The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

Happy New Year everybody and Happy New Year Bahamas.

Wait a minute: The Bahamas says it is not a Happy New Year. The Bahamas says remember when our slogan was “It is Better in the Bahamas”. Not true any more.

There are too many things going on that make for unhappiness and once they are fixed then it can be Happy New Year. Adrian Gibson and Ortland Bodie have laid those issues out in articles and letters for us recently so we know what they are. But the question is: how do we fix them? One suggestion is we have a national government and get rid of politics where the root of the problems lie.

The Bahamas could be the envy of the world’s tourist industry with its natural resources but they are not used wisely or to the country’s advantage. The Bahamas could be the Singapore of the Caribbean but is not because no-one knows how to promote it. Too many blinkered immigration laws and too heavy a cost to operate for many.

So let’s make the New Year a time to get the best brains in The Bahamas working towards re-establishing the country’s position in the world as the envy of all others. We know most have serious political problems but The Bahamas is small enough to buck the trend, be a shining star and really make the slogan work for all.

With a little use of common sense the unemployed could have work, the poor become richer and everybody has a Happy New Year. “Then it will be better in The Bahamas again”. Yes.

P THOMSON

Nassau,

January 3, 2016.