EDITOR, The Tribune.

Please don’t forget your Family Islanders, Mr Davis. This is an open letter to Prime Minister “Brave” Davis.

I am writing to ask you to pay attention to your Family Islanders in the way that you pay attention to assuring that a company like FTX gets a foothold in our country. Your Family Islanders have been neglected for far too long.

On Mangrove Cay, Andros, a mere 50 miles from Nassau, we have been totally neglected by both the FNM and PLP. Sure, a couple of your ardent political party loyalists get contracts and a few dollars, but “the people” are neglected. Our well being on Mangrove Cay should not be a political football.

Our clinic has been housed in rental apartments for a decade now. It is a disgrace. Sometimes there’s a doctor, sometimes there isn’t. The staff is demoralised. Why? Because we expect them to perform essential and life-saving services in a place where no consideration is given to either the staff or the patients. Horrible. A true slap in the face for our people.

Our internet service and phone service is utterly deplorable, with calls and the internet dropping sometimes once a minute. Mr Davis, you are a lawyer. When you promise something to someone, agree on a price, yet fail to deliver what was promised after being paid, what is that called? Fraud, right? In my opinion BTC has been defrauding their customers on Andros for many, many years now. Promising over and over that they are working on the problem, which is never fixed. Our phone and internet should not be luxuries. We need these for all aspects of life, and business, right? Why do we have to beg for BTC to be held legally accountable? We pay full price for this service, as advertised, yet consistently are denied this service. URCA is useless. They don’t even answer complaints. What are they there for?

Our water pipes are literally crumbling and breaking each and every week. Sometimes more than one a day. We have one day storage of water for our community, and the well fields are on a tenuous link with BPL. How do we develop our tourist economy and protect our citizens with this type of negligence? How long can a person go without water, Mr Davis?

We already know the perilous financial state of BPL. So, we fear when the next storm comes, as most of our poles are over 30 years old. Power outages are becoming more frequent. I am not sure why. We have nine hours of banking a week with BOB. Service is lousy because they are understaffed. How long can this go on? BOB costs our community too much money in lost productivity. An ATM would certainly help.

We have been promised a Port of Entry for decades now. Every time there is a new MP, they make the same promise. Can’t we just get this done? This would help Mangrove Cay out immensely. And, stimulate our economy. The investment would pay for itself.

I opened a savings account for my son at the Post Office almost six weeks ago. The book still has not gotten here. For God’s sake, this is 2022.

Road & Traffic system is down again. Most cars now, finally, do have license tags. After how long?

We finally got a police car, after what, a year without one? Though I must admit, I sort of liked it better when we had no police car at all on our island. Sadly, the Bahamian government still cannot afford to buy us a radar gun. So, the only real place where our people are dying, on our streets, is becoming like the wild west. The speeding and reckless driving has become worse, and totally unchecked. I recently heard you say that we are a nation of laws. Really?

I heard some of your comments recently suggesting you believe that climate change is real and an existential problem. You even said that we Bahamians may become “refugees”. This was COP 27, you attended, right? So, what will be done by COP 100? The same. Nothing! Do not wait for the “big countries” to give The Bahamas money, which we will never see here on Mangrove Cay. The very recent science is quite scary for The Bahamas. Is anyone really paying attention? Or, are there too many households and offices with FOX News on the TV? Don’t wait, Mr Davis. The shit is about to hit the fan. Help us here in The Bahamas. We don’t need to wander the globe with our hand out. We have a responsibility to act. The time for talk is over, Mr Davis. Let’s make this a priority. There are things we could be doing now on Mangrove Cay. Will you help us do them?

The population of our entire country is less than Miami. We cannot afford to be frivolous in our spending. We need to focus on the important issues for our people. Like water, health care, communication, safety. We do not need to be chasing these fly-by-night companies like FTX, urging them to come here. Our government cannot act like we are a big country, spending and spending, like they do. We just cannot afford it. Let’s quit pretending.

The Bahamas spends well over one million dollars, maybe closer to two million dollars, a day, in interest payments alone, for loans taken out in our name. For money that we’ve already spent. These interest payments could have been so much better spent here.

One final point, Mr Davis. There is a growing divide in our country. You and most of our MPs are on one side of the divide. The vast majority of Bahamians are on the other side of the divide. Mr Davis, you do not have to worry about the cost of food, gas, rent or most anything else you need. Most of us do. Please keep this in mind each day. The vast majority of Bahamians really have no stake in the financial services industry. It is suggested by many economists, that we are entering a global recession. How bad and how long we don’t know. Prices are already high, soon to get worse. Crime will increase. Social services needs will increase. Mental health issues and suicides will increase. Let’s try and make life tolerable for the majority of Bahamians, before we work to further enrich the already well-to-do. Your Family Islanders need help, Mr Davis.

PORCUPINE

Nassau,

December 6, 2022.