The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Please allow me to express my concerns  for this country that I love so dearly called The Bahamas.

Soon we will be celebrating our 43rd year of Independence from the rule of Great Britain. However, exactly how independent are we? With crime wave off the chart and a murder reported almost every night, why are we looking to the very country from whom we declared our independence to solve our problems? Why do we need the approval of the Privy Council on whether we should enforce the death penalty? Do you think this group of men and women care about anything that goes on in a country over which they have no authority?

In fact, I believe they are happy (yes even thrilled) that our crime rates are high, our national debts keep growing, our unemployment rate keep climbing and there seems to be no end in sight to the gimmicks and bankrupt ideas of our current government leaders. Maybe they smile and think to themselves, “You should have stayed with us because you are no good on your own”.

We don’t have a crime, or unemployment or a national debt problem. We have a vision problem. As King Solomon said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. In modern terms, “Where there is no vision, the people can’t find jobs, therefore they commit crime and the national debt goes up because the government has to raise taxes to build more prisons and hire more police officers”.

What exactly are we celebrating when we say “Happy Independence”?

What are we Independent from? Our cars come from Japan, our food comes from America, most of our banks are Canadian, Chinese are building our roads and hotels and building convenience stores on every corner, our students travel to London to study law, our nurses and doctors are from the Philippines and India.

This country has so much potential to be the leader in all the Caribbean, yet our government has no faith in the Bahamian people. Here is one idea. Why does it take six to twelve weeks just to get a RENEWAL passport? The passport backlog is a governmental failure. Hire people to work shifts 4pm to 12 midnight to process the passports and 8am to 4pm to distribute them the following day. Weekend work too if necessary (yes there are people willing to work weekends too if they really want a job). This doesn’t take rocket science. This solves two problems: Someone will no longer be unemployed and secondly, the public will receive the service they are paying for.

Let us truly become Independent by using our brains and not just talking to hear ourselves talk.

ANDY FERGUSON

Nassau,

July 5, 2016.