As the cruise industry grows their leverage over island nations goes UP. So why did we agree to dredge the harbour to allow bigger ones in?
If despite MORE cruise visitors and bigger ships crime still goes UP, then clearly not enough of the tourist dollars see shore. No surprise as the hotel is all the ship and the workers on board all foreign too.
So why is it rocket science to not just block them buying the port but kick them out of the Bahamas period (ideally in concert with other nations). OPEC for oil, why not the equivalent to stand up to the cruise ships and get tourism working better for the Caribbean?
Bahamas Air was running very old and very fuel inefficient jet planes before this.... So lets try and be a little balanced here! Its good news, tho the airline should be privatized. No reason it can't make money.
Since the Bahamas has accepted the apparent legitimacy of the alphabet organizations to put demands on it in the past, why should it be surprised when the EU places demands on it and then places itself in a position to judge if the demands are met or not? Was not the original mistake to have accept the legitimacy of external bodies eg the oecd/fatf to judge on the Bahamas and its internal affairs in the first place? If after everything done we are still blacklisted, then why not dial back all we have done to disadvantage financial services if it has all been for not in any event? (and at least regain part of our financial services industry)
Why persue/permit cruise ships at all if land based visitors spend $1000 per visit and cruise visitors spend $70 per visitor? Can the Bahamas debt/civil servants pay/pensions all be paid with the margins from $70 per visitor? And if not, is everyone prepared to take a haircut if it won't?
High expectations from a razor thin margin seems sure to put the numbers offside to me.
Our democracy does involve stakeholders having input. Regular elections have been held. And still the conch are collapsing. There's a disconnect between a high harvest of conch and a long term survival of the species. They are now endangered in Florida and have never recovered and probably never will. We are only on track to be somewhat later in time to this same end point as we had more conch, more islands and more waters.
Observations about catching adult conch that won't ever reproduce are not very insightful. Its like saying look I got 10 Dodo birds/we are fine a few years away from Dodo extinction.
If we are going to chose not to have a moritorium on conch harvest to have at least some chance the species can replenish, then lets just be honest about it and conceed extinction will occur. "Consulting stakeholders" means extinction. No one will ever chose to be out of a job. It would be as if Atlantic whalers were ever going to have been for the whale moritorium which got put in a few decades ago. BREEF has been going on about this since the early 2000s as mentioned above, so lets just stop all the pretending to care and that this will all be fine with more studies and a bit more regulation, and either accept a moritorium or extinction.
A viable tourism based economy can not co-exist with a cruise based product sucking out probably 90% of visitor spends as compared to visitors who visit by land based hotels. Its a fool's economy, and the more leverage the cruise ship industry gets is the less there is for a land based industry. Carnival should be welcome to invest in the Bahamas in land based hotels that hire Bahamians. Do we want crumbs or a real tourism economy with hotels, and hotel jobs and the ability to control our own tourism industry?
Hmmmm. If we were truely wanting to save the lives of those who die making dangerous migration trips without the benefit of regulated ships wouldn't a call for open borders be the most effective?
"Love thy neighbour as thyself but only if he has legal citizenship" was not what was commanded back in the day. :)
If we are going to expand LPIA and build an LNG power plant and refinery in Grand Bahamas does this mean we will be pulling out of the Paris agreement as Trump has done? Or pretend to care about addressing climate change when in fact we don't?
concerned799 says...
As the cruise industry grows their leverage over island nations goes UP. So why did we agree to dredge the harbour to allow bigger ones in?
If despite MORE cruise visitors and bigger ships crime still goes UP, then clearly not enough of the tourist dollars see shore. No surprise as the hotel is all the ship and the workers on board all foreign too.
So why is it rocket science to not just block them buying the port but kick them out of the Bahamas period (ideally in concert with other nations). OPEC for oil, why not the equivalent to stand up to the cruise ships and get tourism working better for the Caribbean?
On Handing control of our port to the cruise lines would be like surrendering to privateers
Posted 20 February 2019, 1:16 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Bahamas Air was running very old and very fuel inefficient jet planes before this.... So lets try and be a little balanced here! Its good news, tho the airline should be privatized. No reason it can't make money.
On Bahamasair invests $11.4m in new jet
Posted 16 February 2019, 9:34 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
I only hope legislation is passed blocking the ability of any future government to bail out a bank.
On ‘Sell, sell, sell’ BOB even with 164% profit rise
Posted 16 February 2019, 5:30 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Since the Bahamas has accepted the apparent legitimacy of the alphabet organizations to put demands on it in the past, why should it be surprised when the EU places demands on it and then places itself in a position to judge if the demands are met or not? Was not the original mistake to have accept the legitimacy of external bodies eg the oecd/fatf to judge on the Bahamas and its internal affairs in the first place? If after everything done we are still blacklisted, then why not dial back all we have done to disadvantage financial services if it has all been for not in any event? (and at least regain part of our financial services industry)
eg. Why give up so much for nothing?
On Govt 'has strategy' to oppose EU 'high risk' decision
Posted 16 February 2019, 12:30 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Best of luck. IF it does work out lets be prepared to give credit where it is due. :)
In the mean time what about the family islands? Surely something needs to be done there to do recycling and better waste management?
On $130m landfill deal ‘in the last 50 yards’
Posted 13 February 2019, 12:48 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Why persue/permit cruise ships at all if land based visitors spend $1000 per visit and cruise visitors spend $70 per visitor? Can the Bahamas debt/civil servants pay/pensions all be paid with the margins from $70 per visitor? And if not, is everyone prepared to take a haircut if it won't?
High expectations from a razor thin margin seems sure to put the numbers offside to me.
On GB cruise mega ports raise Nassau concern
Posted 9 February 2019, 3:22 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Our democracy does involve stakeholders having input. Regular elections have been held. And still the conch are collapsing. There's a disconnect between a high harvest of conch and a long term survival of the species. They are now endangered in Florida and have never recovered and probably never will. We are only on track to be somewhat later in time to this same end point as we had more conch, more islands and more waters.
Observations about catching adult conch that won't ever reproduce are not very insightful. Its like saying look I got 10 Dodo birds/we are fine a few years away from Dodo extinction.
If we are going to chose not to have a moritorium on conch harvest to have at least some chance the species can replenish, then lets just be honest about it and conceed extinction will occur. "Consulting stakeholders" means extinction. No one will ever chose to be out of a job. It would be as if Atlantic whalers were ever going to have been for the whale moritorium which got put in a few decades ago. BREEF has been going on about this since the early 2000s as mentioned above, so lets just stop all the pretending to care and that this will all be fine with more studies and a bit more regulation, and either accept a moritorium or extinction.
On There's no cause for alarm over conch, says GB fisherman
Posted 8 February 2019, 4:29 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
A viable tourism based economy can not co-exist with a cruise based product sucking out probably 90% of visitor spends as compared to visitors who visit by land based hotels. Its a fool's economy, and the more leverage the cruise ship industry gets is the less there is for a land based industry. Carnival should be welcome to invest in the Bahamas in land based hotels that hire Bahamians. Do we want crumbs or a real tourism economy with hotels, and hotel jobs and the ability to control our own tourism industry?
On Carnival cruise port to create 1,000 jobs
Posted 6 February 2019, 4 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Hmmmm. If we were truely wanting to save the lives of those who die making dangerous migration trips without the benefit of regulated ships wouldn't a call for open borders be the most effective?
"Love thy neighbour as thyself but only if he has legal citizenship" was not what was commanded back in the day. :)
On Calls for greater effort to stop illegal migration from Haiti
Posted 4 February 2019, 3:13 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
If we are going to expand LPIA and build an LNG power plant and refinery in Grand Bahamas does this mean we will be pulling out of the Paris agreement as Trump has done? Or pretend to care about addressing climate change when in fact we don't?
On ‘Hundreds of acres’ for LPIA expansion
Posted 24 January 2019, 2:06 p.m. Suggest removal