The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I am relieved that finally someone from the Met Office was honest enough to put a stop to this masquerade. I commend Mr Michael Stubbs for the testicular fortitude displayed to “bite the bullet” and speak the truth. This charade has been going unnecessarily too long.

Everyone makes mistake, machines malfunction and bad decisions are made that sometimes have to be revisited. This happens every nano second, everywhere in the world. Why has this simple thing become such a football?

The forecasters are people who we all have come to respect and trust. They have been advising us on weather conditions since time immemorial. The fishermen and sailing community rely on their opinion.

How come because the revelation that the Doppler radar was not working should we immediately conclude that these people who we always relied on are now delusional. If the radar malfunctioned, why not confess that it did, and move on. But why pretend that it was working because it would show either negligence or irresponsibility is insane. Wow!

The majority of Bahamians believe that the radar was not working, regardless of how fast the storm developed or otherwise. No amount of trotting out Trevor Basden, Jeffrey Simmons or Basil Dean can force us to believe otherwise. This was a clear exercise of damage control.

What is so disheartening is that in the initial stages of the concerns, why did these most senior men not immediately come to the fore and make a statement. Do you know why, or is it because they knew all along that it was not working?

As I stated earlier, it took a highly decorated, extremely experienced, well respected locally and internationally, highly knowledgeable and I am sure the above mentioned names know too that Mr Michael Stubbs is an asset to the Met Office.

Above all that I have said so far, absolutely no one who has met or spoken with Mr Stubbs can say that he was not a genuine person. His integrity was always intact.

I am proud that we still have Bahamians who will not be “fingered” to spin or change the story to suit anyone. Now let us fix the radar, maintain the radar and make sure this never happens again.

Finally, I believe we have professionals at the Met Office, Mr Stubbs is one of them, I trust that his public statements does not retard his upward mobility. No witch-hunt is necessary. No petty retaliation toward him will help the situation.

We will be watching and waiting.

SHARP EYE WASHINGTON

Nassau,

October 26, 2015.