The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Every time I read the online paper, there are countless entries of shots fired, someone clinging onto life and the ever-rising murder count. I read articles stating that other countries have issued advisories to tourists travelling to our shores.

There are headlines stating that contracts have been issued to builders who have no insurance, and payments made without any confirmation that works have been completed.

Further articles stating that the AG’s office are providing answers on some stories and keeping quiet over others. More stories on the delays to Baha Mar yet again.

It is an absolute shambles. We are turning into a disgrace and it is heartbreaking.

We mustn’t be fooled, whether you are kidding yourself or not. This will affect our nation in more ways than one, and for far longer than the current term. We are tearing our country apart. The tourism which we rely so heavily on; the tourists, they will stop coming. 

And the sad fact is, we are stopping them. There is no one else who can take the blame.

The Bahamas is already an expensive destination. I can travel from London to many Caribbean islands for a fraction of what it would cost for me to fly to Nassau. What I pay in flights alone would cover flights and accommodation to another island. We don’t need to give tourists more reasons to go elsewhere.

And with Baha Mar and talks of a new hotel development at the British Colonial, we need an influx of tourists more so than ever.

The government with their mishandling of BAMSI are failing us, but worse still we are failing each other. And the fact that the government are still shrouding the contracts in mystery is a disgrace. The contracts should have been checked, the insurance should have been confirmed and verified long before works commenced. This should be the case with every contract, every proposal, every bid. Which begs the question; what is the vetting process? How was the decision made to grant that contract. Were there other companies that had actual insurance who put a bid in for tender and were denied?

Christie and the current administration, Wake Up!! This is not rocket science. These mistakes could have easily been avoided.

Somewhere down the road we have lost our hope. The Bahamas I know is full of pride, but I wonder now if we have placed our pride in the wrong things.

We as a country need to pull our socks up and demand better. As citizens we need to demand better. Better from ourselves and our government. We need to remember that tourists don’t owe us anything. They have chosen to visit our shores, so we must show them the courtesy of being polite, being hospitable and appreciating that they chose our shores when it could easily have been Barbados, Antigua or somewhere else.

It shouldn’t be about “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” at the sake of our country or our people. Whether you read the Bible or not, whatever your faith, we need to work as a nation to heal; to be better citizens, and to demand more from our government.

Waiting a year to release a report on an oil spill is simply not good enough.

The never-ending postponing of an equality referendum is not good enough. The constant power cuts are not good enough. We need to stand together and demand more. We are a small country, and change cannot happen overnight. But we need to make a step, together, in the right direction.

FP

Nassau,

May 13, 2015.