As a foreigner/expat there is a definite discrimination albeit unwritten. As a long time serving expat teacher of 40 years it was moved at the Bahamas Union of Teachers Annual General Meeting several years ago that long serving expat teachers be entitled to a teachers pension like their Bahamian colleagues. The overwhelming cries of "no" and "no way" resounded through the conference hall. And guess what the slogan of this union clearly displayed and shouted at the end of each meeting is "solidarity". If this country ever aspires to be first world then they need to start acting in a humane and legal manner. I wondered in my case and that of other expat teachers (very few in number) who decided to make the country their home why we doing the same job as our Bahamian colleagues and more in many cases should we be second class when retiring or legally and morally entitled to any other benefits.

Wouldn't it be interesting to have the PM or DPM host a televised question time attended by journalists with direct and pertinent questions such " Sir can you explain why in this day of computer records is so much money missing from the road traffic department and why nobody has been prosecuted to date"

Birdie has a valid point however the above letter is based upon facts and broken promises by the present government. The sad part is that if the FNM get elected they will have to make some painful and unpleasant decisions to get the country out of its present precarious mess. If the PLP retain power then downgrading, devaluation and the resulting consequences of an ever growing national debt are almost inevitable

The reality is that the consumer can buy 4-5 small clean Japanese cars for the price of one average sized new car. As usual the Government has no idea that lower duty on new cars translates into lower retail prices, more sales and better tax revenue. They would rather stick with exorbitant duty rates and slow sales .

Heads in the sand. When a further downgrading is enacted then the PM will just tell the party faithful that the IMF and Moodys don't know what they are doing.

So true but that doesn't touch on the corruption. Years ago I had an annual subscription to Mechanics Illustrated. I got one then no more ? Then I subscribed to the airmail version of a popular UK newspaper. Got two then no more.Guess what ? the newspaper were able to confirm delivery right into Nassau. Finally I tried National Geographic. Paid my money got none. Obviously someone sorting mail sorts any magazines etc into their own pocket. Apart from the ridiculous time to get a letter from Nassau to the family islands the corruption by some employees is mind boggling.

Easy to promise all these things but the reality is that the next government will have to do some drastic spending cuts just to keep this country afloat. The problem being that all parties just see 5 year cycles and plan for re election and damn the consequences. The country needs along term game plan if it is to succeed.

On Eleuthera our water board workers work hard trying to maintain supplies to a growing number of houses and residents but are stymied by old leaking pipes and inadequate pumping/filtration systems. Many meters are not registered and often meters are bypassed but in my opinion compared to electricity water is cheap.

In most developed countries credit cards are issued free but not here, additionally why in this age of modern technology and instant communications does it take 20 working days to be credited with funds from an American cheque. The answer is obvious we are being taken for a ride because the banks use this period as free money to invest. An American cheque paid into my account today should allow me to use those funds at most in three days.

They are totally incapable of reducing expenditure and only want to heap more taxes on an already suffering public. It is really simple take more out of the economy to fund your wild schemes, political kickbacks and election nonsense and there is less to support businesses and then more companies large and small, stop trading and then less taxes are collected. The infrastructure electrical, water and airports are all decaying and yet we never save a penny. I have to laugh when I see the recent PLP rallies with flags on the cars etc and wonder how many brain cells these supporters have and can they read.