The Tribune

Today’s front page picture has a light-hearted headline but the story it relates to is no joke.

Drive down most streets in New Providence and the Family Islands and it’s hard to miss the potcakes sitting or lying by the side of the road.

They live a terrible life, searching for scraps to eat, flea-ridden and filthy.

And, of course, with no one to care for them, they breed.

For the tourists who have now started to return to our islands these animals are a sorry sight and they must be thinking why the authorities here don’t do something about it.

The scale of the problem was laid bare by a recent airlift to the United States of more than 200 potcakes collected by Bahamas Humane Society. On top of that another 150 cats were flown out.

It was a herculean effort to arrange the flight, provide all the funding needed for the operation.

Sadly the kennels and cages the animals vacated are quickly filling up.

The BHS has just reported that nearly 60 dogs were housed at its facility in just a few days. Pretty soon they’ll be back to square one and organizing another flight to find to take these desperate animals to a better life.

There is a simple solution, of course, and that to spay or neuter as many dogs as we can.

The just-announced Potcake Golf Tournament has that goal in mind – and a target of raising $100,000 to achieve.

It’ll be a big ask to achieve but will help in tackling a problem we shouldn’t still be turning a blind eye to.

Dogs are man’s best friend - it’s time we remembered that.

Not a done deal – yet

You have to admit Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson is a determined woman.

Hot on the heels of Glenys Hanna Martin telling the country most schools would resume in-person learning in the second week of January Belinda pops up saying it’s not a done deal – yet.

Readers – and politicians – are well aware of Ms Wilson’s quite strident positions on all things relating to education.

It’s quite clear, in her mind, that unless any proposal isn’t first cleared with her union then it’s highly likely there’ll be trouble ahead.

According to Ms Wilson the union has only had a preliminary discussion with the Minister of Education about the possibility of schools reopening in January 2022.

She says a further meeting is planned with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the union for a comprehensive discussion on the way forward.

Listening to Mrs Martin on Monday it seemed as if all things had been pretty much sorted and our children would soon be heading back to some sort of normal school life.

Sadly, it now seems there’s still some way to go.