The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I wish simply to underscore and reiterate the brilliant submission lately by my two great and honoured friends, Dianne Phillips and Ortland H. Bodie re. ownership by young Bahamians.

They both speak of ownership of land in this nation. Many of us, including myself, have been preaching this sermon for many years. Way back in the year 1977, in the midst of the drug scourge, I begged the then government to afford every young man and woman in this nation a piece of land. Sadly, nothing much has been done in that regard by any administration.

Land use is a gem that we can use to cultivate elements of development in our country. Over the Hill and many other areas in Nassau, young men and women own nothing; many live forever with parents or they rent; and I have done my homework and can state unequivocally that 45 percent of our young in this country own nothing on which they can stand and point to and proclaim: ‘THIS IS MY LAND’!

Let us look at Long Island as an example of ownership of real estate and its significance. Back in the day growing up there, early 1940s, if a young man from Pettys desired engagement to a young lady from Mangrove Bush, there was this procedure: He would take himself to the father of the special young lady to ask for her hand. The first question was not if he loved the daughter; it was “do you own land”? If his answer was no, then he was asked to come back when he did. If the answer was yes, then the next question was: “Do you have a building up to “bell course?” If the answer was “no”, then he was requested to come back when he did. If both questions were answered in the positive, then and only then did the father and mother give their blessing to the engagement. Maybe, the many bell-course homes now existing unfinished reflect engagements not ending in marriage?

New technology, hiring more police officers, enacting an abundance of new laws, stiffer penalties for crimes – none of these will accomplish the return of peace and comfort in the areas breeding violent crime and death. Until our nation of young people have an ownership and involvement in the affairs of this nation, there will be no peace in the land. Until the tripod of strength be established by home, school and church, led by conscientious men and women, nothing will change in this nation.

If a young man has no means and purpose of producing, he will become a plague on society. Too many of them will continue to enter the walls of Her Majesty’s Prison where the only ownership they can claim is the shared bucket to relieve themselves.

Once again, I call upon men in this nation to care for their sons; a mother alone cannot give the necessary elements for stable growth for boys. I beg the government to allocate land for ownership by young men.

A gentleman right here in Freeport after retiring from the power company seven years ago has applied and been begging for allocation of land in his homeland, Cat Island, so his sons there could farm for a living. Every time he goes to the office of Crown Land, he is asked to check back later. He is so frustrated that he has even asked me to speak directly to the PM.

Why are our people treated in such disdain, when foreigners can so easily come in and very easily lay claim to our heritage? We talk plenty of producing food for our people, yet we delay and block the very means by which they can produce. Every major island in this nation should have a BAMSI where thousands of our young men and women could be gainfully employed.

When Monsignor Preston Moss was alive, he had a great plan to attach hundreds of young and unemployed men to fishing vessels to learn how to fish and support themselves and their families. Give fishermen this assistance rather than taxing them out of business. I have a suspicion that as we cry for producing more, our politicians secretly do not share this call, for how can the government function as it currently does, without the inordinate taxes levied on imported goods? What a state of contradiction we do spin!

Sincerely,

JOSEPH DARVILLE: Farmer by birth and desire.

Freeport, Grand Bahama.