"The government is now eying upgrades to those two gateways." Put your hands in your pockets Mr, Minister. Unless YOU are treating The Public to airport upgrades, Y'ALL HAVE ALREADY BUST YOUR BUDGET. You start off talking about PPP and then without batting an eye, you will commit the Country to yet another crippling loan. How much of our debt has been paid down to date?

This flea infested yapping white-haired little poodle is now looking to have government borrow at least $80 million to put into his Lyford Cay neighbour's coffers. We all know Brent Symonette's family owned enterprises are in the business of paving airport runways and that Brent is not the least bit concerned about conflicts of interest. Yep, we all know that track record. Symonette has obviously promised the flea infested yapping little white-haired poodle something big in return. These two Lyford Cay dwellers are clearly scratching each other's back at the expense of Bahamian taxpayers. Yep, Minnis sure can pick 'em!

Shhh, mudda, only the PLP and Brave Davis are corrupt! What nonsense are you spewing, the FNM is beyond reproach, above board and the epitome of transparency, decency and order. *sarcasm in copious amounts*

No more borrowing. You bunch of carpet baggers raised taxes AND raised expenditures JUST LIKE former administration. Now you crying that you need MORE money? GET THE FART outta here!

Start a national lottery or legalize and tax Cannabis. If not then sit small and shut the hell up. Stock running up the debt for christ sakes man!

Did you people commenting not read the article .He is talking about private firms/people putting up the money to modernize the airports and charging fees to get return on their investment as is the case w VSR and LPIA .I think sometimes some of you are so quick to want to sound cute and making up names for people you don,t even read the article

Why do Nassau people only think that they should enjoy the fruits of ALL of our taxes???

We get very little in tax returns from our Treasury contributions ...... and Nassau people need to begin investing in their ancestral island roots before they are totally jailed in their Nassau homes.

While &200 Millon May sound like a lot of money, spreading it out over s say five year period is only $20 Millon a year. Why does it have to be painful every time government has to spend money to benefit Bahamian people. But they swing the tax axe with no mercy. Airports are essential especially to many Family Islands and the upgrades can be done with prop planning and management of funds. Then two can fly free.

Agree with you TheMadHatter. When Bahamians hear the words Public Private Partnership (PPP) from the lips of a politician, they should immediately recognize that such ventures are designed to ensure the Bahamian people get a double-whammy fleecing by both the government and their private sector cronies, whether they be local or foreign. Just look at how the Arawak Port Development PPP has increased the cost of importing goods for Bahamians and how the Nassau International Airport PPP has increased the cost of air travel (ticket taxes) for Bahamians. Our politicians think we are stupid and its high time they feel some serious push back from those of us who are being taxed to death to support their elitist life styles and giveaways to cronies for kickbacks.

Mad hatter you have to spend money to make money. Don’t be the jacksss who took his talents and buried them

So how come Minnis give De’Aguliar free and clear exemptions on washing machines and them other MPs free and clear exemptions on aircraft parts., but they telling the clothing and shoes merchants that every time they bring in a shipment they must come to the Ministry of Finance and beg for an exemption like Oliver Twist..’Please Ir, I wann some more.’ Why is Minnis dem trying to run Government like a pretty shop. Either items are duty free , like airplane parts, or they are not, like washing machines,..err I mean automobiles.

Thank you John, a point I have been trying to make but did not spell it out as well as you! I do feel merchants should have an advantage when it comes to importing, but one would think a valid shop licence in the system, or in the case of non-computer savvy civil servants, a photo-copy presented at Customs clearing would suffice.

So how much this government borrowed since coming to office? And how much did they collect in VAT?And how much in other taxes? And how much they expect to collect on the rest taxes n web shop (that do not include foreign owned casinos)? Tell D’Aguliar to go wash his bullish!t in his ow duty free machines!

Stay awake people. There is an up coming share offering in the Nassau Harbour.cruse port.. Empower your self. Dont let the Bay street boys buy everything then complain afterwards.

Public offering my arse! There's no such thing in the Bahamas. Through contractual arrangements or differing share class issues that favour the select few controlling interests in any public enterprise in the Bahamas, the plebe ordinary (common) shareholders are lucky if they end up with crumbs after considering the time value of their invested money. Good luck cashing out on top!

Thought the harbor company was just going to be a subsidiary of the Arawak Port Development Company. Meaning the shareholders of APD (which includes the government) will own the Harbor Company

But if they offer new shares make sure grab as much as you can afford. It is a very lucrative business. And most banks still paying 0 interest on fixed deposits.

This FNM government is "by far" the most dissapointing political experience I have had to date. I have never seen such "two faced" trickery in my life! I may never vote again. They refuse to do what we put them in power to do: Freedom of Information Act; Term Limits; Campaign Finance Reform; Prosecution of Fraudulent BOB Loans. It appears to me that the FNM has decided to go out in flames. Rather than try to save the Bahamas sinking ship, that we elected them to do, they have decided to further char the remains left by the PLP. If we were a more patriotic country, these "two timers" would be tarred and feathered and beaten out of town as enemies of the state!

Spot on! I'll take one of those brushes and a bag of feathers!

Is there such a thing as a Bahamian statesman? A man or woman that looks out for the interests of the country of the Bahamas, instead of stuffing his own wallet or promoting a pro party, racial or classist ideology? I'm starting to doubt such a thing is possible.

Am ombudsman or ombudswoman? Does such a creature exist in The Bahamas?

You've got my vote!!

Go Mad One!