As iterated, the world is strewn with unfinished Chinese Construction projects. The biggest black eye domestically is the West Kowloon Arts Hub in Hong Kong. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/arti… They had an ambitious project to build theaters and performance venues totaling $21 billion the first of them to be finished in 2015. Well none are open yet and the cost has ballooned to double that. Work has stopped and they don't know when they will finish.

Here is the kicker. A colleague of mine has a client who is a world renowned theater facilities producer. He had a good pensioned job as a director for a national arts center. He was lured to Hong Kong with the promise of building 15 dream venues and then he thought that with those accomplishments, he would be an in-demand arts consultant.

It didn't turn out that way. They got the same treatment as Baha Mar and they have no date to finish. And this is a showcase piece in the heart of Hong Kong.

If they can't do it in Hong Kong, it will never get finished at Baha Mar.

I am willing to bet that the GFS deficit will top $300 million.

Here's is the deal. If you are between the age of 55 and 65 and have no retirement savings, and are counting on NIB to fund your golden years, well ... there een no money. The government owes NIB 2.2 billion that it has promised to pay, but hasn't.

So while you were collecting that government pay cheque, (and having creditors subtract half of it for that car and big screen TV and stuff), you thought that you would be safe when you hit retirement? Wrong.

No money, no funny. Unfunded pension plan to the point of 2.2 billion (or say 25% of the entire economy) means that a lot of seniors be we eating coconut and pigeon or looking in the garbage of the restaurants for food.

You just have to read WikiLeaks to see what the rest of the world thinks of Fred Mitchell. He is ablight on the Bahamas.

Blah blah blah. I agree that unemployment is the Key Performance Indicator of crime, but saying that you are going to partner with the private sector to create jobs means nothing. It is just words. The private sector is choked to near unconsciousness with taxation, exorbitant license fees, VAT, a deteriorating economy and a poisonous drag on the ease of doing business -especially with government departments.

This screed proves that the author is devoid and bankrupt of innovative, disruptive ideas that will revitalise the Bahamian economy. There are no policy points, or plans, other than boilerplate tired words with no actions attached. There is a confirmation here of the author not knowing what she doesn't know. Hardly any qualifications to lead a country in its hour of greatest need.

This is the missive of a wannabe who wants to leader just for the sake of being leader, but doesn't have a clue on how to govern, how to create the harmony and cooperation required to get us out of our mess. Her past actions prove that she is not worthy. To be a leader, one must first be a servant, and based on her actions, the personal integrity and wholesomeness required of a leader is not there.

Not that I approve of the policies of Gregory Moss, but if the author wanted a model of how to honourably disagree with their leadership, Gregory Moss provided it.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

Only 23% of tourists get off the boat in Nassau according to a Florida consultant in the pay of the cruise lines. The biggest reason is that there is nothing to see or that prices are too high. Specific complaints are a $15 plate of hummus at the Athena Cafe where it is free on the boat with lunch. Or the $8 and $9 dollar ice cream cones at Marina Village or the $20 personal pizza at Atlantis (that you can get for $5 in America) and the $6 bottle of water. Tee shirts are cheap and shoddy and so dated as a tourism product. The straw market is loud and unappealing. Most tourists are unaware of the high crime in Nassau until they get warned on the boat. In the minds of the first time tourists, The Bahamas still has the glamorous cachet of the 1970's and tropical and exotic James Bond portrayal. When they land, they are disappointed and upon revisiting Nassau, do not get off the ship. The majority of cruise ship passengers are repeat customers, and learn quickly that it's not worth getting off the boat. That was my rationale for my statement.

I do suppose that the murder count does affect the stop-over visitors perceptions, but the number of stopover visitors are in such decline, that it may not matter in a big way to the bottom line.

Of course crime is a concern to tourism in general, but the worst of it how it affects Bahamians. My goodness, it used to be quite pleasant to go for an evening stroll along the water where Eastern Road has the loop view and meets Yamacraw Hill Road. Nowadays, when you see folks, they are carrying sticks or have a dog on a leash as personal protection, or travel in groups. Sad. Even the Winton area is not safe anymore.

The trouble with the murder count, is that murders didn't really affect the tourism trade -- except for instilling an aura of fear. As you point out, it is the robberies etc related to the economic conditions ... and that does affect the tourist trade. Nobody is going to murder a tourist, because that will bring down the wrath of everybody, but they will try to rob them if they are economically desperate.

The bottom line is that crime correlates to the economy and no one cares about fixing the economy.

You forgot about Canada's warning about buying property in the Bahamas as well.

Jeez this is scary! In the picture above Nottage is starting to look like my chinless uncle as he ages.

Cable Bahamas is a rogue organisation. It has been since it was started.