Hopefully this episode along with the debacle that is BEC will convince politicians, even the most strident socialist, that "government owned" is rarely a good policy. Especially as an economic or efficiency concept. Selfish government employees have no concept of business responsibilities and are not worth the political headache they cause.
Anyone who owns a business or whose income is tied to business (or one's own) performance understands that a pay raise, or god forbid a"bonuses" in a company whose income is "in the red" is incongruous.
Privatization, with competition, is the only way to solve our government's fiscal woes. So it must be for Bahamas Air, fortunately as stated by the DPM there is already competition, and for BEC. However without liberalization of electrical generation and distribution we'll face the same shoddy service from BEC as we now get from BTC (C&W) and Cable Bahamas. So I join the voices calling for private ownership at both these entities, however we need to also fight for the allowance and encouragement of competition which is what actually makes
privatization successful and ensures consumers get the best prices and services.

Criminal prosecution as practiced in our country is largely a failure: prolonged wait, in most instances for many years before cases make their way to court, witnesses and victims not showing up to court, evidence being judged inadequate or contaminated, alleged police brutality, prosecutors constantly out-foxed by highly paid/experienced/ superior defense attorneys.

I understand the frustration about crime and the lack of faith in our judicial system, not to mention the deterioration in our socialization and child rearing prowess. However why Mrs. AG waste time and limited resources perusing a death penalty that's not going to happen, despite what Mr. Munroe espouses?! Remember his', and his ilk benefit with every court appearance. Evidence, in the form of many peer reviewed studies, has shown that the death penalty is not a deterrent for the type of murders we see here in Nassau. It is morally reprehensible and archaic.

I for one will be most happy once we accept its ultimate demise!

Is that Casino Manager aware "that you never get a lickin' 'til you go down ta Bimini"? ;-)

It's hard to believe that this was not a coordinated effort from the Immigration officers, even if not union sanctioned. It does beg the question "whose controlling the workers?"
This debacle by our Immigration Officers at LPIA does erode the positive impression and support Bahamians had of them with their recent professional performance following the Nov 1st change in policy. Those at the forefront of our tourist industry must always bear in mind how important, but fickle this industry is and should not play around with it!
Our Arrival Area at LPIA leaves a lot to be desired during the best of times and should be looked at. May be VIP's, especially those in positions to make a change should actually "walk through" the process to see how frustrating it can be. Both at the Immigration and the "free for all" Customs area! Many have suggested the Customs area should be more organized, with signs specifying "declared vs undeclared" rows, as well as a "Bank Teller" type turn style line. Better management, oversight and accountability is what we need: someone's head should roll, oh wait I forgot it's "government" that I'm talking about ;-(

Remember these are engineers and mechanics, worldwide they are highly sort after and similarly paid. I have no problem with highly technical, intellectually challenging jobs being compensated accordingly. That said BEC is an economic failure, as such their cost of doing business needs to be reduced, if workers are costly then you may need to have less of them. Problematic Human Resource issues are pervasive in the government/ government corporation agencies. That said the main problem with them all is that they are "public" vs private, and there is lack of competition. Any fixes attempted without addressing those two issues, including friggin' around with unionized workers is just tinkering around the ages ;-(

"American Exceptionalism" lol

The NAD model seems more sensible if chosen carefully and allowed to truly run BEC without government interference, which would include retirement of the Chairman position for that period of time.

If BEC can actually run as a competitive private company, even if as a US style "Nonprofit" where profits are pumped back into the company, then it would actually be "worth something" when it comes up for sale. Many folks thought that should have been the process prior to BTC's sale!

Now all that stated above is provided government has a watchdog agency oversee the "private firm" to avoid contract selling via "kick backs" etc. ;-)

I agree: "Police the borders", difficult to do. "Substantial fines to employers" and enablers are both great ideas. These new Immigration actions are a first step, probably in response to the heavy Tax burden being heaped on the Bahamian populace, including more to come.

We can't continue this merry go round, providing social services to an ever growing population with no planning to support it. Yes automatically granting citizenship because you're "born here" is just plain stupid for a tiny country with a small population. It is just as silly as the US- Cuban wet foot/ dry foot policy! Yes it's crazy to make these same "citizens" wait until they're 18 to "apply" for their citizenship, it seems Schizophrenic to me: "you can be a citizen, but may be 'not'"?!

These first step policies will no doubt cause confusion and problems, like the proverbial dominoes, they've been released......or may be not: this apparently is the time to make comments and suggestions, so make them. However government needs to make certain concepts clear, if they want to fix the problems as Bahamians see them. We are tired of being the proverbial donkey, we've stood up (straightened our backs) so we can't be ridden any more (freely or otherwise) by anyone, Haitian etc etc etc: no discrimination, just friggin fed up of this crap!

Yeah, it's called "Hispaniola"

Checkmate!