EDITOR, The Tribune
We all, inclusive of myself, have been demanding the relaxation or even absolute abolition of the powers granted, unconstitutionally in my view, to the Competent Authority. Well, over the course of the last week or two they are being eased and many businesses, where they still exist, will be reopening next week.
Omnibus will be allowed to resume operations. Banks are back to regular hours. The web shops have reopened with a BANG. Arawak & Potters Cay are back in business full time and hardly any patrons are masked. Hard liquor is flowing like the Red Sea of old. We are BACK but at what potential price?
There is still no vaccination for the COVID-19. Tourists will start to trickle back in within weeks. Are we fully prepared for a second wave, God forbid? I am not a medical man so I would hope that the health protocols being proposed by the administration will work.
It is a given that our economy MUST be reopened sooner rather than later. Too many able-bodied Bahamians have been out of income producing work for three months and counting. The administration appeared for a long time to be collectively clueless as to what to do and we drifted for a long period of time. To be honest we are still adrift and the Competent Authority acts as if he is the font of all knowledge.
I am all for doing what is best or appears to be best for the unwashed masses but at what potential health care issues? It is, unfortunately for the PM and then, a case where you are damned if you do and damned even more if you don’t. Our best days as a nation and a people are yet ahead of the majority of us.
I fear, however, that Minnis is a terrible motivator. ‘In the beginning there was The Word and The Word was with God.’ The Word, with all due respect could help out the Competent Authority but will Minnis heed: ‘Thus saith The Lord’ or is he on a run all to himself ? To God, in any event, in all things, be the glory.
ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr
Nassau,
June 24, 2020.
Comments
themessenger 3 years, 9 months ago
Bodie, You need to sit small and shut up! While the competent authority has made many missteps and while ALL of us have had to endure the restrictions, the Bahamas has on the whole come through the first asult with flying colors. All one needs to to do is compare what our situation is as opposed to what is happening in places like Florida, Texas etc. The fact that there is no vaccination is of even more concern given our people's propensity for slackness. No facemasks, crease up together like sardines in a can and in your learned opinion we should be opening up the country to that market? Man, those Brave fumes must be halusogenic.
joeblow 3 years, 9 months ago
The low death rates in this country have nothing to do with what the competent authority did. In most cases they made things much worse. Consider this:
1) After the first case of covid was diagnosed, people were not really wearing proper masks or social distancing. Many in that family were exposed and they exposed others. Based on their jobs any number of persons easily could have been exposed and our numbers should have been much higher, but they are not!
2) The alphabetized shopping lists created confusion that caused many people to assemble in stores which should increase the risk of exposure and should have cause many hundreds of cases. That did not happen. Not saying people were not infected and asymptomatic, but note how few got sick. Just a few. 3) when the woman in Bimini got sick and died that island was not shut down. We heard nothing about symptoms there until ONE MONTH later when the government decided to lock things down. The rates of infection there should have been much higher.
The point is either this virus is not as dangerous in our population for some reason based on high rates of exposure or someone is lying about what's' going on. Based on how recklessly Bahamian have behaved, not wearing masks properly, not observing social distancing, going in grocery stores with family etc, our rates of infection should be through the roof and we should have much more than 11 dead. It is certainly not because of governments efforts!
If you want an example of efficient government response look at Taiwan. Population 23 million + with only 7 deaths!!
Porcupine 3 years, 9 months ago
Agree with most. Yet, there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty in the whole equation. I think the next two months will be very telling here. I hope we do not suffer the same fate as our neighbor to the north.
tribanon 3 years, 9 months ago
The better safe than sorry move is to keep our borders closed to travellers from North America and the forever lying sinister Red China, at least until there is some evidence the 'herd effect' has taken hold in North America which is currently ablaze with a major surge of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in many states, including Florida; especially South Florida.
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