Mr. Roberts is right about his point on duty. How will the removed duty be replaced? Either VAT will rise to 25% or income tax (more likely) will be implemented. The WTO offers absolutely nothing positive for Bahamians. The only ones that will enjoy it are government and their cronies and those who like to attend conferences and banquets. Get real Bahamas! Do nothing Minnis is using WTO as a smoke screen, because he has nothing to offer The Bahamas other than the status quo.

Of course we can. We can have a murder every second if we do nothing and act like sissies. Bang. Shoot the murderer dead after a short trial. All of a sudden, the streets will be peaceful and empty at night. Bang, bang, bang. No more crime in Bahama Land. Expel the pirates. Restore commerce.

If you're looking for violent uprisings Doc, look no further than Haiti. They get violent if the price of gas rises. Hmm... You said it will happen here? You saying Haitians run this country and we should shut up and sit small?

Another one for open borders.So easy to call people racist who are just doing their job to secure the borders. Police are racist. Countries are racist. Wealth is racist. What isn't racist? Poverty and Crime. Everyone gets a Venezuela. You get a Venezuela and you get a Venezuela. I guess we shouldn't have laws, because we're afraid of a violent uprising?

Very well said. The WTO isn't modern, it's an ancient failed globalist dream. It allows rich, union-busting companies to sell out their countrymen and exploit cheap third-world labor at slave wages. The problem is we have a bunch of lazy "do-nothing" leaders that would rather sell the shop than fix it. It is much more "modern" for the Bahamas to enter bespoke, bilateral agreements with specific nations, such as the US.

The bottom line is this folks: If we join WTO, income tax is a done deal. If you don't want income tax, don't celebrate and encourage WTO!

"He urged Bahamians to follow Fiji’s example." Really, your best argument for us joining WTO is a bottled water?

One does have to ask why the Government needed to get involved and why Royal Caribbean didn't buy the Grand Lucayan directly from Hutchinson. Further, a foreign realtor was used. Why? Could it be that there was a finder's fee paid to someone in Government?

Thank God! This is a great win for The Bahamas and Minnis. I have to apologise for doubting the purchase by the Government in the first place. It helps to have the full picture before reaching an opinion on the merits.

Very good words. However, I just took my evening stroll around Baha Mar, and I have to say it looks like progress to me. It's hard to see how The Bahamas could have made it, had Baha Mar not come around. What is the answer, I'm not completely sure. I think the answer may be to accept China's current holdings as positive for The Bahamas, but to halt China's investments moving forward -- they have enough. The key with China, as with gambling, is to know when it's time to walk away with your winnings, or you lose everything. It is likely China will offer our cash-strapped Government "debt trap" loans in the near future; these must not happen. We have enough China now. Time to bring in some other investors from US, India, Germany etc.