Wont miss it till its gone. Tourists will be next as our government continues to raise fees & tax to cover bad spending habits.

This is only the beginning, as anything Government does is for self preservation and not to make things better for Bahamians.
The people will bear the brunt of their folly.

The problem is the Government is to big & there is just too many people stealing money.. Then u have poor planning & incompotence on many levels.. Many of services provided are ran poorly or would be better if privatized and ran by Good Bahamian Businessmen.. Politicians want it this way to keep jobs for Government employees which equals political votes and power..then when money run low the public is punished with excessive fees paying double the price for goods and service because of higher taxes.. Capitalism and ecotourism is one the long term solution to this big Government mess, but investment must be made in getting ownership of land and changing mentalities. Otherwise the Government will continue to destroy its own people with massive inflation, doing further harm to the poor ..

So what does the Bahamas picture look like 5 years from now?

Crime and taxes chasing away businesses and tourists. Ten years from now i think it will be a common thing heard around town "remember when the tourists........." or "remember jobs we had at..........." or "When I got robbed......" Bahamas is a cool place that needs some help.

It can't be saved. There are not enough jobs. The job seekers are semi-literate and not qualified for anything other than unskilled labour. There are too many people chasing too few jobs in a receding economy. Several generations of poorly socialised youth are turning to crime to support themselves. The closed economy and high taxes do not allow for small businesses to spring up, which are the bellwethers and incubators of economic recovery. Established businessmen are buffering their financial assets by placing them offshore (which is ironic because we are an offshore haven -- or used to be). I can't see any hope without economic diversification and new approaches to re-train and re-socialize the working class. But the country will go bust before then, and currency will be devalued. The iceman cometh.

Start by giving Crowley one last contract.............returning all the illegals to their home islands, one long trip with a stop at each country........and like magic many jobs open up that were being done by non-Bahamians!

That's the problem Banker, how do we spark a economy & social evolution when the foundation of proper education and socialization are not in place.. it is easy to control and manipulate the uneducated, most will march with fury but could not articulate what they're marching for or why they support certain people.. That is why u here my frustration in some of my pass comments because i can see a sick economic and social recipe for futher disaster.. Without knowledge people become vunerable to anyone giving out free ham at election time. Without being a ownership society that ebrace capitalistic principals and education unfortunately the exploitation will continue

Just like growing anything, you have to prepare the garden. The first step is to liberalise the economy. Did you know that if a Bahamian wants to invest in the American stock market, the central bank charges 12.5% tax on money going out and 12.5% tax coming back in, and you are only allowed $25,000 or $50,000 total in some cases. That means that Bahamian cannot participate in the global economy

The quickest fix is to dollarise the economy -- to make the American dollar the official currency of the Bahamas. Then there will be no need for exchange control and Bahamians can participate in the global economy. Every Bahamian should be able to have an American dollar account.

Then you have to bring in the foreign teachers to elevate the standards, and you have to pay them what they are worth. Teachers pay is sick in the Bahamas. You get what you pay for. Then you must adopt classroom rules whereby student who cannot perform are simply left behind. Those who come to learn, will be the basis of a sound Bahamas. There is no fixing the lost generations. There are at least three.

We have to diversify the economy. To do that, we must invite the foreigners in to do business here, with no work permits or taxes. They must and will create businesses and jobs. And they will teach Bahamians how to operate businesses with a global perspective.

And finally, we must establish the rule of law. We must realise that our founding father was a criminal. We must vigorously pursue and jail those who have violated the public trust and have broken laws. This includes re-writing our history where some of our heroes will be shown to be the exploiters and criminals that they were. The rule of law, order, ethics and morality must again be established into the fabric of Bahamian society and politicians must go to jail. Dirty police, defense forces, prison guards, ministers, priests, politicians, bankers, doctors and custom agents must become familiar with Fox Hill.

Until you meet those conditions, the Bahamas will always be a third rate banana republic.

Banker most of my fellow Bahamian Brothers and Sisters barely have a pot to piss in let alone the Capital to invest in any market...the guys working in service at a hotel is not thinking like u or I.. Even many Americans people don't invest and are forced to live of social security upon retirement.. Bahamians live in one of the most disired locations on the planet, our natural enviroment is a cash machine.. Everyone wants to come here, unfortunately we are not a ownership society, corruption and ignorance is killing us.. The 12% + 12% is not an example of a closed society but one of corruptions and bad policy. But where is all this money and the extremely high taxes on dutes going.. Its not invested in education because we would be a world leader... It is the ruling class and politicians that are responsible for the dysfunction in education and the high crime rate.. America has its many problems and issues, as we speak i am in Camden, NJ working in an area that looks like the bad lands, drug addicts every where, taking heroin and perscription pills like oxycotton. There school system is probably one of the worse ever and corrupt politician and criminals are the norm.. Less than a few miles away is beautiful Cherry Hill and Moorestown which is the total opposite.. Our problems are just compacted and magnified because of limited space. But even in the wealthy areas people would love to have a piece of the Bahamas, our enviroment is like heaven... Its just that many of our people are just jacked up and the ones that know better just exploit the others that are ignorant, its a vicious cycle. But i agree unless we change things will only get worse..

Understood what you are saying. America has bad problems, but they are not systemic (system wide) as shown by your example of Cherry Hill. The point that I was trying to make about the Central bank 12.5% was that Bahamians cannot participate in the global village. In America, anyone can get rich. A young man can get rich by a variety of methods -- releasing a hip-hop or rap album, writing a software mobile app, starting a landscape business, monetizing a blog, the list is endless. In the Bahamas, they would have to justify an American dollar account, and pay a load to have their money converted so that they can use to live off. In addition, the ease of doing or creating a business in the Bahamas is horrendous. You need to put money up front for a business licence based on pro forma earnings. That is a major drag. Bahamians do not have access to capital -- either domestic or foreign -- so they cannot be wealth creators. The entire system is built to keep Bahamians down.

Totally agree Banker, its just frustrating to know our leaders are screwing there own people with incompetent leadership and policy...

Bahamianpride, is it your very own fellow Bahamian to blame instead of the leaders? The fellow Bahamian, commiting crimes that are depleting financial resources with more police needed, court systems, housing them in jail, crimes chasing away business and tourism......... Crime and illegal immigrants are to blame more than the politician. Everyone is accountable, look at your neighbours ground level, not upwards to the leaders.

Again, these insunations are unfounded in facts, that the Christie administration is forcing 'foreigner" companies to exit Bahamaland. Point me in the direction whereby present day government incompetence or excessive fees are responsible for this company's decision to exit doing business in Bahamaland?

Tal it is not the Christie Administration, it is a system of bad policies... And not so much related to this company but mostly that affect Bahamian Citizens and Businesses. An Example of this is the VAT and its implimentation, its good or bad depending on whether evasive measures are undertaken by business and individuals who know how to work the system.. it is a progressive tax system that apply cost at every step in the process, some u can get credit for others u get hit, its a consumption based system similar to duties but taxes are collected at different avenues..But fundementally Bahamians will pay more and the thing that nobody ever addresses is Cost especially in a slow economy.. There are many issues and most of the people here have valid points, yours i do read and mostly agree with.. To JoeSound, u r right everyone has a responsibility, but where there is poverty and a lack of proper education, there is crime.. Our people are conditioned to see politicians as saviours rather than employees and politicians create an enviroment of dependancy to maintain power.. They control policy and money which controls education, and economic conditions.. How can people empower themselves not to be poor and commit crime if u create policy that discriminate against your own people, an example of this is the gambling laws and the excessive restrictions on business and Capital... There is no real free market Capitalism unless u have old money, then u can afford to provide your kids with the best education and opportunity.. the illegal immigration thing is just rediculous on the part of the government, it should not happen, there is just not enough space and resources on the island to have an illegal immigration problem..