EDITOR, The Tribune.

  I think the time has come for the rest of The Bahamas to know just how severe the economic crisis has been in Grand Bahama. I have been hearing for years now that thousands of Grand Bahamians are out of work and are at their wits end. While we citizens of Nassau have enjoyed a city that has been a major hub of economic activities for years, thanks to Atlantis, Baha Mar, Albany, the New Providence road works project and the development of the Lynden Pindling International Airport, Freeport's economy has shriveled like a raisin.

I have a close relative and many friends who live in Freeport City. I remember hearing PLP candidates complaining about many Grand Bahamian families losing their homes to foreclosure. With no job prospects and no money in the bank to get an apartment, these people have resorted to sleeping on the various beaches on the island. A resident of Freeport recently informed me that she had seen with her own eyes homeless Grand Bahamians living on a beach in the Freeport area. Another Freeport resident told me that The International Bazaar has become the home of several struggling businesspersons, who have lost their homes, and their families. His father works in the Bazaar, and has alleged to have seen on many occasions children being dropped off there during the night in casual clothes and leaving first thing in the morning dressed in their school clothes. According to my friend's father, one of the store owners admitted to him that he lives in the Bazaar. This particular businessman's electricity was disconnected by the power company because of his inability to pay his bill.

These homeless Grand Bahamians have nothing to feel embarrassed about. Like millions around the world, they have fallen on hard times. The ones who should hang their heads in shame are members of the former and current government, and the wealthy people of Freeport. There is very little or no safety net at all for the homeless in Freeport City.

Grand Bahama has very few philanthropists. When you fall through the cracks in Freeport, dog eat your lunch. But obviously the struggling residents of Freeport mentioned above have found innovative ways to survive Grand Bahama's perennial economic crisis. These persons have broken no laws. They are law-abiding citizens who are trying to keep their heads above water.

But about Freeport's underbelly? How are they surviving the financial meltdown? This is where my close relative comes in. He informed me that the prostitution industry in Grand Bahama is robust. He has seen and heard of unemployed, desperate, young Grand Bahamian women selling their bodies to expat workers on a weekly basis in order to put bread on their tables. In fact, several of these expat workers have told him about women setting different prices for various sexual acts. According to these expat workers, these women are charging anywhere from $60 to $100 per session. My relative said that these expat workers' cell phones are bombarded with calls on Fridays and Saturdays. These girls know that Friday is payday. These expats have squandered a lot of money on prostitutes.

And in case you might be thinking that my relative is lying, he had lived with these expat workers for several months, and had seen Bahamian women coming to their apartment on Friday and Saturday nights in order to provide sexual services.

The underbelly of Freeport does exists. But I know there will be those who will deny what I have written. It is time that the elitists come down from their ivory towers and see what is going on in the underbelly society of Freeport. It is safe to say that Grand Bahama has come to its knees and unless something is done, it will only get worse.

 THE WHISTLEBLOWER

Grand Bahama,

November 6, 2012.