The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Supplementary Budget - in the bluntest language Hon Philip Davis as Minister of Finance did not really say it, but folks believe me we are in financial trouble…useless not admitting it we are. Denial is precisely that.

Tourism, yes, hurrah we are doing exceptionally well but what if this new variant takes a hold of the US, then what?

Our debt payments don’t miraculously disappear. Remember folks the competent authority put us in $4 billion worth of debt and incredibly refuses to apologise, in fact right up to yesterday in the House he was self praising again and again. I cry shame!

If we borrow to pull through the Debt payment due in the next 12 months relying on B$ borrowing because very simply any US$ borrowing will come with a minimum of 10 plus percent interest, we will be lucky.

Press Officer and Communications Director stop the spin, we are in proverbial ‘do-do’.

Listen to the MPs yesterday… don’t they read what the Minister of Finance said?

PLP and FNM MPs no difference talking total gibberish totally out of sync to reality, but that’s where we are nationally.

Take the Long Island MP…you would have thought he and his party were in the wilderness for 20 years the way he talked...roads unpaved - no water - no this and no that and we desperately need a $20 plus million airport which receives anyway so few passengers, really except for politics the project should be cancelled but… oh, great talk, sir - but.

Absolutely no non-essential Capital expense should be allowed Mr Minister - zero don’t care what your Ministers say .... frugal governance for the next three-years is the sole approach that might, note might, pull us through.

Nassau Port and cruise traffic – the past Minister never mentions that the true profile of visitors is negative as the majority some 95% of seven-ten day cruise port in Nassau on their last or last, but one port of call before Florida – if there are 25-30,000 cruise passengers in port on any day and 50% come ashore that’s 15,000 plus on the streets the equivalent of a Junkanoo parade crowd – sorry, my eyes don’t deceive me…we ain’t seen that ever.

Only essential, and I mean essential, Ministerial travel…use zoom where necessary – safer for health reasons to start with.

Wake up country, people wake up…first all tax payers please pay your tax arrears…do your best to pay BPL - Water & Sewerage - real property our country cannot run on fumes, we need cash in the bank.

Are we a lost nation in total fiscal and financial denial? There is a strong suggestion we are – certainly many MPs are both sides.

D KNOWLES

Nassau,

November 30, 2021.