The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to attend a small college in the United States, in addition to playing on one of the Varsity sports teams on campus. In college sports whether Division I or III, there is a traditional season and an off-season. Here at my school we are blessed to have a dedicated Strength and Conditioning Staff that push all of the athletes to getting better and better every off-season. They recently put up a sign in our weight room, above one of the mirrors that says “Look in the mirror…That’s your competition.” Our coaches encourage us to look in the mirror and hold ourselves and others accountable for pushing one another. This needs to be an honest and objective task; you cannot be biased because you’re tired or sore, you have to push yourself to be the best that you can be.

Looking at the current state of our beautiful country, how can any Bahamian that claims they love their country say, “You know what, we are in a good place here.” The ones who claim this are either delusional or they love themselves more than they love their country, because there is so little that the current administration is doing that is benefiting the country. You cannot tell me that you are able to look at yourself in the mirror, while being true to your honesty and your integrity, and say that we can, as a nation, handle another five years of this administration. If you are still wondering whether we can or cannot, let me assure you it’s the latter.

Sadly, there is a culture of greed, power and corruption that has engulfed our Bahama Land. Because of this, the coming election is much more than sticking with who your mother or father has voted for in the past. Just because your family has voted for one way in every single election since our independence, this doesn’t mean you have to, too. I implore you to look a little further than just what your family has done in the past. Challenge yourself to look at current and potential MPs ethically, morally and objectively; look at what he or she has done for their people or what they are saying they will do. Go another step further, ask them to tell you exactly how they are going to bring about change, what steps are they going to take and most importantly is this beneficial and where is the money coming from?

Residents of Jubilee Gardens, what has your MP done to help you in the past month and what has your Prime Minister done for you and your family? Is it enough? I’m going to go out on a limb and argue that nothing meaningful has been done, seeing that your neighbourhood is still exposed to smoke from the dump. Residents of Cat Island, what has your MP done for you other than a cookout and some beers? You cannot honestly say to yourself that what our politicians are doing to our country is sustainable; they can only take so much before we have nothing left and they have everything.

The Bahamas lacks accountability, and it is time that we change that. Wake up Bahamas! How can you look yourself in the mirror and say that an administration spending millions of dollars on Carnival is ok, yet the population of New Providence and the tourists, that we as a country rely on, cannot enjoy our inalienable right to clean air? Don’t you like to breathe fresh air; I know I do.

I ask you, how is it acceptable that we do not know how our government has spent the vast amount of VAT money that has been generated? And yes we do have a right to know, because it is our money? How is it ok for the Prime Minister to stand in front of a crowd of people and show them the finger, or defy God himself? That is the man who represents us all over the world.

In order to right the ship, the first step that must be taken is to look ourselves in the mirror and ask that very simply question: Can we as a nation take another five years of this? Five more years of uncontrolled killings. Five more years of dirty water, dirty air and a toxic dump. Five more years of inside jobs and contracts.

We need accountability across all parties and we need it now. Wake up Bahamas!

CONCERNED BAHAMIAN STUDENT

Voting in the US

April 24, 2017.