Mr. Sands, your honesty is much appreciated.
Our challenge is definitely a human resource issue and a nation-wide cultural work ethic and educational issue.
Sadly, this is a generational problem, and the results, if we find ourselves on the right path, will also take generations to fix.

Mr. Laroda,

We need to forget about importing nurses and teachers into our country.
Instead, fire every elected and permanent government employee in this country and The Bahamas may have a chance.
That you are unable to honestly or intelligently address the root causes of this crisis, which will continue to grow, suggests a complete and utter failure of the so-called "leadership class". in The Bahamas.
I appreciate your concern, but there are ways to deal with this crisis other than asking families to fix what shouldn't have gotten to this point.
Yes, our leadership class has, and continues to, fail this nation.

And, we need to continue to attempt to educate our people to the criminal acts of those in the highest offices in the land.
Likely, they do not truly understand any academic idea, but simply go along with the nonsense for the 5 years they seek to get rich.

So, these were the ones who got caught.
How many are still sitting in Parliament?
Maybe even the highest office in our land?
Is this a stretch?
Look around. One has to laugh, if not cry for this country.
We have suffered not only a brain drain for many years now, but the truly decent have fled, as well.

George Carlin pointed this out for the US many years ago.
It is truly all about an educated populace.

Agreed.
It is easy to imagine a small country such as The Bahamas work to ensure that all members of this society shared in the prosperity that has visited the few. More equal, and more prosperous.

Yes Tal.
Just a document.
We lacked the honest, educated, nation-building leadership required.
Now, the time is late, and we risk losing it all.
Greedy little men were there at the outset, and continue to punish this country.
The police are a joke.

birdie,
My new years resolution is to not respond to idiots. So, you may not be able to enjoy my responses next year.
But, do you realize how ignorant your above comments are?
"Going elsewhere" is what destroys jobs, reduces economic activity and reduces collectable fees and taxes.
Obviously you've never run a business, nor studied economics, nor completed basic math.
We produce nothing here in The Bahamas and rely on tourism for a majority of our GDP. Meaning that tourism provides jobs, food on the table, gas money.
Do I really need to say how anti-Bahamian you sound?
Do you not care that losing a significant amount of money to our nation further imperils starving children and stressed out parents.
Do you not care? Or, do you not think?

This is rather disheartening for the Bahamian people and the future of this country.
Secrecy, bribes and dishonesty, collusion, nepotism and the collapse of our justice system rule our nation.
Nothing more, nothing less.
I forgot wholesale ignorance.

Generally, business people hire the most qualified applicant. They want value for their money.
While we continue to stand in the way, all of us using word salads, the truly and exceptionally qualified are focused on doing their jobs, Perhaps, one would think that doing the same thing over and over is a recipe for failure, as well as, the definition of insanity.
We have to, at some point in our short Bahamian history, quit blaming foreigners for ALL of our problems.
We continue to elect third world politicians expecting first world results.
Why would we be surprised by these outcomes?