The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I must admit that when I read in this paper that the police chief suggested some “civil liberties” would have to be infringed upon, the first thing that popped into my head was that this country would give up trying to govern themselves and would give up on their repeated failures of voting for people or clowns to lead them. After all, this is a country that is smaller than the city of Miami. Does anyone know who the mayor of Miami is? Exactly my point.

It all hit me on the Wednesday edition of The Tribune.

The article “Gov’t eyes $100m duty-free shopping” made me realise that John Rolle, who is paid with taxpayer’s money, would rather the poorest of Bahamians pay his salary rather than the rich tourist on Bay Street who is buying jewellery. Is common decency and common sense simply educated out of these people’s heads? The Tribune article read, “The government implemented the VAT-free scheme in August with the aim of ensuring that The Bahamas remains an attractive and competitive destination for tourist shopping”. Yes, scheme is the operative word. So basically the government is saying, screw the citizens of The Bahamas. You carry the tax burden while the rich tourist gets off scot free. Is this something you would expect Jesus to say, Mr Rolle?

Then, there is another article in the Business section whereby the Minister of Financial Services, Mrs Strachan said, “The financial services industry is a parody of contradictions”. Isn’t the very idea of a financial services industry a contradiction in and of itself?

Then, also in the Business section is the Central Bank’s governor Wendy Craig who says that the last S&P downgrade is a “wake-up call, not a seismic event”. What quaint language. Ms Craig states that, “There are many countries that are lower rated than The Bahamas, many countries, and they are still able to source investments, but it is at a higher rate of interest.” Sure, just like the quick cash booth in Marathon Mall where there is a “higher rate of interest”. What malarkey. The Bahamas has dropped how many notches in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ratings, and just about any other reasonable internal or external assessment? Try your best, Mrs Craig, but this is a trend. A sorry trend that should send shivers down the back of any honest financial analyst. Who among us does not see it?

Then, in the same Tribune paper is the article, “Gomez called on to honour corruption pledge”. Cited are the $660,000.00 missing from Road Traffic, the $25,000.00 missing from Freeport Passport Office, the three million dollars of home improvements not completed or not begun, the $600m Letter of Intent, $10m dollars of pharmaceutical inventory missing from PMH, missing money from COB. Not mentioned in the article are the financial state of BEC, Bank of Bahamas, BTC, Bahamas Air, all with their own sorry financial state likely attributed to graft, corruption and blatant mismanagement.

To top it off, the front page lead article in today’s Tribune reads in bold letters, “Lockdown.” An all-time record murder count for this country. Don’t blame Christie. It isn’t his fault and he doesn’t have the leadership or intelligence to do anything about it if he could. This problem has been brewing for 20-30 years. These 20 to 30-year-old kids have been allowed to grow up with no respect for human life. They are not just a handful, and they will not suddenly change. They will procreate and have children who mimic their anti-social behaviour. There is no magic bullet. This is the new normal Bahamas. Get used to it. Get used to the murders, the muggings, the rapes, and all of the attendant crime that goes along with social failure. Yes, this is the result of a laid-back attitude in The Bahamas that has festered for 20–30 years. These kids were not formed in a day or a year. This was systematic neglect to care for their well being that has come back to haunt us. The good decent people who can afford to will leave this country. It is already happening. There are plenty of safe, nice places to live in the world. Places where you don’t have to constantly lock down everything you value and love.

Places where you are safe on any street day or night. It will be at the very least one full generation before The Bahamas can get a grip on the crime problem, if there is a concentrated effort to do so. I doubt that there will be the honest soul searching. It will simply be more of the same finger pointing, adolescent petty politics as always. Nothing will get done, as usual.

Is The Bahamas fit to govern itself? This is a serious question.

A CONCERNED CITIZEN

Nassau,

November 18, 2015.