The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The evidence at hand suggests that this present government is hell-bent on taking this nation down a path that is against what Bahamians call the “national intent”. There are choices that citizens make and there are decisions that administrations make, and this Government seems to be on a path that makes us question their intentions. Sharon Turner is taking issue with the decision to “strip out” the practice of the public’s access to a particular aspect of Government spending that has always been public and the alarm goes further as Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition has been quiet on the issue. The fact that those expenses have a lot to do with hiring and the Government’s regular business seems to be lost; even in the media.

 The other concern is the “Junkanoo Carnival Issue” that is going to evolve into an election issue. Someone has to inform the Prime Minister and Minister Daniel Johnson that the “Chicken and Rum” days are over. Between these two men and the Minister of State for finance it seems like there is a blatant attempt to put the Nation’s money behind every vice they can find; they may think that this is what the world wants, but it is not what we want, even though we act like tourists in our own country. 

There are decisions to be made and it looks like the Progressive Liberal Party has taken a page out of the special interests groups playbook that our neighbour’s to the North are using; Erotic Freedom is replacing the concerns of moral freedom.

I am thinking that all the ministers in the government need to do a Google search on “Barbados Carnival and body paint”, but I am in fear that most of them already have and they have not seen anything that they do not  agreed with. The adage that you do not have the right to disagree if you have already spent the money could be in play here. 

A word to the Christian Council, it is not your place to start making noise after the public has made its noise. You cannot yell “don’t jump” when the person is standing on the ledge; those concerns must be voiced ahead of time, even if no one is listening.  Some Christian leaders do not move a muscle except they have the “numbers” behind them. Excuse the pun. With the amount of concern expressed in the past about Gambling, Homosexuality, Same-sex Marriage, Strip Joints and Human trafficking we should have expected a lot more static from those who are looking after the “Soul of the Nation”. We may have to question how deep does the demonising influence of politics run; even in the lives of those who claim to speak for God.

EDWARD HUTCHESON

Nassau,

February 2, 2015.