Mr. Miller is fatuous and should be ignored.

All excellent and accurate points momoyama. However, the educated rich ones, the ones who influence policy and our papers the most, don't want any change at all. They are perfectly fine with the way things are, for themselves.

All true comments above. Sadly, the readership of these is probably in the dozens, with a true understanding of them, a handful, at most.

The Tribune seems to forget the power of the press to shape public opinion.
The failures of our country, the many many failures, likely leading to complete catastophe here, should be rightfully laid at the doorstep of this paper, as well as, to the owner of Centreville Food Store. There are many many reasons for the decline of our society and our environment. The Tribune has stood by their financial and business gurus for too long to see the light. Plastic bags are a blight, yes. But, if the editors and contributors to the Tribune cannot see what our economic system and business credo in general have done to the working class, and the environment of this country, they should be held accountable. We cannot expect that the childish and short term mentality that currently worships money would not trickle down from the pages of the Tribune. Money currently rules the world and the Tribune. But, that will soon end, as all silly things do.

Mr. Bodie,

You are committing more of the same fraud of thinking a party will get us somewhere.
Of course the Bahamian people are suffering. Like people all over the world. Why? Because like you, they continue to vote for these stupid parties where honesty, and leadership go to die. We have precious few leaders anywhere. Because they need money to run for office and are destroyed if they don't. Those with the money want to keep that money, and power, and so will work to maintain the status quo.
Look at wash house man. Is our tourism product any better now, than when he came into office? Look at nearly 50 years of independence for The Bahamas.
Any better now, after 50 years, Mr. Bodie?
Now, ask yourself, "why not?"
Since you say you are the smartest man on the planet, I look forward to your reply.

Mr. Darville,
After a recent trip to Florida, I can feel your pain.
We will not see any improvement in the near future, while we know we have very little time to save what is left. Sorry to be negative, but I'm only being realistic.
The Bahamas, along with the US, does not have the educational background, nor moral acuity, nor common decency to face the realities of what we are doing to our living world.
In the spirit of compassion, we must realize that most of us are forced into a position of focusing only on ourselves, and our immediate families. Most of us go to work at meaningless jobs that pay less than it takes to keep our families fed and pay the essential bills. When we get home, we are tired. Even too tired to teach our kids to read, it seems. This is not by accident. It is also not by accident that the world's resources, including the best properties, are being consolidated into fewer and fewer hands. The problem is greater than realizing that most all governments, including this Minnis one, are complete failures for the people and the planet.
Not only would Dr. King be appalled at what he would see on Bimini now, he would be appalled at what kind of people we have become. There is no doubt about this. Dr. King would be appalled by our xenophobia, our homophobia, our racism, sexism, the huge economic gulf between our people. He would decry the murders and callous treatment of our children, and the poverty they are born into. Dr. King would be terribly saddened even more, as we proclaim that we are Christians, yet act daily in ways that defy any notion of what Christianity really means, from our so-called pastors, to those who follow them to church.
Mr. Darville, like you, I have spent a good portion of my life immersed in, and studying tropical marine ecosystems. As you well know, there is no good news in front of us. NONE.
Please call me anything you want, except a liar, because you know this, as well. I will continue to support those fighting for change, and try to be a clarion caller myself. But, the facts are in front of us. People and governments are now ruled entirely by money. Money has no morals, and those who have the most money are the same.
I am not trying to dishearten you Mr. Darville. But, we must be realistic about where we are right now. Bahamians, as a whole, couldn't give a damn about our environment, our natural resources. We can't even get our people to take care of their children in a respectable manner.
I believe that we have truly screwed up. All of us. The Bahamas will be paying for this, or our children will, I should say, in many ways. There is little doubt that our lack of foresight and planning will cause immense and unimaginable suffering for the people of this country in the very near future.

Absolutely correct.

This is not a 15% rate hike for BPL.
Every business will ow have to raise their prices if they want to stay afloat.
And, we know that 15% will likely end up being 20% or more.
So, Bahamians can now count on an immediate double digit increase in their cost of living.
How many Bahamians will now be thrown into poverty and how many will be bumped out of the middle class?
All for the lack of brains and fortitude from our fellow Bahamians.

The poor and working class is finished in The Bahamas. All indications are, from rising BPL bills, to rising insurance rates, to a rapid rise in cost of living overall, that only the rich will soon completely own, and be able to live with dignity, in this country. The true costs of a poor education are now on evidence for all to see. We say it is because of poor leadership. Yes, and who voted them into office?
And, the headline on this article was disingenuous.
"Mr Saunders echoed his Bahamas First counterpart, telling Tribune Business: “There is going to be an increase, and it’s going to be staggered across individual locations, but I believe it’s going to be from a high in some islands of 30 percent to a low of 15 percent on other islands."
15% was the bottom end of the rate hikes. And, it time will likely be much more. But, we are so used to being lied to that this passes for the truth. Sad.

ECM,
It seems that you, as well as many people, continue to put your hopes in a party.
No wonder we have failed. Yes, failed. Anyone who can speak well of what has been accomplished by this government has blinders on. There are precious few leaders in our country. Those in office exemplify a selfish mentality, a party mentality, which is about one team winning over another, at the perennial expense of the Bahamian people. A newspaper's editorial position is necessarily critical of poor performance. All indicators, from our global standings, to our own social metrics here at home, strongly suggest that something is horribly wrong. Do I really need to put these failures in context? Or, can objective people who aren't wedded to the childish dichotomy of FNM or PLP read enough to see that we are on a path to economic, social and spiritual failure. For god's sake.
The Guardian is absolutely correct in their assessment of this government's performance. Those not wedded to cheerleading for a party see this clearly, as well. The job of a newspaper is to be critical. Just look at any country that has banned opposing views and you will see an authoritarian mindset that brings slightly more temporary social stability at the expense of freedom. Not only because I find my views more aligned with the Guardian do I realize that the governing class here has more in common with each other than they do with the citizens of this country. But, overall, I find the lack of a civic minded populace to be indicative of the quality of leaders drawn into the fray. We are a selfish, uneducated and corrupt people. It shows in our leadership and those that defend our country no matter what. This is not to compare us with other countries, I say this to emphasize the reality we must contend with. Neither party, no matter the amount of time they have in office will do good by the Bahamian people. We are just not mature enough, it seems, to see what is good for this country as a whole. To put it more simply and bluntly, this country needs to grow up.