Unquestionably, as a tourism-based economy, we must figure out how to get our number one industry back up and running in the shortest possible time. However, what we do not need is to succumb to pressure, open the borders, and allow tourists to reintroduce COVID-19, leading to an outbreak that we cannot handle and certainly cannot afford!

One sensible solution to opening the borders is to find a way to work with our partners in following established protocol used with returning Bahamians last week and insist every individual prove they are COVID-19 negative using the test we accept to be the most accurate.

This may be a bit cumbersome and inconvenient for travelers, but everyone should be happy knowing we did all possible to secure their safety.

Airlines and cruise operators have enough clout to secure any number of tests required to make this work.

The government and Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar have only one chance to get the resumption of tourism operations in the country "right" and following the US course of action to date is NOT the way to go!

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US leading infectious diseases expert, expressed a fear that if cities begin to reopen too soon, as they already have, "there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control".

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fauci-seri…

The Bahamas would be **s-t-u-p-i-d** to open our borders to the US until they have their COVID_!9 situation under control according to CDC guidelines.

The government and Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar better sit up and pay attention, because Bahamians will not be at all forgiving if they allow their eagerness to please corporate America and the US to lead us backward into lockdowns, sickness, and death in the fight against COVID19!

Let us not rush into causing our own detriment. We have suffered for weeks already. A few more weeks of pain is better than an obvious worse alternative!

All this hot air about one infected Bahamian is a joke. The U.S. airlines are scheduled to begin operations to Nassau in a few short weeks and Carnival has said they have a 600% increase in cruise bookings with the intention of sailing here beginning August 1st.

What is the protocol for opening the borders restarting tourism into the country? How will we protect ourselves from potentially infected visitors?

Is this government going to simply roll over and allow the airlines and cruise ships to do as they please as usual?

If simply pontificating to the ignorant masses is all it takes, please bring Christie and Ingraham back, as they were both more entertaining than PM Minnis!

Beyond being entertaining, Christie and Ingraham were dismal failers as "leaders" of the Bahamas as any of the 100,000+ hungry Bahamians today will adamantly attest to.

While we're on the subject of games attorney play with real estate purchases, let's shine some light on why it takes them months to close purchases when all documents are properly registered and recorded!

The Bahamas undoubtedly needs tourism. However, after decades of spineless, visionless, politicians, the cruise industry has been allowed to run totally roughshod in our country, making its own rules, most of which are not in the best interest of the Bahamas and Bahamians!

Updating agreements with cruise companies should be high on the PM's "task force" list for ways of improving and sharing of the economic pie derived from the cruise industry.

Now is the time to reconsider cruise ship operating regulations and renegotiate more equitable arrangements to better benefit the Bahamas and Bahamians. The amount of environmental damage caused by dumping waste, pollution, and traffic, cannot continue being ignored.

Barcelona has had similar challenges with the cruise ship industry and made changes that benefit Spain. Why aren't we doing the same?

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019…

Loretta? Have you totally lost your mind? Duane is acceptable, but Loretta is THE most abominable, sorry excuse for a Bahamian only equaled or perhaps surpassed by Brent!

$2b in foreign reserves WITH tourist inflows is manageable. I have serious doubts $300m within the Bahamian economy is sufficient foreign currency reserves to keep the country stable and on par to the US dollar with no tourists inflows!

That is a razor's edge balancing act bound to fail at the least bit of unexpected stress i.e. hurricane, COVID-19 relapse, or any number of no-see-ums.

Nice show, but we're not ignorant enough to not see the play!

Trumps' eagerness to open earlier than CDC recommendations will most likely backfire leading to a protracted pandemic and delayed return of US Tourism.

Let's not panic just yet! But why are all of our eggs in one basket anyway?

This pandemic is a good lesson for us. The Bahamas needs to be less US-centric and firstly look to source food security from our other Northern neighbor, Canada (NOW), and the greater Caribbean as well.

Canada exports half of their beef/cattle, 70% of soybeans, 70% of pork, 75% of wheat, 90% canola, and 95% of pulses. **Over 90 percent of Canada's farmers are dependent on exports as well as about 40 percent of their food processing sector.**

Agriculture and food processing are key components of the Canadian economy and of Canada’s trade portfolio. Agriculture and food account for 11% of Canada’s goods GDP and almost 10% of Canada’s total merchandise trade. Food processing is by far the largest manufacturing employer in Canada supporting over 250,000 jobs across the country!

From a food security viewpoint, as a 100% consuming country, we should have looked at importing and partnering with Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin American producers along with the US, decades ago.