The Tribune

After ten years in the Bahamas, Julien Martel has decided to move back to the UK. He has some farewell thoughts for the country he is leaving.

IT is time to leave Nassau after calling it home for the last ten years. So it seems timely to put down some thoughts on our experiences and what ultimately has led us to this decision.

In 2005, I expressed an interest with my employer to relocate. We lived in the Channel Islands and my wife and I had decided our family was complete with the arrival of our youngest son two years previously. He joined our two other children – ten and seven at the time – so timing seemed perfect. My employer was based in a number of offshore jurisdictions and I didn’t really mind where we were offered, although I knew The Bahamas may be close to the top of their list as the group had purchased the business here two years earlier, and I had visited on a number of occasions for work.

In August, 2005, I was offered a senior position in the Bahamas office and we worked feverishly to complete all formalities, enabling us to move in January, 2006. We were advised to look for a property in a gated community and moved into Seapointe, Port New Providence.

My new work colleagues welcomed me and respected my role without question and I joined feeling very empowered.

Back then, it was often the case you could spend one to two hours sitting in traffic on Eastern Road heading into work and this was my first experience of the possible crime levels, being almost thrown off the road by those crazy prison buses and their escorts. Unbelievably, the same thing happened to me just the other day. Why is a country so reliant on tourism still moving prisoners in this fashion, almost parading them with pride downtown? Why not build that talked-about court within the prison grounds and don’t give these individuals any second of fame?

My family and I have very much enjoyed our time here. Our children’s lives were definitely enriched and moulded through their experiences and most local Bahamians have treated us with respect for the most part, as you’d expect in the age we live in.

However, increasingly there just seems a total lack of any respect. What do I mean? Let’s go through some examples.

A lack of respect for life

It seems “acceptable” there will be between 100 to 150 murders each year. Recently our minister for national security stated he believes it’s an improvement to have 56 murders to-date (2016) and whilst true against the same time last year, no one taking another’s life is acceptable. Dr Nottage and everyone in the Bahamas should be disgusted, outraged and have that sick feeling in their stomach when this happens. Right now, no headline seems shocking anymore.

This will only get better by tackling the various roots of the problems and returning police and the defense force if necessary to the streets. Bring in help. Why is the government, and previous governments, so proud to think that they can’t accept outside assistance? Because this is likely the only way it will get tackled; ensuring no one knows those who are defending the country’s citizens.

Also, bring in a curfew. Yes, crime doesn’t just happen when its dark, but so much could be learned from other jurisdictions. Look at how New York cleaned itself up. So, yes Bahamas, you can do it. Citizens, don’t let what appears to be an acceptable crime be how your future is defined.

A lack of respect for a person’s personal property

This past weekend, I was told there were [multiple] robberies. Why is this again considered acceptable? Bahamians need to demand change, a change in those in power. I say this as someone with no right to vote – or no right to comment some might say – but how can ministers responsible for our safety and security smugly and happily say “things are getting better” and keep their jobs? Robbery is something most people never get over, so whilst the statistics are one thing, the ongoing emotional turmoil for most people is unacceptable and once again shows the government has no respect for those they serve.

A lack of respect for fellow drivers on the roads

When moving to Nassau, we felt we needed to learn to drive again; not to become better drivers, but to become ultra defensive drivers. No one respects signs, speed limits, laws requiring seat belts, other drivers, traffic lights or pedestrians; the only person on the road is the person behind the steering wheel. No one uses those flashing yellow lights on the side of the car, called indicators, which work by pushing the levers behind the steering wheel up and down depending on whether the car is turning left or right. So, ultimately, no one knows where any car is going; it’s a guessing game which causes frequent smashes and altercations.

The main reason for this is that the roads are not policed. How many drivers do you see with no seat belt, driving above the speed limit with a baby sitting on someone’s lap? Do these people not realise what would happen if the car had to stop with any urgency? Likely the baby would be crushed by their own mother/father or they would hurtle [with their parent] through the windscreen and end up 50 metres up the road dead. There should be an active traffic division which isn’t just reactive to accidents and incidents but which polices the roads to ensure laws are enforced. This will ultimately save many lives.

A lack of respect in customer service

The one area we can criticise is inconsistency in customer service throughout the Bahamas. We have experienced excellent to very poor. We have experienced customer service with no smile, eye contact and sucking of teeth.

The Bahamas needs to focus on customer service as its differentiator. The islands have so much potential, but there is massive competition out there in the world and one bad customer service experienced by a visitor is usually enough to ensure that visitor will not return, likely try something new and – from our experiences – I would suggest most visitors receive many poor experiences in the time they spend here.

I have worked in financial services for 30 years and with our move back home, we are moving into the tourism industry. Many of my friends and colleagues have questioned my skill set to swap my profession, and I respond by telling them we all work in a service industry; every one of us has different customers, so customer service standards are critical to anyone’s professional life and success.

A lack of respect for animals

It breaks our hearts to see how animals are treated here, from the surrey horses downtown to the poor dogs and cats on the streets. The way the surrey horses are treated is utter abuse and I struggle to understand why any visitor pays to be pulled along by a skinny, undernourished horse which is clearly struggling pulling three or four people in 90 plus degree heat. Anywhere else in the world this wouldn’t be acceptable.

Baark and the Bahamas Humane Society are marvellous and have made such a noticeable difference through the spay and neutering programme. We no longer see packs of dogs everywhere we go; a massive well done to these two amazing organisations and we urge everyone to support their ongoing efforts.

A lack of respect for the elderly and mentally ill

It is so sad to see so many elderly and mentally ill people being completely neglected by the system, begging on every corner just to collect enough money to get to the next day. Why is there not a better welfare system available for them to be looked after? Many have worked hard all their lives in low income jobs, not giving them the opportunities to own their own properties/assets, etc, and now find themselves just tossed aside with no hope or future welfare.

Where is the compassion? Surely this isn’t right? Are not the elderly due respect, compassion and thanks? Most countries have, at a minimum, assisted living programmes; why is our VAT or National Insurance [contributions] not . . .pulling the Bahamas into the 21st century and start looking after the elderly and mentally ill?

It’s not just our civil duty, but our moral duty too.

I hope my message isn’t misconstrued, as my family and I have really enjoyed living in your country and we thank you for some wonderful experiences, for many of you welcoming us and for the privilege of living here.

These issues are just a small number I feel could be addressed by the country working together on how people respect one another, from government, the police, civil servants, both private and government schools and all service industry businesses.

If government would only lead by pulling working parties together from all stakeholders to start considering core values for the country, some radical differences could be achieved and the Bahamas could move towards being the country it has so much potential for being. Otherwise I fear the country will lose tourism, lose more of its share of the finance industry and struggle with higher poverty and crime.

We wish you well, Bahamas!

Julien Martel is a UK citizen who has returned to live and work in North Yorkshire.