The way the government is operating in this hurricane relief and recovery is critical. This is not just a short term exercise but the foreign support will be continuously reduced. And if not sort of rotation of personnel is a introduced, those, at least at the forefront will get burned out.

The facts are hurricane survivors were calling for more boots on the ground since day one but Marvin Dames could not respond effectively because just months before the storm he had made the political decision to send most of his top brass of all the armed forces home. So even if he managed to scrap officers to send to ground zero, he didn’t have senior officers to adequately supervise them or fill in for officers who may have been deployed. And the call for retired officers under the retirement age to return to active duty went basically unheeded because of the way these officers were unceremoniously dumped off the force. You cannot kick a dog all through the day and expect to guard and protect you during the night. Marvin Dames was cautioned against his political efforts to rid the forces of their top brass and the dogged way he was publicly dismissing long serving, loyal and decorated officers. And so foreign forces can come in and do their duties while the Bahamas appears a chicken without a head.

Marvin Dames is the first amongst the MPs who will not be re-elected even if the FNM was to have a landslide victory in 2022. Firstly there were too many police involved killings under Marvin Dames and the current commission of police. Many of these killings were very questionable and suspicious. And in the instance where a police involved killing victim was clearly innocent, the entire police force (and other parts of the government ) were cold hearted, unremorceful and showed no sympathy for family and loved ones of the victim. And Marvin Dames appears to be running a cream puff Ministry of National Security. Despite getting millions in additional funds and investing in ‘new and proven technology.’ The force can’t seem to get a hold on major crime. Whilst murder was down in one year the numbers seem to be creeping back up. What were the police doing when a suspect attempted to carry out ELEVEN murders in a matter of hours and apparently was successful with four? And even when the number of murders were down, the number of police killings increased so there was basically no decrease in the number of homicides. And then there’s the Potters Cay fiasco where Marvin Dames caused dozens of small businesses into hardship and caused dozens more Bahamians to become unemployed.

Well watching this tropical disturbance off the coast of Washington, DC and New York. Even though its being pushed away by a winter storm (blizzard) it still seems to want to hit the coast this week. At least there will be high waves and coastal surge.

first and foremost, Government must answer a most begging question: is climate change real? And if it is, what will be future events in the Bahamas as far as hurricane damage, flooding and loss of life in relation to thes catastrophes are concerned? Will properties that are presently occupied become uninhabitable or too dangerous to live on? What will be the government's revised policy as it relates to building/residing along or near the coast and on low lying flood-prone land? What efforts will be made to make the building code for homes and other buildings more hurricane resistant, especially with regards to high winds and flooding? What efforts is government prepared to make to ensure that there are hurricane rated (Now to category 5) shelters (also flood and wind resistant) available in highly populated areas like Marsh Harbour , Freeport, West End and New Providence? And if government is to seize properties like the MUD, Pigeon Peas and Sand Banks, what evidence is there to show that these areas sustained more damage than other areas hit by Dorian. Or that the death rate per population size was greater than other areas hit on Grand Bahama and Abaco. Or was the damage merely due to improperly constructed homes. And of the 60 plus persons comfirmed dead, how many were from these areas. And of the 450 plus persons still missing, how many were from The Mud, Pigeon Pea or sand Banks? While the hurricane event may present the convenience to deal with the long and vexing problems of shantytowns, occupied mostly by illegal immigrants, government must tread carefully to ensure it doesn't set precedents that infringe on the rights of Bahamians to have free access and unincumbered ues of their properties.

you know this (that you posted) is legal garbage, don't you. The issues of squatting and breaching the building codes are two separate and distinct actions. The 'clean hands' does not apply in this instance.

Based on government's recent decision to keep residents away from Abaco, government should ban all students and the general public from riding on similar buses ntil the cause of the poisoning has been identified.

More fear-mongering and attempts to keep residents away?

As the country steadily rushes to surpass last years' murder count. When will the effects of shot spotter technology, additional camera surveillance, additional vehicles, and other resources to the police start to pay dividends? Or is this the norm going forward. Average of one murder every 3 days?

So basically the government is buying its land back from squatters, some of whom may be illegal? And it is also paying double for private land, first to the rightful owner and then to the squatters? Of course, the law says 12 years of squatting gives rights to those in possession. This law doesn't address nationality or legal status, so now a whole new can of sardines being ripped open. and, regardless of the smell, the burden will fall on the taxpayers.