EDITOR, The Tribune.

It has been some months since I have written a letter to the press. However, several articles in yesterday’s newspaper “jook up ma vexation”, so here goes!

In the first beginning, I am a born and bred ‘true true’ Bahamian, fashioned by the stellar role model of a widowed mother who constantly demonstrated the benefits of independence, self sufficiency, and hard work. These were the assets that developed the Bahamian pride and confidence that fortified the resilient citizens of a colonial Bahamas, who functioned and strived in a community setting.

Fast forward to Bahamian Independence in the 1970s – a time when our society was catapulted from total dependence on a colonial master to being the masters of our own fate. Much can be said about the pros and cons of Independence, but one thing is unfortunately obvious for the purpose of illustrating today’s letter – the shackles of slavery have clanked their way into the 21 century dragging too many of us along with a pathetic attitude of dependency! Why do we continue to approach “foreign” entities with head hung down and hat in hand to ask: “Please sir, may I have some more of my own tings?” How we get so? This is totally unacceptable in this day and age, and it has to stop!

For years I have railed against this sorry state of affairs. There are much too many examples of abject servitude and subservience to “foreign” in this country. Too often and too readily, members of the “powers that be” seem afraid to negotiate with testicular fortitude from a desired position of strength as sovereign Bahamians in order to let those who have the privilege of visiting our shores KNOW THEIR PLACE!

I have never been a fan of the cruise ship industry and their “all for them, and lil bit (maybe) for us” modus operandi! Crumbs from the massa’s table time dun long been gone, but it seems like plenty “politrickcians” ain get dat memo since we continue to bend over backwards to prostitute ourselves for couple dollars, slick talk, pretty pictures, and grand promises. I am so very sick of it all, and it has to stop!

For the naysayers out there who are ready to jump up and down saying that without cruise ships we cannot survive, just “res ya nerve” because you are not seeing the bigger picture here. We continue as a people to be too shortsighted and easily blinded and bamboozled by dollar signs, craving instant unsustainable fixes (in five year election time increments) instead of relying on deliberate analysis of the quid pro quo for our long term sustainable benefits. In all things, proper balance should always be the defining force.

The fact that Disney has partnered with the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce and SBDC to open a business incubator on Eleuthera and hand out $5,000 grants (magic number these days it seems) all around should give us reason to pause since One Eleuthera has been operating very successfully to help Bahamians on that island for years. However, before partnering with their own, we would rather jump in bed with “foreign” and blindly follow their lead, not seeing their obvious motives revolving around Lighthouse Point. They need that location to make those same mega millions that they are happy to throw us some tiny scraps from since they have earned much of it whilst siphoning off the benefits of our country – and we still too fool to realise that we are begging them for our own tings! This foolishness has to stop!

Here’s the thing about “foreign” that irks me: even here in the 21st century, slavery is alive and well with countless examples, unfortunately, to illustrate it! “Foreign” feels they can tell us what to do because they assume we are inferior and they are automatically better than us because they hold purse strings to dangle before our greedy ‘politrickcian’ eyes!

Here is my message to ‘foreign’(‘politrickcians’ take note): Do not come into my country with the attitude that you are better, know better, and can do better, just because you can flash dollar signs! In The Bahamas your worth is negligible when weighed in a Bahamian balance that is firmly anchored by the infinite wealth of its people and its environment which we, the people, must fiercely protect as OUR patrimony! These are the assets that should always be considered first and foremost in any negotiation, and if you are not prepared to walk behind or beside us in an equitable agreement, then, please, feel free to sail away to other shores!

Whilst the situation with Disney and Lighthouse Point festers on the one hand, the other hand is also the cause of my next “infuriation” resulting from the present ongoing Royal Caribbean Group and the “throw the Bahamian Toby Smith under the bus” Crown Land travesty! Why is there even a question of where the balance should lie between a Bahamian’s inalienable rights to Crown Land versus that of “foreign”? All Bahamian entities that are a part of this disgraceful and dishonourable affair should hang their heads in shame! I am sick of it, and it has to stop!

Where is “We March” – now sufficiently scuttled in a senate seat – when needed, as the five year cycle of “election coming” draws nigh, intensifying stupidity and the total dissipation of common sense?

PAM BURNSIDE

Nassau,

April 29, 2021