How about a pledge to privatize ZNS and free the Bahamian people from this tax straining, biased, yoke around our neck. Taxpayers are sick and tired of paying for needless free riders. At the least half of ZNS's budget should be cut... like tomorrow. Why will my child and their children be paying for this useless crap?

Dear Birdie, papa did his part but Christie was worse!

Dear birdie, nice to see you have suddenly regained your voice to advocate for transparency and accountability. Strange that you were curiously hoarse the last five years.

Amen Tal, I have never agreed with you more. Since our tax dollars are bailing out this failed institution we have a right to know who these deadbeats are. This is a massive test for the new govt on accountability and transparency. Publish the names and while at it, clawback all the bonuses that were paid to managers and board members who ran this bank in the ground.

Please close this slush fund and prosecute.

No lie really, returning to profitability most likely will be achieved by selling the portfolio to another bank, who will close branches and drastically reduce staff. The govt will have to cover the shortfall to make depositors whole or partially rely on the depositors insurance at the central bank for accounts less than 50k. Those with larger deposits might be asked to take a haircut. So it can be done, but it calls for radical measures, with the govt running the show, status quo, ain't gonna happen.

Tal you will be pushing up daisies, fertilizing silk cotton trees before this bank returns to profitability under govt ownership. DPM made this statement because this bank is insolvent and they want to prevent a "run" on the bank and by extrapolation all banks. But as for profitability forget it, half the loan portfolio is impaired, and not generating income, the expenses are huge, with a bloated staff. No hope here, sell it, cut our losses and remove this risk from the govts balance sheet forever.

The port has a regulated profit margin of 10% for the next 30 odd years. Hard to see any conflict there.

Have you looked at the balance sheet of BOB? The bank is underwater, to the tune of several hundred million dollars. Of course shareholders should be wiped out, it is called capitalism, the best that could be done is to try to make depositors whole. Sell the bank for what it is worth, half its loan portfolio is impaired, and cut our losses. The FNM has to deal with this immediately, and bite the bullet, we can not continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars with this sunken ship. Also what if after a massive bailout of several hundred million dollars by some miracle this bank is turned around, with govt ownership, it will simply be run in the ground again! Govt needs to divest itself of this and bahamasair, and ZNS, and BEC as soon as possible.

NHI needs to be put on hold until our fiscal house is in order. It is clear the PLP left a treasury that is absolutely broke. Proof is they only took up 10 million of the 30 million BOB bonds and the promise to pay the police after the election. Christie had no funds to pay them before we voted, now we will borrow more money to pay what was promised.

I do not want to hear about any more programs until we have a balanced budget and begin to pay down our debt. No new maternity ward, no nothing, broke people have to begin to live within their means. The plp lied to us and did not use vat to pay down the debt, they used it to expand govt. spending and left the country broke. That is the shameful legacy of Perry Christie, my children and grandchildren will be paying for his wasteful incompetence. He has stolen the inheritance of future Bahamians!