Nothing beats maintenance (cleaning and taking care) of what you have, no matter how old or unsophisticated the structure. The suggestions made about cleaning, laundering and resupplying are on point. So to the suggestion for a separate area for children to be seen and housed (although a new pediatric-obstetrics wing maybe a more affordable option).

The PMH A&E does need a more efficient throughput and their process can certainly be improved. There is no way to accomplish this without “monetizing” their unit, a strategic partner should help steer them in the right direction.

Lastly none of this is possible without healthcare financing aka National Health Insurance!

One strategy for dealing with the foreign beers/water/soft drinks is to use the Customs duties to disincentivize products whose wastes is not used in the recycling industry with a “recycling tax”. This tax would apply to wholesale, retail importers or individuals who hop on a speed boat and go to Miami...

The tax purpose would be to reduce glass bottles and metal cans litter, landfills and also plastic bottle use, not to discourage WTO Free Trade even though local manufacturers would benefit: win- win.

Granted the local Bahamian pirates always seem to find ways to smuggle their products, but that’s a legal enforcement issue, not an economic policy based on blind stupidity.

Unfortunate loss of life.

This is the most commonly used approach path for planes landing at LPIA. One wonders whether Civil Aviation, authorities at LPIA and all the other rescue agencies have a “Plan” in place for this sort of crash, where aircraft dive into the ocean way short of the runway.

The photos showing a fence erected north on the beach (at Nirvana?) has to be a hinderance to any rescue efforts, is likely to be both a safety hazard and is illegal if done outside the “High Water Mark”, which would be public domain. I wonder if the fence “owners” will clear the debri when this contraption rust due to the salt water, since the sharp rusty debri will likely injure unsuspecting beach goers.

The Bahamas needs UHC.

Realistically Dr. Sands is correct in his assertion. If we reject this new version of the scheme: it is DEAD.

Elections have consequences and this is the FNM’s NHI proposal. Like it or not it is their version of uhc/nhi. Sometimes the ‘purists’ among us need to realize that “the enemy of ‘good’ is ‘better’”. In those instances when confronted with an option that is not ideal, accepting it is better than nothing.

Regarding whether the 2% is a ‘tax’ or something else...who cares. It’s a small price to pay for health coverage for the sixty percent of residents not covered. The real issues will centre around containing cost. Having a health specific deduction helps ‘police’ the economics surrounding this particular service. Many more Public services need similar transparency. We should steer or augments and watchful eyes in that direction.

Further proof that we need a National Health Insurance plan to fund the $1Billion healthcare needs of Bahamians and Bahamian Residents.

A sign that we have reached political maturity would be when the two major political parties come together to address this and other extremely important national issues. Some things need bipartisan support and action.

Thank you very much Mr. Carson.

Understood...

That’s why Real Property Tax should “be kept ‘low’” on owner occupied dwellings.

Reform in this sector also means having everyone register their property and pay at least a nominal fee. This would mean having a built-in mechanism to reduced the fraud that leads to many of our less advantaged citizens having their properties stolen from them by unscrupulous thugs. Once a person’s property is properly registered at the Real Property Tax office/ IT system, it should be less likely that someone can ‘claim’ their real estate.

Real property tax is a very serious (and sensitive) issue and it reality ‘hits home’ when one is on a fixed income, like what happens to elderly retirees.

It is one of the easiest and most efficient taxes for governments to collect (your residence is easily found and documented). As such It makes home-owners especially vulnerable to “the big cudgel” of governments’ tax collectors. All the more reason to have progressive and sensible methods and rates, taking into consideration much of what Mr. Maycock states regarding improvements and investments. After all a well maintained structure and property benefits us all (see the delapidation in many of our NP neighborhoods and otherwise beautiful Family Islands). Additionally other factors, like not bankrupting the poor or our retirees who built our country, have to be factored into tax policy. In this scenario real property taxes on owner-occupied homes should be kept ‘low’ (these are not income generators), while income generating properties or once sold (and now subject to Stamp Tax) can be somewhat ‘higher’.

It should not matter ‘where’ a property is located, what is a “rich area” today may not have been when your grandparents built or bought their home...

The Minnis Administration needs to take a good look at our Customs processes. There are many policies that are contradictory to the VAT agreements including many of which that are not equally applied. Additionally there are arbitrary charges and unnecessary Red Tape that inhibit business efficiency and development.

A Cabinet White Paper to improve Customs would be a good idea. They should evaluate what Customs does? What is better left to the Tax collectors at Ministry of Finance? What could be abolished? What would make us more competitive as a nation? They should revise the Customs Duty ‘book’ of duty items, which is nearly one thousand pages to a much simpler document. They should aim to reduce the Custums Duty Rates on most of the products listed. Trust me, this would be desired by All! The higher rates could remain for items we may not want imported into the country, like guns, environmental toxins or other non biodegradable or recyclable products (like plastics and styrofoam)🤔

There is much to fix at Custums.

This is great news...the Bahamas is “the canary in the coal mine” when it comes to waste disposal & the environment. Go to any Family Island and examine their landfill: the amount of non-degradable plastics, styrofoam, tires and appliances speak to the problem in microcosm. The introduction of the $50 appliance tax is a start (although one wonders if government has been collecting and using this income for its intended purpose?). Others have opined to ways this fund could create a nascent recyclable/ scrap industry locally...a discussion for another day.

Using our Customs’ policy (100% importation of these products) to limit these environmentally harmful products, while encouraging the use of reusable and biodegradable ones, is exemplary. These folks should be congratulated!

A logical next step would be to limit imports of water, and other libations, to glass bottles/containers that can be locally recycled.👍🏽