REMOVE THE FUEL SURCHARGE. Why does
Gov have to TAX us on everything?? GET RID OF THE PROPERTY TAX WHILE YOU ARE IT. TOO MUCH DAMN TAXES IN THIS COUNTRIES.

Government needs revenue, hence the taxes - you know this. All taxes, especially VAT, should be removed, and we should instead introduce an income tax. Time has long since passed.

Income tax wouldn't work. We rely on tourists to pay a large part of our tax for us. if we got rid of all then it is only those who work who would be taxed. There is around 220,000 workers here. Forecasted revenue for 2025/26 in tax is $3.4 Billion, so each worker would need to contribute $15,454.55. If you say only put it on the richest 50,000 then they would need to contribute $68,000 each.

Well said. People who think income tax would be viable in this country are incapable of mathematics. We don't have a large tax base for it and besides that the average Bahamian only makes somewhere between 20-50k per annum and already has to pay NIB out of that, VAT on top of goods and services, extremely high electrical rates, more expensive food etc in comparison to the US/Canada that have that kind of system. Income tax would only further impoverish an already dying middle class for literally no benefit as it would be impossible to sustain expenditures off of it. Designing the Bahamian tax system around consumption taxes was the logical and well thought out thing to do for a country with limited domestic tax base that can cater to a large amount of both tourists and expatriates who have the means to consume a lot in our borders.

We will have to respectfully disagree. VAT was/is neither logical or well thought out. The successive increases to VAT are clear evidence of that. VAT was implemented because it is the easiest to implement, not the most efficient. Income tax, in my view, can be easily implemented and would be more than a sufficient replacement for VAT. I will go one step further - within 15 years, the government of the time will have no choice but to switch to income tax. (Cant continue to raise VAT as a source of revenue.)

All Bahamians, whether FI or NP, should be exempt from property tax but I have no problem with foreign nationals paying. They have the means and their presence should benefit the country in some way.

That said, we do not have a taxation problem, we have a financial mismanagement problem. It's not just this government, or the last one, but for decades now our governments have pissed away our revenues and we have little to show for it. We bring in an astounding amount of revenue between RPT, VAT, duties, misc fees for a country of less than half a million in population and Bahamians barely see any of it. There is no excuse for that.

Get rid of the fuel surcharge. My fuel surcharge is more than double my actual bill. Soon gov will attach a small amount to our BPL bills for global warming...while they slowly keep increasing it. Why do we have a fuel surcharge on our BPL bills? I thought when it was introduced in the 1980's it was going to be temporary, yet here we are in 2025

In dealing with LPG (liquefied propane gas) there MUST be a established highly trained personnel and well structured facilities to handle LPG.

Already there seems not to be any controls on the Propane Gas trucks travelling on the streets and selling/refilling propane tanks. The Propane trucks just speed just like jitneys to get as many sales without regard for the highly explosive gas in the huge tank the truck is carrying.

The Propane trucks just seem to disregard the rules of the road and park their trucks wherever it is convenient to put their limited length of the propane dispensing hose to sell and refill propane gas. These trucks disregard whether they park obstructing traffic flow, at intersections or at street corners etc. endangering whole neighbourhoods.

The Propane truck personnel also just disregard the safety of the propane hoses in dragging hoses through sharp edges debris, garbage, holes in the metal fences and jumping over walls walls to do business just to earn a few dollars regardless of safety. Other safety concerns would be the handling of the equipment where there ought to be one trained person at the truck's controls and end of hose, safety clothing etcetcetc.

There MUST be more training and penalties, laws and Regulations related to the handling of LPG a highly dangerous explosive gas in bulk or small amounts in the small 7 x 21 mile island.

Precisely!! And that pipeline going from Clifton to blue hills if I'm not mistaken. Which means lots of opportunity for a backhoe to have a mistake. FOCOLowned the gas station where the entire oil deposit drain into the ground in Abaco. An LNG fuel line won't be so forgiving of leaks. I hope FOCOL have the resources and equipment to tackle a large explosion. It's not about if it will happen. It's about demonstrating preparedness.

"*Recognising the importance of regulatory oversight,” the statement said, “the government has directed BPL to begin immediate engagement with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA)*"

This upside down. If they "*recognized the importance of oversight*" why did they give Bahamas grid/ island grid/under the table grid, the right to set any rate they like free of URCA "interference" for three years?