Eleuthera is a beautiful Island. The Government must be careful not to sell the Bahamas
for a cold bowl of porridge. Future generations will hold them in contempt.

They should learn from Our Lucaya it should be a good example

I so agree! Selling his birthright was Esau’s fate and I prey the government and people of the Bahamas do not follow suit. Disney must not have their way!

Thank you very much Mr. Carson.

My online account says Soapstop, but I assure you I am that same “Mr. Carson” :) and I can attest that the pleasure was and is all mine. The Bahamas is a beautiful country with joyous and gracious people and I hope all can benefit from a healthy, sustainable business model, not the fetid proposal Disney is pedaling to the government.

It takes a non Bahamian to say what the government of the Bahamas should be saying! So sad!

Thank you Mr. Carson!

We can only hope our Government will listen - The more they borrow the more desperate they become for large misplaced foreign investment projects.

The real genius would be someone who could figure out a way out of the viscous cycle: (overspend, borrow, overspend, borrow...bend the standards, forget vision, and allow for whatever investment walks through the door?)

Thank you for that affirmation. I really am impressed with One Eleuthera’s vision for the area. They have been meeting with the public and with officials to promote their idea of sustainable development in balance with the natural gifts this area is blessed with. Their believe a National park designation, after purchasing the privately held part of the land at the point will allow them to develop it correctly. Full disclosure, I am not connected with One Eleuthera in any direct way, but admire what they have to say as an alternative to Disney.

...

Noble sentiments. Which you cannot eat.

How much do you spend when you sit down "en famille" in the mentioned restaurants? $100?

And how much will Disney leave behind? And how many jobs will they create? It's a matter of balance. Sure, it's great to say "Don't develop, I like it the way it is." from 1,000s of miles away, while spending a week a year there. But those Eleutherans need to eat too and 365 days a year.

I am sure a compromise can be found which satisfies all sides. Most importantly, local Eleutherans need to decide, not Canadians or Americans. But all opinions on the subject are welcome.

OldFort2012......you talk about jobs for Bahamians....well to see how beneficial these cruiseports are for Bahamians just look a couple of miles down the road to the Princess Cay cruise port that has been operating for many years. It has not been of any major benefit to the locals beyond a few menial step-and-fetchit jobs. The local settlements are just as poor as they were before it was built. These cruise lines and their private islands and ports do nothing for the locals. The examples are scattered all over the country.

Well, when we come out of school with an A, we can become astronauts.
While we still get a D-, we get the jobs we can cope with.

I’m not sure what you mean by this, but my inclination is to reject what you may be inferring.

I totally agree with you, OldFort2012. Well almost totally. I agree that local Bahamians are the ones to decide their future. I was simply stating my viewpoint along with my experience my first visit in 2011. Where we diverge is in the how much I spend supporting local business and how much that is in relation to revenue generated by Disney Cruise Lines for locals. The hard facts are in 2017 your own Minister of Tourism (May I assume you are Bahamian?) admitted that cruise lines represented 75% of the visitors to the Bahamas, but only accounted for 11% of the tourist dollars spent. Cruise ship passengers spent on average $70 per entire visit to a port of call, while land based visitors spent $1200. The One Eleuthera proposal for the same area has plans that include just as many jobs, Bahamian control, and sustainable, secure growth. Yes, I may be miles away, but I’m not near sighted. I have friends that work in South Eleuthera and I know from them it’s a struggle. I choose to believe them when they say, “there’s a better way than Disney’s way”. I appreciate your comment, because I believe it shows concern, not apathy.

Well, as to the tourist spend, it's hardly surprising:
1. Cruise lines passengers are rednecks on a tight budget and stay a few hours only.
2. Tourists going to Baha Mar stay several days and have a much larger budget.
It boils down to numbers: 3,000 passengers x $50 = $150,000/day, which is more money than you can find in the whole of Eleuthera. Per day.

At to the One Eleuthera project...is it funded? Do they have any money to put down or are they talking out of their ass, as Bahamians love to?

Simple questions....but let all the facts come out and the local Eleutherans decide. I have no doubt they will make the wrong choice, as we have done with monotonous regularity since 1973.

Ahh, good sir, but you miss the salient point. That’s a total spend. In a development that, just as in Princess Cays, controls the amount of money that gets into Eleuthera’s economy. That money is spent onDisney controlled kiosks, Disney owned land. And of course doesn’t account for the loss of revenue from tourists heading “up” south to behold Lighthouse Point for themselves (as I have) or who spend money on tours to the area (as 8 have) to access this most beautiful area in all its quiet majesty. Thank you for being engaged. I truly hope Bahamians make the right choice for them, and no one else, including me.

On what planet do you believe that all 3000 cruise ship guests will spend $50 each? Check with the stall vendors at Princess Cays and you will find out that some days they don't even make $10 - and these vendors only spend $5 per day for their stall space outside Princess's gate. Cruise ships charge such a high percentage or fee for local vendors to have stalls inside their property that many vendors barely make enough to cover costs. So even IF people spent $50 a day, less than 50% of that goes to the vendor themselves. Educate yourself before you speak.

Mr. Soapstop has visited Eleuthera a couple of times, maybe 7-8 years ago. Swore he would buy land there, never did. Lives in western Canada. Expert on what is best for Bahamians, tho — just as I’m an expert on what is best for the game of ice hockey.

Hello Clamshell! Please allow me to correct a few factual errors for you. Started visiting 7 to 8 years ago. Have been there 4 times, spending between 10 days and two week each time. Last time was 3 years ago, not 7. Will be there again in 2019, and am pleased about that. You are correct regarding the land purchase though. That you are! I wanted to and was determined to. Full disclosure is that my wife simply wasn’t comfortable with owning foreign property, but not for lack of trying on my part. Yes I do live in western Canada, and I really hope I didn’t come across as pretending to be an expert. I’m not sure about what you might refer to though. My letter was aimed at the Bahamians who will be most affected by this development, and I wanted to tell them my experience. So I guess in regards to my own personal experience, I could be considered an expert. And no one else can tell me different in this regard. As for Disney’s plans versus One Eleuthera’s proposal for this area, I’m no expert either, but I’m reading a lot of the information and doing my best to educate myself on the pros and cons. How about you? Or is your best shot a little slag that you hurl from time to time? I always welcome debate on a topic if the debaters keep the topic in mind and not an attempt to discount opinions based on personal qualifications.

Jobs, jobs, jobs... If you do your research you will realize that a National Park will provide MORE better paid, stable (i.e. 5 days a week), long term jobs than Disney is offering. These jobs will also have benefits. If you're not happy, you have recourse. You can quit and another Bahamian can take your job. If Disney runs the show, they can easily take one of their already paid "cast members" off their ship and put them to work. One Eleuthera (and partners) IS funded and IS able to buy the property. It is only that Disney has already made the offer. (One Eleuthera made offers in the past, but they were not close enough to the asking price.. it is only now that the seller has lowered their price to were OE could actually afford the price). If government says NO to Disney's proposed plans, than Disney will most probably drop their offer. Yes, Disney will provide some jobs... whatever they have to to "meet" their initial promise. But those jobs will decrease in numbers over the years like all of their other locations have. Educate yourselves on what they've done in the past... So many people are willing to be sold a bill of goods without doing the research. Don't just speak in anger or jealousy. Why are so many Bahamians willing to quickly sell out to the rich white foreigner (Disney) before helping build up their own people?