EDITOR, The Tribune.

The 2021 general elections were pivotal to the recovery of the nation from the ravages of the devastating hurricane Dorian and her brother Andrew coupled with the arrival of the cousin COVID-19. They all came here uninvited and, clearly, we had not prepared rooms for them. The Bahamas is still between a rock and a very hard place. All is not, however, doom and gloom. There is an available ‘bridge’ available to the Most Hon Prime Minister, Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP and the new day administration. With your leave, please allow me to lay out the blueprint and the foundational stones for such a bridge.

Brave, if I may, has a literal date with Destiny. He has multiple opportunities to transform this wonderful nation, politically and societally, while putting in place sensible policies to jump start the economy. Culturally persons in The Bahamas who hail from the Family Islands, like Brave, a native Cat Islander, appear to have or should have, a better feel of that culture and diversity which sets our nation apart from All of the world.

We have been overly blessed and favoured by The Lord Jesus Christ in that we have sand, sun and sea gone to bed and none of them are costing us one red cent. Pardon me beloved, the one cent is now extinct so let’s premise on 10 cents. With the abatement and control of COVID and the rest of that illegitimate clan, world wide, we here at home have those things which international travellers and business people are looking for. Potential tourists have been chomping at the proverbial bit ever since then. People need and want to travel to a sun-filled destination with superior beaches and crystal sand at affordable prices.

There are over 400 million Americans and countless thousands of citizens of South and Central America and up in Canada who would give their all to visit The Bahamas and enjoy our natural attributes for a dew days or longer. We need money pure and simple to service our national debt (never mind which administration jacked it up...I am passed that puerile stage) it simply needs to be serviced. In addition to this, we need to beef up and add to our Bahamas Economic Development Offices, where they do not already exist, in world-wide capitals where our economic and cultural interests would be best served.

The former Prime Minister, God bless his soul , was made infamous by his platonic question: ‘Where is your heart? Where is your soul?’ The Bahamian electorate, en masse, answered him last September. Minnis ‘ruled’ but he seemed unable or incapable of governing. Brave has to demonstrate and show different from an expectant people. His job could be a simple and straightforward one.

He has to build a real bridge between all of the different classes and demographics in The Bahamas. His administration only has to step up its messaging and public relations. Perception, it has been said, is reality in ground level politics. Bahamians love to be motivated and respected by their peers. No different with persons in all walks of life.

The new day administration is on the right tract. Let us redouble efforts to get a reasonable sale of Our Lucaya and let us get a public/private sector partner consortium to get the Freeport Airport up and running on an urgent basis. The ease of investors and tourists, Bahamian and international on accessing Grand Bahama, with Freeport being the gateway is critical. Some say that Grand Bahama in general and Freeport in particular comprise FBN country. That is a myth. Yes, the residents down there are a little bit ‘different’ from other Bahamians, but not in a bad way.

Bahamians who live and reside in Grand Bahama are fiercely ‘independent’ and have learned how to best adapt to the ongoing challenging financial times under the FNM-led administrations. Brother Christie, alas, appeared to have been New Providence centred. Our brand new Prime Minister, if he gets it right, as I have no doubt that he will, is in a stellar position to take the entire Grand Bahama and the southern Family Islands, like Inagua; Eleuthera; Rum Cay and San Salvador, et al, to the next level. Exuma and Andros are ‘hidden’ gems.

The Prime Minister and his lovely wife are also positioned to lead the national debates on a myriad of societal urgent issues like domestic abuse and violence towards females; young children and the elderly. There have never been any comprehensive debates on these issues and certainly no workable solutions would have been promulgated hitherto and, please, pardon the pun.

Domestic abuse and the mental drama associated with it is literally ‘killing’ Bahamians. Unnecessary homelessness in the capitol and many major Family Island is a disgrace and indictment on successive administrations. Brave has a ‘bridge’ over troubled waters, but I am convinced that he and his team will overcome. It is another sad indictment that successive administrations talk a good talk about rehabilitation of inmates and transformational programmes at what was then Fox Hill and is now The Bahamas Correctional Centre. That place, according to my sources, is worse than it was when hatchet was still an infant hammer.

In conclusion, mercifully, Brave clearly appreciates and understands what it is that the ordinary Bahamian badly needs and wants. Simple and unbiased governance. Accountability and transparency and to be left alone from too much administration interference. We will let you govern, but just get out pf our way in reaching that long elusive goal of taking Good care of ourselves and family. No more....no less. Yes, the Most Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP, has a date with Destiny and, this time around, we Bahamians must cross over the bridge, as a focused and united people. Will he dance the Waltz; the Jitter Bug or, as Minnis would have appeared to have done, the funky chicken?

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

January 26, 2022.