To do VAT + its later rise in the absence of cuts to public spending and agreed haircuts to bondholders was a serious mistake. Those two parties should have been "at the table" with gives, and not just the Bahamian people being the only ones "giving" with the two VAT rounds.

The article omits probably the most useful solution - meeting with the bondholders and getting agreed haircuts in exchange for public sector cuts (to basically go around the IMF). Antigua did this a few years ago with great success.

BPL should privatised as part of the above framework.

Say no to LNG, ban cruiseships, and the Bahamas needs to go solar, fairly easy solutions, Bahamas will go high end for tourism and spend less on imported fuel for power.

Light rail and street trams like in Europe would seem to be the answer, with free fares.

"if" they are kept low? Most of the workers on the cruise ship are from the Phillipines and are paid like $1-$2 an hour with no union. The whole cruise industry is an unfair labour competitor to the Bahamas, regardless of the (few) jobs it hires for on an island.

Best thing the Bahamas and Caribbean could do is cancel cruise ship permissions like Key West and Hong Kong.

New LNG plants and cruise ships back to pre pandemic levels is leading? I guess maybe if we burn all the fossil fuels there will none left to burn as means to solving the problem?

Will the cruise industry have to pay VAT on that % of the trip which is spent in Bahamian waters to help create this "level field" the hotel industry talks about?

How about instead of a carbon credit scheme we do our part by not building LNG plants and exiting the bunker C belching cruise ship industry from the Bahamas along with its enormous greenhouse gas footprint?

Perhaps some change in law to set out that Bank of the Bahamas could never ever be bailed out or loaned public funds or even apply for same might assure folks it was okay to let the Bank of the Bahamas start lending more again.

Having to potentially fly 900 people home to the other side of the world, is yet another reason why the Bahamas simply needs to ban the cruise ship industry. Face it, its just not working and the Bahamas and Caribbean region itself would clearly be better without a cruise industry and people visiting and staying in hotels even if only 20-25% of them could be converted to land based stays. Hong Kong, the Florida Keys, the world is waking up to the rationale behind just exiting the cruise industry. Time for the Bahamas to get on board.

Why I say the Bahamas needs a Green Party. Alas a conch moratorium to rebuild the breeding population is essential. Exports only I doubt would cut it at this point.