Obviously the two responses above are from racist idiots who are also anti-Bahamian. Rather than appreciate and encourage this young woman for her courage and effort and emphasizing with her experience, they choose to scrutinize and criticize her dress and her photos. How petty. What should more concern those idiots is the number of medical personnel that are falling ill and even dying as this virus continues to ravage the US and the world. It has crippled the cruise industry, the airlines, hotels retail stores restaurants and even the manpower of one of the US’s largest aircraft carrier has been crippled as the virus infected a large portion of its crew. Shame on yin’s, but idiots have no shame (or pride)

And what about the Bahamian diaspora? Bahamians fleeing abroad and retarding the growth and development of this country or even allowing foreigners, illegals even, to get a stronger foothold in this country?

. “We have closed our borders…with no tourists coming to our shores now and into the foreseeable future, tough times are here and ahead of us. **Strong**
The fact is for how many generations we have heard the saying ‘When America coughs, the Bahamas catches cold?’ And the cry has gone out to cut the umbilical cord from America and become more economically independent and less reliant on that country for food and subsistence? While the Bahamas may have already seen its peak in Corona numbers, some States of the US claim it will be weeks of even months before their number of infections peak and their number of deaths start to decline. In fact Florida is implementing the total lockdown today that this country had in effect for two weeks. So yes the question should not be how soon can we reopen our boarders to the US and the rest of the world, but how much more stronger and less vulnerable this country can be once the boarders are reopened. What happens if Corona gets so bad in the US, they can no longer deliver food for fear of contamination? What is being done to strengthen and increase our own local produce? And now that we know the risks of being a tourist oriented country, with millions of people permeating our boarders each year what will be dome to minimize the risks of this industry and maximize the benefits. Are we going to chase after the discounted travelled of focus more on the high end of the market?

Conserve. This crisis may go beyond the end of April.

It was a state of emergency. Had to get him gone in the middle of a world crisis, whilst the country and the world is on lockdown. Slip him out the backdoor.

John Rolle is well qualified for the position he holds and the truth of the matter is he has a human side to his personality. He is not one to crunch out the numbers and say, do this or else’. The problem you may have with him, Mudda, is you judging this crayon (John Rolle) by his complexion and not his intelligence and qualifications. And while Peter Turnquest May not have vast experience in public finances, he too holds the interest of Bahamians at heart. And while his decisions would be more effective if based on an economics footing, rather than accounting , Turnquest is one to quickly revise policies and make adjustments. These are challenging times for even the most seasoned professionals as you can see with the wide fluctuations of all the stock markets. And when facing uncertainty the best people to have in place are ones who don’t mind the public looking over their shoulders and willingness to make adjustments. Then decisions are based on more than just one man’s judgement.

They now have a test that tells if a person has Corona in a matter of minutes rather than having to wait hours or days for the results. Designed for moments like this. Fifty Thousand of them were released today and Donald Trump did a photo op holding one up side down. At least the importance of closing the borders and exercising social distancing is being realized. And apparently medical teams may need to take equipment to the patient rather that’s trying to airlift them if they already have respiratory problem.

And it will be pointless for tourist related businesses to remain open as long as all their markets remain closed, even after this country’s boarders are reopened. New York expects to be battling with Corona through December and some US states have not yet seen their surge in cases. Europe does not fare any better with most countries being devastated, if not only financially by the virus. Airlines across the US and the world are continuing to cut back on flights and the cruise industry faces even more uncertainty. There is currently a ship with dead passengers and infected corona patients that is being denied permission to dock in Florida. It will have to dock off shore and be tendered. Government said nothing about offering stimulus to farmers to produce more crops or even to fishermen. Cut down on the food imports volume. At least.

Marlon Johnson is not the brightest crayon in the box so after he gets his photo in the newspaper, someone else will have to come and correct the nonsensical statements he made. Bono just loves the press and must be testing the political waters to try grabbing headlines so frequently and without credibility. Or maybe He meant May 15th and The Tribune messed up.

So if hotel workers are entitled to National Insurance , beyond what the hotels do not pay, why should the government reimburse hotels? What about other businesses in similar situations ?