Recovery has to begin some where and Mr. Rupert Roberts should be applauded for the fact that he has the vision and fortitude to get the food business up and running. Yes it may be a fact that most persons left on Abaco are broke and unemployed, but Roberts is providing 40 jobs for people who were until now, also unemployed. And there will be workers coming on to the island who will need supplies and can now purchase them on Abaco rather than having to bring them in. Andrather than persons having to ship goods to Abaco to help with relief, they can now send money and the goods can be bought there. And even with the government assistance, the food vouchers can be given out and be used locally to buy supplies. This is how recovery begins. There may have been a perfect storm, but recovery has to start piece by piece, bit by bit. These stores may be months or even years before they are up and fully operational or before there is sufficient volume to realize a profit.

Is it religious rights that make you male or female? So if you want to identify your sexuality otherwise doesn’t that infringe on the rights of heterosexual? And is religious beliefs teach that marriage is sacred and should only between a man and a woman , what gives you the right to infringe on that belief. Have your own union and have persons who agree with your beliefs perform the ceremony. But to demand to have a religious ceremony in a church and performed by a minister of the cloth who do not believe same sex marriage should happen how toes that not infringe on his rights and his rights to his beliefs? You are telling the church they must change their laws, their teachings and their beliefs to accommodate your lifestyle. Churches will tolerate same sex couples but they cannot desecrate their alter by performing the ceremony.

At least now D’Aguilar has an excuse for a decline in tourist numbers. How much of the tourism increase was a windfall from the devastation that occurred in the Caribbean due to hurricanes as opposed to The Bahamas growing its own numbers and attracting its own visitors. But the goal should be now to keep every available hotel room occupied and getting the cruise ships back to hurricane damaged areas as soon as possible. At least to generate enough funds to keep the economy going while recovery takes place. And then maybe the cruise tourism model needs to be revised so as to generate more revenue for the country and not just for cruise lines.

So is Gwon Brown suggestion that future profits from Fidelity Bank will decline, at least by the amount of RBC’s previous contribution to profits?

*Have you looked at Nassau lately, the place is a dump. My aunt visited and she said it looked like Africa. The whole country has gone to the dogs*Emphasis** Nassau has been on a path of deterioration for at least a decade now. Too many negative disincentives . The high rate of crime and murders have forced many to move out of Nassau proper and into the suburbs or outskirts. This has left a high rate of unemployed and unemployables in the inner city. And there are no incentives for businesses to move into these areas. The cost of living is extremely high and at least 100 families must find money to bury murdered family members every year. Most of these victims are fathers of young children who must now struggle from day to day to survive. Many who are killed are also the bread earners for aging parents or younger siblings. And even those who commit murder or other crimes and go to jail leave young children or other dependents to struggle. And after a decade and over 1,000 murders, no solution seems to be in sight. The law on the streets for some is’kill or be killed.’

Go back to all the Tribune headlines since 2017 and count the number of police shootings since the new administration came to office and compare to the years prior. Then find the story when The Tribune interviewed Commissioner Anthony Ferguson about the increase in police shootings. It may have been after an incident where an innocent person was shot. Asked about this the number of increased police involved shootings, the commissioner’s response was ‘there will be casualties.” The number of police shootings has more then doubled since that interview. And whilst no law, no church, ‘no nothing’, may be able to stop abortion, it is not to be used like a tire pump where you pull up and get pumped out at your convenience. Sexual education and responsible behavior will reduce the need for abortion. Decent human and or Christian principles will deter the need to be using it over and repeatedly. And the demands of gays do impose on the rights and freedoms of others. First off most laws are based on the premise that you are born either male or female. But gay relationship try to dispute that and claim there is ‘interesexs’. But yet in same sex relationship they recognize there is a dominant partner and a submissive partner (male and female). But they want the authority to choose who the dominant partner will be and wants the law to give powers to them as male or female despite what their natural gender may be. The same for a Christian or Holy marriage where the major purpose is to procreate and have families. The gay people say if two of the same sex ( which the Bible calls an abomination) want to join In holy matrimony, they should be allowed to do so and the law must not only recognize that union, but penalize and church, pastors or business that refuse to participate in that event.

The country is about to have another year of triple murders. Blood has been flowing like a river since hurricane Dorian recasted the Northern Bahamas and left many people dead, others homeless businesses destroyed and many citizens unemployed. The country is fighting a massive illegal immigration problem and now to try slip homosexuality and abortion in under the table amongst all the devastation and confusion is slick and irresponsible. True, the gay population is growing and so are their demands, but how much is the country willing to allow their demands for rights’ infringe on the rights of the rest of the population. And as for abortion, the need for it is generally the result of irresponsible behavior. Is the country willing to encourage more irresponsible behavior by not allowing those who engage in it to take responsibility? And what is the country really going to do about all these murders. Obviously the plans of Marvin Dames and Anthony Ferguson with the multi-millions increases in the police budgets and investment in crime fighting technologies is close to a complete flop. In fact the police have killed more people under this administration than in any other time in the history of The Bahamas and there will still be triple digit murders this year..in fact just in a matter of a few short weeks.

At least shanty’s had crawl space and ceilings yo allow occupants to escape a flood or surge. These appear to be death traps in rising waters.

Let’s not forget that most homes and businesses , especially in The Abacos, were destroyed by tidal surge and not wind damage. While it is understood that these domes are only temporary shelter, does government have a contingency plan in the event of another strong hurricane?

Rebuilding or even starting a business is so very difficult because profits have been so very small or non existent for many businesses since 2008. And now to think of having to service a loan to start a business from scratch with no guarantee that the economy is coming back is a great risk. Government may be able to guarantee some loans for small businesses but there are limits to what they can do considering the hit they are also taking from the hurricane. The local banks should be able to drop their loan rates by a point or two or even go zero interest for the first year considering Dorian has created a new market for all that liquidity they were stuffed with for over a decade. There’s a saying that you should not drive at a speed that you cannot stop within the distance you can see. Businesses should take this same advice: Rather than trying to build a business back to what it was, build it to what the new market can support. Then make adjustments accordingly. For some people even getting back into their homes will be a battle that takes several years. But best to take baby steps and not overburdened yourself.