“Best Practices” which is something we should strive for and that would include consulting the end users BEFORE purchasing equipment, especially those necessitating a $1.5M outlay 🤔

Interesting how both the Bahamar and British Colonial properties and our government’s actions on both are in the news. Hopefully we will be more deliberative in our investigations and critique of what they have done…Sunshine is extremely important here.

“If it looks, walks & quacks like a duck…!”

No political mischief here I’m afraid.

Folks with integrity would refuse any appearance of impropriety. However we have a paucity of morals and integrity amongst our political elites and their ‘hanger ons’. As a friend of mine often opines “land of pirates”🤨

Opposition, continue to advocate for an investigation. Even if we can never seem to get these political types successfully prosecuted. Maybe one day justice will prevail 🤞🏽

“One”…impressive👌🏽

I hope we have more like you (‘two’, ‘three’…’tens of thousands’❣️)

Please keep ‘posting’👍🏽

Thank you Dr. Sands for spelling out the concerns of many of us. Interestingly you write of successive government administrations’ decisions to redevelop PMH, onsite as the best way forward based on local and international recommendations. I remember a much discussed plan by the Beck Group, lead by one of our own international experts Fred Perpall, that addressed these very issues.

Why can’t we use our small size and closeness to our advantage: work together in a bipartisan way to keep projects moving in a more cost effective and efficient manner?

Let’s stop politically attacking each other when we make meaningful assessments and suggestions as Sands has done here. Wake up Bahamas and demand more from our leaders because complaining without suggesting improved alternatives is like empty vessels…only making noise in the wind.

Ms. Frazier,

You have the support of many of your fellow citizens. All we ask are that you and your colleagues decisions, as well as the presiding justices be fair to both the victims (their families) and the accused. Especially ensuring that those accused don’t become victims themselves of corrupt practices of our law enforcement officers as happens in many countries, especially to our neighbors to the north as eloquently described in last month’s NYT.

Many of us think that punishment and retribution through our courts and prisons is the best way to deal with crime. However we know and evidence supports that the best way is to support incentives in our society to prevent them. This begins with strong educational and parental support as well as economic opportunities through employment and entrepreneurship. That’s were our limited monies should be directed.

Let’s stop throwing political punches at one another and come together to improve our country.

Dr. Minnis makes an excellent suggestion. Public offerings for infrastructure projects have been well established in the Bahamas. Examples include Bridge Bonds in the 1990’s and the Arawak Cay Port in the twenty-teens. Both individual and Pension Funds were allowed to invest. In fact Government should include these ‘deals’ as part of their public sector pension funding.

If what Dr. Minnis implies is that a few “elites” are benefiting from this investment I “cry shame” on the Davis Administration! As an old mentor of mine used to opine: “we need a ‘Mr. Ten Percent’ for the (interest of) Bahamian people.”

It’s not too late to make it right.

This project is a bad idea.

We are a very small country, in terms of population, land mass and finances. I hope the Cabinet will rethink their decision before it’s too late. Our successive governments, of all stripes, need to coordinate their medium and long term projects to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness both financially and to our very sensitive environment.

This entire project and its location is a bad idea! The reasons are obvious as stated in the piece above. The problems of tertiary maternal & child healthcare in the public sector has little to do with infrastructure at PMH (that can’t be solved with alteration of the existing facility using plans from the Beck Group), but stem from poor management and compensation within the public healthcare system.

This includes a poor financial infrastructure of healthcare funding, management and compensation for healthcare professionals (especially physicians, nurses and allied healthcare/technical professionals), and maintenance of expensive and technical infrastructure and equipment. See the deterioration of the only decade old Critical Care Block.

Political parties all want to point to an infrastructure project that they provided, not realizing bad projects hang around their necks like a sinking albatross. We need bipartisan projects that span any one five-year administration. We’re much too small and vulnerable to survive wave after wave of stupid decisions. If the present Davis Administration wants to do something bold around healthcare they should seriously take on the mandate of funding a proper expanded national health insurance which will have to include folks paying into an insurance plan similarly to their national insurance tax which has become a lifeline for some folks for workman’s compensation and an aid to their retirement savings.

Redemption is part of jurisprudence.

If we are indeed a nation founded on christian principles, the most significant of which is ‘forgiveness’ then we need to accept circumstances when our fellow citizens, having committed crimes including murder, have served their time, in effect asked for forgiveness, and our now available for redemption. This is part of civil society and what we all would want for our loved ones and ourselves if we have indeed been rehabilitated.

It is also noteworthy to point out that he was not convicted of ‘first degree’ murder and therefore was not sentenced to life without parole nor a sentence without the possibility of release.

Yes he deserves “help” and supervision upon release, however we do need to “accept” what our laws allow and demand. Otherwise chaos will ensue.