Please get the government out of the media ownership business. It can lead to nothing but corruption of the democratic process. The government should sell it's media interests. If the Parliament wishes to impose some form of "Fairness Doctrine" on the media to prevent one sided reportage, while difficult to administer, that is at least consistent with a free press. The government owning or controlling media outlets is an aspect of a totalitarian not a democratic state.

Want a free press? Want government waste, abuse, and corruption exposed? Get the government out of the media business. 100% out!

Oops, that is not what some Bahamian politicians want, is it?

Doesn't Mr. Watchorn understand that the current government could care less about productivity or the real impact of its policies on employment levels?

What is important is to pander to a sadly ignorant mass of potential voters, so they can continue to be easily exploited in the name of a "government that cares".

Passing laws that superficially suggest benefits to workers, while in reality, simply making their already miserable condition worse yet, is a standard operating procedure.

If Tal Russell and others of his political ilk, think it is such a good idea for the Bahamian government to own a mobile phone system, here is a plan that involves no "political risk" for the Bahamas.

Sell the shares in BTC still owned by the Bahamian government on the open market, based on the highest price anyone will pay. Take the money and start a competing mobile system that will be 100% government owned but will have to compete with privately owned and operated systems in the open marketplace.

Of course we all know, including Tal et al, that the government mobile company will go out of business in a short period because of all the cronyism and corruption that formerly plagued BTC, but it will make all these armchair patriots happy, while the rest of us can enjoy decent phone service at a fair price.

This is a well conceived and well written piece. Thank you.

It fails to mention one Ingraham attribute that I think is central to his personna, and to why he is feared by the opposition. He was and is a resolutely honest man who did not see his role in government as a means to line his own pockets. Whatever he did, he did in an honest and single minded effort to improve the lives of the Bahamian people.

That is something that it is patently obvious cannot be said about his lifelong political opponents.

What a great idea Mr. Prime Minister. Let's have the government regain control and run BTC. Then, in addition to a whole bunch of additional desks where you can park political cronies, we can experience mobile telephone service to the same high standard and at the same exorbitant cost as we get from BEC.

This "blogger" is just another of Mr. Nygard's minions doing his dirty work. Mr. Nygard's serial criminal offenses are right out in the open, and easily available for anyone to see. He has systematically violated Bahamian environmental statutes by illegally building on the seabed. His activities have been well documented and were studiously ignored by the PLP government when they were last in power. It will be interesting to see if Prime Minister Christie has found the "right stuff" to defend the Bahamas and the rule of law this time around. It is laughable to see his paid press supporters expound on his "generosity" in doling out a few pennies for worthy Bahamian causes, while he systematically rapes the environment.

What exactly is this "private prosecution" procedure that apparently attends in the Bahamas? I am unfamiliar with any such procedure in any other country.

Mr. Gibson is an advocate for big labor and big labor always views economics as a zero sum game. “If you make ten dollars and I make five, the only way for me to make two dollars more is for you to make two dollars less.” “If a job goes to someone with a work permit, that is a job lost to a Bahamian.” Both are fallacious statements refuted in the first semester of any college level Economics survey course, but both false thesis, are the basis for Bahamian government policy.

If Bahamian based businesses could hire qualified technically skilled persons, absent all the hurdles government imposes, many more Bahamians would have good, career, job opportunities. The Bahamian policy of tightly controlling work permits and of making them extremely difficult and expensive to maintain, has contributed to making this a “one industry” country and that industry, namely tourism, that can support only a relatively low level of wages and benefits.

The Bahamas is fortunate to be located a tiny hop from the largest, per capita, economy in the world. There are literally hundreds of U.S. business that could benefit from the many advantages that the Bahamas offers, that would offer thousands and thousands of “career jobs”, the kind of jobs that promote a strong middle class, who are deterred from any consideration of moving any aspect of their operations here, due to the restrictive, expensive and serendipitous attitudes of our government regarding work permitting necessary technical staff.

It is all terribly short sighted and very sad, and Mr. Gibson’s recent demagoguery on topic is just one more reason why many, many citizens of this wonderful island nation will suffer in an economic back water unnecessarily.

Competition is what the Bahamian people are interested in, but not what the PLP are interested in. They are interested in "rice bowls" where they can park their constituents. It is perfectly obvious that the way to better communications services and better utility services is by getting rid of government ownership. That has been proved all over the world but the PLP is living in the 19th century.