Absolutely a bunch of amateurs running this country. They should have been prepared years ago given the geographical location of the Bahamas. I bet that there will still be no clear cut draconian plan to get things back on track. What a pity that grass root Bahamians have absolutely no idea of the precipice that this country balances on and how todays expensive cost of living will seem cheap compared to what will happen with devaluation and downgrading. Unfortunately the politicians use this ignorance to their advantage.

On the other hand surely responsible adults and professionals like teachers should be able to adjust their spending and borrowing within sensible limits but to often they purchase to have that shiny new expensive car or the annual cruise before paying their bills. Granted easy loans cater to the less fiscally minded but the banks can't be entirely blamed for consumer overspending.

You have to laugh at the pious tv appearances by the PM and others with their sad faces and please for donations and financial help when they are reaping what they have sown with blatant mismanagement of the public funds,and no accountability , then expect the business community and public to bail them out. And guess what, of all the excellent suggestions listed by Mr Gibson the PM and his cronies will take absolutely no notice and carry on as before.

And they still talk about a mini hospital for Eleuthera. Kids with their hands in the cookie jar with no concept of how to budget. When individuals are in debt they either cut costs or face the consequences, the same for a country.

Have you ever heard of these idiots ever being proactive. They are like a person drowning in credit card debt who ignores the regular repayment demands. They refuse to consider layoffs or any changes simply because they value their personal re-election over the state of the country's finances.

So right and why not tax all these winter residents homes sometimes being rented from $7 - 10,000 a week. Why not have a nominal hook tax for visiting yacht people. Exuma has up to 500 boats in Elizabeth harbour all winter often cleaning out the fish and lobster not to mention coming down from the USA laden with beer and tinned foods. ?

First of all if this government can't manage road traffic, MOH, Bahamasair How the hell do you expect them to manage income tax. You will never get the fishermen, construction workers, and others to declare let alone pay. Devaluation ? Almost everything is imported so the cost of almost everything would go up , this idea only works if there is a lot of home grown items. I have a suggestion tax all these winter residents homes. Some of them are charging $7 - 10,000 a week and paying little or nothing.

Temporary tax my backside. It will just end up like VAT in the consolidated account and be used on wasteful projects and political hirings. If you believe any further taxes are temporary then you believe in little green men from Mars.

What planet does Bradley Roberts live on. Just remember Mr Roberts your Government in addition to VAT has implemented a raft of increases from driving licenses ,customs charges,
tyre /ac disposal taxes ,departure tax and on and on and on. They heralded VAT as instantly going to reduce the national debt. What do they do Mr Roberts? spend all the VAT, borrow more, have a loss making Carnival, not trim any of these jobs for the aged boys, not trimmed foreign travel. Added to that any devaluation will not make the tourism product cheaper because imports will cost more. This government and blind followers had plenty of time and years to adjust the budget and instigate an emergency fund, but no they blindly went on their way and now expect the long suffering public to pay for their mismanagement.

Wouldn't any sane manager of finances have said cancel Carnival and restore the southern islands ravaged by the last hurricane . but no we go ahead with an event which the laughable excuse that it was never mean't to make a profit. I understand they are still discussing a mini hospital on Eleuthera when the existing clinics are short on supplies and I am reliably informed have one doctor covering a 100 mile long island. When will reality hit home and delay all these expensive projects and provide the basics. Really looking like third world African politics.