my heart goes out to the residents of crooked island who have suffered through this tragedy. i cannot even imagine how emotionally and physically draining the whole experience must be. however, having been there several times after past hurricanes to aid in disaster relief, i can say that these islands are extremely difficult to live in due to their distance from Nassau and all supplies, lack of employment opportunities (i.e. growth) etc. This is a time for residents to make a hard choice - continue to try to rebuild and live on one of our most isolated islands or leave with your memories and begin life elsewhere. the reality is that the residents live so far apart in these settlements that it does not make fiscal sense for the govt to invest and rebuild such a spiderweb infrastructure. if you want to live isolated and remote, you will have to bear the burden of that which means slower response, challenges for people to get to you, limited supplies at irregular times. life is full of tough choices. but it is not the responsibility of bahamians on other islands to rebuild your homes. it is not the govt responsibility. hard to hear i am sure.

she has been living in the United states for some time now....

I really hope our govt is not planning on paying for the cost of these homes to be rebuilt. That is not their responsibility nor is it the responsibility or burden of the tax payers. It is a horrible thing to think of so many without homes but honestly, who can justify us rebuilding for people? We can certainly provide assistance for temporary shelter and can alleviate the cost by allowing for tax and duty exemptions but... no more than that. Govt should focus on repairing govt owned facilities only. These homeowners should have insurance to cover their properties, and if they don't, then why is that our burden to bear? all of my hard working friends and family pay to insure their homes, their cars, their belongings. I have been to all of the islands that were hit and I have seen many of these "homes" - a lot of them were wooden shacks, built in areas they should not have been built. These were not proper, structured, concrete homes. this is so damn frustrating!!! Let the private sector, and the churches, and the charities pitch in to help. But not the government and our tax dollars...

i agree with many of the above comments - shame on the tribune for describing this as Tasteless. That is not their choice to make as media. They are making the statement as it is fact - it is not. it is art and thereby subjective. i lose respect for this paper more and more each day. where are the managing editors? they should have titled it something like "artists portrayal of Christie stirs debate/controversy/emotions".

and i completely support the artist in his freedom of expression and courage. good for him!

Firstly, is this number including the cost to rebuild homes and businesses of private citizens or the cost to rebuild public infrastructure such as BEC, Water & Sewerage, etc? Govt should not be borrowing on behalf of the nation to rebuild private homes. We are not a socialist country and we cannot afford that. People should have insurance to cover their properties. And I agree with lookingon - we cannot be rebuilding infrastructure in these remote islands. it makes no fiscal sense. If you want to have one main settlement on an island such as Acklins or crooked island where all infrastructure (water/BEC) is in place then that's one thing. But to start paving roads, running lines for miles and miles to provide utilities for a settlement of a handful of people - well, we just can't afford it. We need to invest the money into other established communities and develop islands that make fiscal sense. If you return to crooked island and don't want to live in the main (newly rebuilt) settlement (located where there is boat and plane access) and instead choose to live 15 miles away remotely, then that is on you. The country should not bear the burden. I understand there is history and emotion and people's roots involved but come on now - emotion doesn't put money in the back. WE must be realistic in a failing, poor country. And the settlements that are rebuilt should have more focus on solar power. but ultimately, the taxpayers money should NOT go to rebuild private homes. ludicrous. it sets a bad precedent and we can't afford it. And people can barely make a living on those islands - it makes no sense. But don't bring them to nassau. work on developing other communities - like lookingon said - in Andros, etc..

your argument holds no water - that dock does not prevent boaters from moving anywhere. I'm a boater and all of my friends are boaters. you are not supposed to run your motorized vehicle within several hundred yards of the shore so anyone who would be running their boat up and down that small section would be risking swimmers safety so it does not impede at all. ridiculous argument. stop blaming the foreignors for everything - there are Bahamians who violate the laws every day in business, in construction, in the courts simply because of who they know in politics. this country could not survive without the foreign workers and investors. piss them off, see them leave and then you will see the true colors of this lazy nation.

Absolutely the truth. I wish i had the answers to the questions she put forward as I would expose the truth regardless. But maybe that's because I'm a lucky one and I work for myself and my work does not rely on any government contract, contract or interaction. At least, not anymore! We do need to make "whistleblowing" a status symbol and stop putting corrupt, dishonest people on a pedestal the level of the ministers Bahamians seem to worship. Funny to see sheeprunner mention the Masons - I've been told by political appointees that the average citizen has no idea how deep the Masonry connection is and how much it influences all of the decisions that we can't seem to wrap our heads around.

Excellent written piece - kudos to you for being able to so eloquently write what I and many friends have been thinking for a while now. I am not a Baha Mar employee but have had the privilege of making friends with many who are, and for being a guest at several Baha Mar events including their recent Christmas party and I have to say that I have never experienced an energy anywhere else in the Bahamas like I have had a Baha Mar event. The staff that they have hired - at all levels - were awesome, focused, smart, creative. The lines between the expats and the Bahamians were so blurred which is difficult to find here where so many expats keep to their own circles and Bahamians make judgements of their expat peers without getting to know them. In spite of all that is going on, the 'expat' and Bahamian relationships continue with support and friendship and many of the senior managers i know who are expats are far more concerned about what will happen to their Bahamian teams (that they hand picked) than they are about their own careers. While there is lots of blame to go around with regards to the powers that be, at the end of the day this is a family that is being torn about due to the egos of men like kids on a playground.

This story disturbs me in many ways, but primarily I think if he has not been charged with a crime then his employer should keep him employed. It is an unfortunate sequence of events but if he was a good worker then better to give him a job than to have him on the streets jobless and homeless where he may then be "forced" into finding money elsewhere. The fact that the police refunded him for the ticket back to Grand Bahama says a lot to me also - it sounds like this young man is innocent so far. I hate to see someone trying to keep his life on the right track getting thrown a curve ball like this and being almost forced into a life of crime by a wrongful arrest by the police.

to be free of emotion and contention means leave it in Delaware where there is no financial, personal or emotional association by the courts. There isn't anyone in the bahamas who could oversee this without emotion, opinion, relationships getting in the way - i just don't see it happening.