INSIGHT: Sensitivity must be set aside as the government prepares for future superstorms
THREE weeks after the most traumatic experience The Bahamas has ever faced we are still picking up the pieces for what may be a years-long recovery and rebuilding process. The physical and psychological damage experienced by the victims, as well as other citizens that have listened to the many nightmarish accounts of surviving Dorian is palpable.
INSIGHT: Haitians are human beings - time to end discrimination
HURRICANE Dorian brought the many serious issues regarding shanty towns in Abaco into sharp focus. If ever doubted, it is now crystal clear that the residents of these communities are among the most vulnerable who live in our midst. It is also beyond question that these unfortunates remain victims of a brand of xenophobia so deep-rooted and persistent that not even a tragedy of this magnitude can assuage it.
WORLD VIEW: Cross-Border Climate Change refugees looming large
“HURRICANE Hell” and “The Bahamas is at war being attacked by Hurricane Dorian. And yet The Bahamas has no weapon to defend itself”, are two memorable expressions that emerged from the wreckage of the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama in the chain of islands that make up the territory of The Bahamas.
INSIGHT: In our darkest hour, caring hearts are most needed
JUST over two weeks ago, the islands and cays of Abaco and Grand Bahama were devastated by the ruthless winds and rain of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian. Left in its trail of destruction, the stench of death and loss still permeates the air of two jewels in the crown of The Bahamas – completely altering the picturesque landscape of the treasured Bahama islands.
INSIGHT: Lessons from the Equinor oil spill
EQUINOR, formerly Statoil, operates the old Burmah Oil storage facility at South Riding Point in East Grand Bahama.
BUSINESS BITES: Joplin recovered from tornado - so can we from 2019 Dorian?
In the Tornado Alley states of the USA, tornadoes, large and small, are too frequent to be named. Only the worst are identified for the official records — like Joplin in 2011.
WORLD VIEW: Handmaiden to the tyranny of a minority
THERE have been many ignominious moments at the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) and many farcical decisions made, but they pale in significance when compared with the events of Wednesday, September 11, 2019.
INSIGHT: A mountain to climb – which we must do together
THE devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s wrath has been absolutely unimaginable. As we braced ourselves for this monstrous Category 5 hurricane, there is no way we could have fathomed the trail of destruction that would be left behind. Footage depicting people’s lives scattered across Abaco and Grand Bahama in unrecognisable mangled pieces of debris have been plastered all over local and North American media outlets.
INSIGHT: This is not a time for partisan politics. It is a time for bigger thinking.
It’s pretty tough up here. I am lucky to be alive and thankful. There was no storm surge on the south of Freeport. There was minor damage to my home; water penetration, roof damage and huge landscape destruction.
INSIGHT: Juggling problems but BPL has to remain the priority
AFTER months of inaction on the country’s power generation challenges, the government’s recent focus on remediating the crisis has been welcome. Proclamations by the nation’s top brass - first the prime minister, and more recently, the deputy prime minister – while not completely making amends after months of nearly daily power cuts, have certainly been better than complete silence.
INSIGHT: ‘Yes’ to a higher minimum wage - but it’s all about timing
WHILE the nation’s power crisis has weighed heavily on the Bahamian people over the past nearly three months, we have somehow been able to shift our focus to another subject - increasing the minimum wage. It is four years since the last increase of the national minimum wage to $210 per week or $11,500 per annum – and since then the government raised value added tax from 7.5 percent to 12 percent.
INSIGHT: Shining a light on why we’re so slow switching on to solar
The Bahamas is one of the “solar capitals” of the world with more solar irradiation falling on our land than most other countries. In spite of this, the Bahamas has the least amount of solar integration compared with almost any country.
WORLD VIEW: How long with Venezuela remain a pawn in the game of global chess?
MICHELLE Bachelet is a torture survivor. She was arrested in 1975 by the late dictator Augusto Pinochet’s political police and detained in the notorious Villa Grimaldi torture centre. So, she knows much about the suffering of people.
INSIGHT: Forget power cuts, some of our neighbours suffer greater indignities
CRYSTAL Miller is a 30-year-old mother-of-two. In this modern Bahamas of luxury resorts shares and affluent tourists she, like many other ordinary people, still has to use two outside toilets along with five people at her home in Centreville.
INSIGHT: Are we being lulled to sleep on Carnival’s ocean dumping?
JUST four months ago, the nation was flabbergasted with the revelations of Carnival cruise line’s illegal dumping at sea.
