So why is there so much pressure to tax Bahamians even more when all the major countries are seeking tax reform that reduce taxes. Our problem is not the failure to tax Bahamians. It is the huge, astronomical concessions and tax breaks that are given to international companies. These companies, yes like Bah Mar and yes Atlantis should be major revenue streams for the government and help reduce the tax burden on local Bahamians. But instead they get too many tax breaks. So they operate like cash cows, making huge profits and exporting most of it. In the main time Bahamians associated with the property remain poor, the country remains broke and cash strapped, having to borrow more and more and the infrastructure remains old and unkempt in fact most of it in shambles.

If you read the posts above yours you will see this matter was addressed. To the effects of ‘give them food and water, a gps even and let them continue on their journey to find the land of milk and honey. At least until something is done to fix the problems in their home land.”

In the main time two local Bahamian restaurants seem to be doing really well. One has expanded overseas and the other is planning a fifth location in New Providence. The peas and rice and Mac could never be as bad as the poison some of the foreign food chains are selling. The next phase is to get local restaurants to use more Bahamian grown produce and chicken especially. The chicken that comes from the US is not only forced grown and laden with hormones (yes young girls are growing breasts at 5) but it is also chlorinated. A chemical process that makes the meat look pink and the blood clear. (When the meat is still raw)

The news that the commodore of the RBDF was asked th stand down from patrolling the South Western coasts of New Providence has really set tongues a wagging and brains shifting into high, high gear. What exactly was going on in this part of the island that was so secret, so covert, so conspicuous and maybe so illegal that even the man in charge of guarding our seas, protecting our boarders and enforcing the law even was not involved in or even informed about. What was being smuggled into or out of the island? Are these activities still going on and these Haitian sloops a re mere distractions from the operations that mat still be going on. Poor Haitians. This may all sound far fetched but Bob Marley died from a toe infection after trying on a pair of sneakers that was given to him as a gift. By whom? Are the same people involved? Remember we have a major problem with guns and drugs coming and going from that side. (The Wild, Wild West ). What going on while the country is a whoring after Haitian sloops?

The fact is that the Minnis led FNM government made the immigration problem even more complicated and even less enforceable when it legally declared that any child born to a Bahamian parent, either mother or father, anywhere in the world is a Bahamian. So now Haitian women coming to the Bahamas will let Bahamian men 'juice' them to make Bahamian babies. And likewise Haitian men (and Jamaicans and Chinese) will not have to go through the 'marriage for citizenship' process any more. They just have to make baby with a Bahamian woman and eventually the child can apply to sponsor their parents in the Bahamas. Then there is the issue of crooked doctors who will create or alter documents to indicate that DNA shows a child has one or both Bahamian parents. And can the country legally deport the illegal mother (or single parent father) of an underage Bahamian?

Pollo Tropical is too healthy for Nassau. And some company has been holding on to the Red Lobster franchise for a while but not opening it up here. Lol but besides Carl's Jr. losing its taste appeal with Bahamians there was a major concern s that some of the chemicals in Carl's food could cause cancer and or birth defects. Some states in the US required these restaurants to post warning signs at their locations and this caused a big fall off in business. Some foods are meant to be cooked to order and not meant to be defrosted and served from a microwave. And one of them is grilled beef or chicken. It tastes bitter after it has been stored after being cooked. There is another chain that is also losing its appeal with Bahamians. They sell mainly chicken and while they may still have good traffic, their sales have fallen off tremendously.

open your eyes bahamians! These Haitian sloops always had the ability to come into Nassau. The fact is in the past that was not their destination. They stayed on the outskirts of the islands because their intended landing was the US. But now that big, bad Donald Trump is president and has promised to deport all illegals, no matter how long they have been living in the US, the destination of choice is now Nassau. And so they are taking their chances and they are coming. And this is just the beginning. When Donald Trump starts to deport the remaining of the 60,000 Haitians who were given refuge in the US many will try to come here. And the flight from Haiti in an indication that the economy of that country is deteriorating. So this country must now brace for the long haul.

They continue the journey their fore parents took...to the Bahamas and to the US and even to Canada searching for the land of milk and honey. Traveling on wooden boats, stacked almost the way they came across the middle passage from the coasts of Africa. Little food and water but plenty hope and expectation. The chains of poverty enslaving them this time. I say give them food and water, a gps even, and let them complete their third passage. At least until something is done to be improve their impoverished land.

The reason many Bahamians don’t pay property taxes is they don’t feel they should have to. Government already gets stamp tax and VAT when you purchase your property. Then they get over 40% customs duty and VAT on all the materials you use to build your home, plus 7.5% VAT plus national insurance on the labor costs. Then there are building permit fees and other incidentals that go to the government amounting to more than 50% of the cost of your home. No Bahamian should be required to pay property tax on an owner occupied home.

While Bah Mar may be the second feather in the Bahamas' Tourism cap, next to Bah Mar, it is also important that attention be given to the smaller hotels and tourist properties, especially the ones that are Bahamian owned and operated. The fact is the Bahamian economy is too shallow and money does not circulate enough in the economy for the multiplier effect to be effective. If a farmer grows tomatoes on the island and ships them to Nassau to be sold that creates wealth. But if he ships them to canning factory (in the Bahamas) to be processed into tomato paste and ketchup and other products that are sold locally and exported, then that creates even more wealth. Fast Food restaurants, most of them have gone to doing hardly any cooking in their restaurants. Almost everything is precooked and tossed in the microwave for a minute or two. But they constitute the majority of restaurants in the country. And since everything they sell is imported, most of their purchases are made outside the country..little or no benefit to the Bahamian economy.