. The Bahamas does advertise that it's better here and what a beautiful place to be, but does not deal with the issues at hand. I don't think you can just defend Nassau without really acknowledging the truth. I have lived in dangerous cities like Philadelphia, but in comparison find Nassau to be more dangerous a place by far. I and everyone I know has either been a victim of crime here or knows someone who has. I know at least one person who has been shot and know of others who have shot at criminals in self defense. My home has been robbed, and know of MANY other ppl who have had the same happen to them. There is no place I have been to that can compare to the crime that comes so close to a person as here in Nassau. And I must say, I agree, the police are a joke and I find them to be highly uneducated as well. We as citizens have a right to live in peace and gov't should do ALL that is needed in order to have a more peaceful community. That, in my opinion, means hiring qualified police who have been PROPERLY trained and educated ... since we cannot find them in Nassau, bring them in from other countries.

Posted By: Pissed With Rampant Ignorance On: 9/19/2009

Title: Morons

From what you have written here, it is not that far from the truth. Nassau is filled with illegitimate, uneducated morons whose only goal in life seems to be emulating rap stars and gangsters. I am quite well aware of many Bahamians who would leave Nassau if they were able. It is not safe to go out at night, the police are an absolute joke for the most part (a major percentage of them being uneducated morons) and if you want to survive, you better be in a gated community and/or live with bars on your windows. Nassau is an endless stream of hustlers and misfits and it is not getting any better and guess what Maura, there a many places in the Caribbean alone that are safer and more civilized to reside then the cesspit known as Nassau.

Posted By: Mrs. Miller On: 9/17/2009

Title: Bahamas is a nice place to be called home.

I have been living in the Bahamas for over thirty years and I find it to be rather fearly nice to live in. Sure there are some bad apples in the piles but what country is there who has no rotton apples. In life, there are always the good and the bad. The employed and the un-employed. The clean and the unclean. The beautiful and the ugly. We have to determined for ourselves where we want to be in life. This entitles us to be responsible for our every actions. Peter isn't better than Paul!

Posted By: BAHAMAS 22 On: 9/14/2009

Title: LOOK IN THE MIRROR

They must have visited the Bahamas before they decided to move here. If not idiots! Every place has crime, Nassau is not a Eutopia! I suppose Australia is crime free? No matter where you live there will be sections that have poverty, homelessness or violence. Maybe they should have bought an island

Posted By: Mary Green On: 9/13/2009

Title: Crime

The Bahamas is not immune from crime...people's hearts and minds are the same world-wide...people need to change their hearts,and minds...therein lies the problem. Read the news of the world for crime...then compare.

Posted By: Hector Smith On: 9/11/2009

Title: Do Bahamians have to leave to?

My son Brenton Hector Smith,an inoccent Bahamian, was shot and killed by police an no authority has even addressed the matter after the admitting the facts.Brenton has been dead 2 months now. I could swear we the family are the villians here.Who lying to who.We can't even pretend with each other anymore.Whoever speaks up seems to be the ones we run.We need to embrace these folks who we lured here with our slogans and make efforts to change the problems or even show we are as concern as they are.Address the problem,address the issue and they might even assist us to help our country.

Posted By: Alison Lowe, Tribune Staff Reproter On: 9/7/2009

Title:

See Tomorrow's Tribune for Lleyton Hewitt's reaction to the story....

Posted By: Rik Skegneti On: 9/7/2009

Title:

Apologies Dick. I was thinking wholly of Nassau.

Posted By: dick funke On: 9/7/2009

Title:

not the bahamas rick this is a nassau n.p. problem next would be grand bahama this is not the story for the rest of the family islands

Posted By: Rik Skegneti On: 9/7/2009

Title:

How can anyone defend the indefensible? What she's said about the Bahamas is accurate. A wholly uncivilised society where greed and corruption is the norm.