Creating the conditions and policies for affordable housing should be on-going process. A co-host on a guardian radio show said that.

We don't govern like that in the Bahamas. We do something and stop.

What the incompetent ex-minister of finance said should be common knowledge. Maybe not here in our Bahamas.

Tax reform should be an going process. Making the system of taxation fairer, more equitable and more efficient.. Also the first world countries will force these changes upon the smaller countries. The americans are trying to capture as much of the tax dollars, american corporations avoid paying by transferring some of their operations aboard.

I noticed that there were no stray dogs in the city where my sister lives in the US. She explain to me the penalties for letting your dog roam in that city. Also they had a very effective animal control unit. A medical doctor here in the Bahamas explain to me why there was a serious attempt to control the stray animal population in the US and Canada.

Pet ownership is serious business. Bahamians have to be literally taught about pet ownership.
Groups like BAARK and BHS do tremendous job on this island.

The concerns and questions raised by the letter writer are valid. Somebody who understands governance, expressed similar concerns to me a few weeks ago. Both major parties here funnel opportunities or contracts to their financial backers.

The media here in the Bahamas don't question certain things because of bias or conflicts of interest. They sometimes simply don't understand issues of governance.

The lack of affordable, decent housing is a major issue in this country. Many persons at the lower level in this country can barely afford the down-payment for a single family home on this island. Add to that the high closing costs of real estate transactions.

If you drive through certain communities on New Providence, there are sights to be seen. Quite a number of closed up homes rotting down. Some of these homes were repossessed by banks or the owners passed away. Also a next thing that defers people from purchasing those homes is the high cost of renovations. Renovating homes in this country is both expensive and time consuming.

There was an online payment portal that was developed before Digipay. That was done under the previous PLP administration.

The incoming FNM administration did not use it. True to their mentality. Disregard any positive thing that was done by the previous administration. Simply reinvent the wheel and make sure your people get part of the action and so call credit.

The media is simply transcribe press releases as news. They don't ask questions and basically don't do any investigative journalism.

Politicians here in the Bahamas simply have disregarded the conventions of the Westminister system of government. They are able to get away with because bahamians by in large don't understand their system of governance or any system of governance.

This system came to the Bahamas rather late in 1964. A University of the Bahamas professor said that, Bahamians by in large don't tolerate dissension well. Their favorite form of governance is really autocracy.

The public procurement bill now being tabled in parliament is different from the original draft .

There is little or no debate in the bahamian parliament. Many MPs don't study the legislation, they merely read speeches So they are unable to make any sensible recommendations on the legislation before them.. Also the parliament is lop-sided, where many MPS are in the executive, the cabinet. So when a bill has the support of the of the cabinet, it is automatically passed. Also bahamians are quite intolerant of dissenting views. So any back-bencher who dissents regularly will be in trouble with the cabinet. Ask what happen to the PLP back-benchers who oppose those bills in 1976 and 1977.

That is why the ' Let's Read Bahamas' program was developed in the nineties under the late Zelma Dean. It was developed to combat the low level of literacy among Bahamians.

There was also a reading program in the eighties. However these things have not been sustained. Bahamians love to row and throw blame. They don't understand why many programs were developed under the Ministry of Education.

Ouch. I mashed your corn.

Persons way more educated than me have said those comments. Persons with graduate degrees have said what I have said previously. To paraphrase a bahamian PHD living aboard, Bahamians live in your own little world.