Where are all the thousands of frogs that use to be on the islands? Remember as school boy during the rainy season every puddle of rainwater in the yard or on the side of the street would be filled with tadpoles. And the school boys would scoop them up by the hundreds and keep them. They would feed thenm (dead insects and lizzards) and watch them as they grow legs then lose their tails and eventually turn into small frogs. Then one day the boy would come home from school and find, most if not all the baby frogs were gone. They went hopping away in search of mosquitoes and other small insects. But then they would gather more after the next rain and repeat the process all over. Helping nature along. Frogs were not only a natural predator of the adult mosquito, but the tadpoles fed on insect lavae and so they naturally help to keep viruses like Zika under control. Yes one still had to spray or light green bush during the really hot and rainy months, but weekly spraying will eventually create more problems that is will solve. Like the orange and yellow butterflies and the chimmey and the tobbacco dove..the frogs have disappeared, mostly.

US Bankruptcy vs Winding Up in Bahamian courts" If Sakis had not been interfered with and was allowed to take Bah Mar Into bankruptcy vis a vis the Delaware courts, things would be findamentally different from they are now:
.
**1. Bah mar would still be under the control of Sakis and now in the hands of China Bank.**
.
2. There would be no need to seek a buyer since Bah Mar would still be under original ownership.
.**3. China Construction Ameria would be out of the picture (and not Sakis) since they were the ones allegedly for not meeting the project's deadlines and doing a lot of faulty and shoddy work that had to be corrected.
**.
4. Bahamians and other unsecured creditors would be more to the top of the list unlike how they are at the bottom now and the work would have been ongoing and not come to a complete stop as it is now.
.
**5. Bah Mar would (most likely) been open now and the workers who were terminated would still be employed.**
.
6 There would be no need for 'gratis' payments to employees and contractors and everyone would most like been paid in full.
.
**7.China Exim Bank would have been to the bottom of the list and only get paid after the project was up and running. They would not have control over bah mar like they do now.**
.
8 Since China Construction (America) would no longer be associated with Bah Mar they would have to settle all their claims with their sub-contractors and suppliers.
.
**9. There would have been less government involvement socially, legally and financially in Bah Mar.**
.
10. There would be no need for additional concessions and tax breaks, especially with China Bank.
.
**11.**Bah Mar could have been completed at at lest $1/2 billion less than what it will cost today to complete.
.
12. The future of Bah Mar is more uncertain now, because although the prime minister says there is one, and yes we have reason to doubt, no buyer has been identified for the property.
.
**13. The country may now have suffered two credit downgrades, and facing the possibility of at least one more.**
.
14. The fallout from the whole Bah Mar debacle would be less: the original investor would still be in place, but as it is now Sakis Izmirilian, an investor, for all that is known, had good intentions now stands to lose everything he has invested in Bah Mar. So he appears to the international community as a sheep who has been fleeced in the Bahamas, and with the assisantce of the Bahamian government, whether is was their intentions or not.
.
**15 Bahamians has lost more all around by winding up bah Mar in this way. They have lost 2-3 years of economic inputs (taxes too), Jobs have been lost, Tax breaks and concessions to bah mar has been increased and the Bahamas' credibility has been damaged both as a tourist destination and a place for foreigners to invest.**

If that is so and there is a default do you realize the Chinese flag can be flying over theses shores in a matter of months? And they are already arrogant, the Chinese. When you ride pass the Sheraton downtown they have signs on the fence that encloses the restaurant patio in the Sheraton hotel. It is in Chinese Mandarin with no corresponding English and this is an English speaking nation.

you know that is bull$hit right? If The Bahamian government can give away $1billion to one foreign investor and claims to have matched it with other investors like Sun International, Albany Ginn can you do the math and see what is happening to the Bahamian people's money. And when you add up these give-aways over the years can you see why the foreign investor has all the economic power and Bahamians remain mere slaves on this plantation.

economically bahamians are still fools!!! Any Bahamian with even a lil bit of common sense should be past mad (livid) when they look at what is going on at Bah Mar and what goes on in this country in general when it comes to foreign investors vs Bahamian investors/businesses. Do you think any of the thousands of Chinese workers left this Bahamas without being paid for their work on the Bah Mar project? Why is it that Bahamians now have to haggle to get their money for work that they have already done, and in the case of CCA for work which that company has already been paid. Just think about it Bah Mar got over $1 billion in real property and concessions from this government, Bahamian peoples' money and yet it has yet to make a tangible contribution to this economy and yet they may have (secretly) gotten even more concessions. Bahamian people are in this country losing their businesses, losing their homes, losing their jobs and yes losing their dignity but yet government is squeezing every red penny out of them in the form of taxes while foriegn companies are getting a free pass. Do you know how many generations of Bahamians will not have access and use of the beaches at Bah Mar because of that project? And NO it is not just Bah Mar. look at Freeport: Why is it a ghost town when they have received so many tax breaks and so many concessions over so many years. Why are so many Bahamians in Grand Bahama unemployed? Why didn't those who benefited from all the tax breaks use some of them to stimulate the economy and get the magic going again? Why are they waiting on the government to revive Freeport? That is because they carpet bagged their money and took it out of the country and home. Time for our government to stop being afraid of the investor boogeyman. Stop believing the lie that "if we don't give them everything,and the kitchen sink, they will not invest." Time to start giving Bahamians the opportunity to own a piece of the Bahamian economy...keep the money home.

YES Since the government is already in this mess with both hands and both feet, they should instit that all (Bahamian especially) creditors of CCA are paid in full before they nail another nail at Bah Mar or CCA. They got all the money due to them up to the point the that work stopped on Bah Mar so they have no reason not to pay, except they were saving the money to build the Pointe. Whatever monies were lost by Bah Mar not opening and not opening on schedule will never be recovered and until those persons who have been terminated are rehired, especially those who left other jobs to go to Bah Mar the economy will continue to shrink. VAT cannot coexist with other taxes and government was already getting a large portion of Bahamians income in taxes. The exclusion of foreign investors from the tax burden must stop especially over long periods of time. When business is booming or even good they export all their profits to their home country. Yes they should be given tax breaks and concessions at start up and in unusual circumstances..but tax breaks extended over decades is counterproductive and unfair to Bahamians.

Speaking of Fuel Costs: Gas prices in the USA on average is 21 cents *lower* than they were this time last year. Gas prices in the Bahamas are 53 cents***higher*** than they were this time last year. So gas prices in the Bahamas are now 74 cents a gallon higher than US prices compared to what they were last year. Even after accounting for VAT which is less than 10 cents, can anyone explain why the great variance in gas prices?

Ohdrap4: if you are standing if front of the East Hill Post Office and ask someone how far is downtown from here and they answer you "O it is so far from here, you cannot even see it. It is not in sight." Get the picture now? Not conspiracy it's totally misinformation and misleading.

Whose money is it anyway? They made it clear that they were paying claims for Bah Mar and not CCA. Can you guess why? What ever is paid out will be recorded as expenses for the liquidators and will be racked up against Sakis' equity in Bah Mar. Meaning that When Bah Mar is sold Sakis will receive nothing. So sad but so true.

***Don't get it twisted!*** This has been no sweet and easy term for the PLP. This past five years has been no picnic, no walk in the park, no sitting on the dock on the bay, wasting time. They came into office having to face a dray load of tasks, including crime,especially murder, an economic recession, BEC wows, unfinished roadworks where the budget had doubled,high unemployment, illegal web shops, There was also the referendum, that was soundly defeated. Bah Mar was on the drawing board, but not in crisis. Then there were the many promises the PLP party itself had made to its supporters. Then came hurricane Joaquin, that seem to want to wipe the Southern Bahamas off the map, and the series of credit downgrades, that many believe were due to the government dropping the ball with Bah Mar. Now there's the Zika virus to contend with, the ongoing effort to take the College of the Bahamas to university status, the falling tourist numbers and on and on... The point for those who will be voting and to those who want to be voted for: the next five years will still not be easy. There will be lots of hard work. Lots of critical decisions will have to be made and there will have to be lots of cleaning up and rightsizing. The worst is to get a government that is lazy, lousy or incompetent. One that is not prepared to hit the ground running and have their nose to the grindstone for the next five years. You must be prepared to get your hands dirty and to swim with the pigs. Who are *you* voting for?