I guess people living in Florida don't travel to.thr Bahamas. There is a cruise ship, if I recall, which leaves Miami and come here. I've met people who came on this, who live in Miami. Miami is a hotspot. Lets assume.that the government was truthful on what they said on the second wave. Are we going to assume that Floridians coming in will all be fine?
If we talk about testing before travel, there are issues with that too. There's a politician, a Republican, I don't recall the state, he tested positive on one test and then took another test hours later and tested negative. So, you're getting false positives and we.can also.assume false negatives.
Like I said, we can open. Just do it in a smart way.
It's good that we gave this article here. We need more of these to highlight the gross incompetence of our government. Clearly there isn't a plan. The Economic Recovery Committee is a punchline for a bad joke. Unfortunately, the joke is at our expense.
The PM needs to get intelligent people with ideas who have a good understanding of how to build our economy. Like someone said you can have a very smart person in government, who has worked for a number of years, they may be excellent at what they do but is that the person you should ask how to stimulate an economy? If you have never ran a business to understand the complexity of what is happening now first hand, how can you advise anyone? You don't go to a good mechanic to prepare your financial statements.
Reopening is inevitable. No economy can shut down forever. At some point before a total collapse, you have to reopen. But reopening has to be done in a smart, well thought out way. You can't simply open the doors and keep your fingers crossed.
This situation is crazy. Criminal records for breaking curfews and lockdowns seem extremely harsh. There are already fines to punish someone. Even the fines in some cases are ridiculous. Each case has to be judged in it's own merits. A guy trying to survive should not be punished the same as someone on the street with no apparent need to be there.
It's like the marijuana situation. You catch a guy with two cigarettes and you charge him with possession with the intent to supply (if I recall correct). So, he goes to jail. But, a simple fine or perhaps community service or drug rehab would probably be more fitting.
The idea is the state should solve problems not create others.
His logic is flawed. He basically said tourists will not be a major source of the spread of Covid-19. Sounds like he is a fortune teller. If the US has a huge issue with Covid-19 and most of our tourist come from the US, how do you reconcile that a country where the disease is out of control will have people when they arrive here will have little to no impact on us.
If we have 1,000 tourists visit our shores and they move about, they can perhaps impact about 20,000 people they come across. So, if you have 100 infected and they have contact with 2,000 people, think of the potential impact. I think he forgot this is a very small country. You infect 500 people today, if you're not careful you can take infect half the country.
I'm not proposing that we don't open. I'm simply hoping that they have a sound plan and have an awareness of the risk. Given his position here, it doesn't seem so.
That's really harsh. There are some drivers that shouldn't be on the road. I would agree. But, there are honest, decent, hardworking drivers as well who are just earning a living like the rest of us. The same applies to taxi drivers. Some should not be driving and some are really decent people.
On the public bus system, it's a mess. Clearly they need to fix some things to say the least.
In this little country there's so much things to fix. It will generations to get everything done.
I'm not a fan of what has been going on in Freeport for years now. But, Mr. Smith is not the white knight in shining armour. This guy always has some personal agenda he's pushing. He's as slimy as they come. He should enter politics.
Interesting article! I see the Tribune did some great investigate journalism here. 🙂
I'm not sure why the PM (Competent Authority) granted approval for wholesale sale of alcohol. For someone to buy wholesale, either they are a retail company or they are a person purchasing a large order (perhaps for a party). So, if you shutdown the retail guy in one side, you also need to shutdown the wholesaler. They can have security. They can do whatever is essential for their operations, but there shouldn't be any product coming out of there.
This country is a joke! One dumb thing to another. I agree with Mr. Sands in a lot of circumstances, two rules are applied. The rule which allows the most freedom is always applied to the guys with a non-Bahamian passport. It's sad, but that's how this country works. A similar issue is with access to US dollar accounts. A foreigner or a small group of Bahamians can have USD accounts, but the average Bahamian can't have one. If the Central Bank is so concerned about exchange control, then let everyone have a BSD account and purchase USD when you need it. You don't go to the US or Canada or Europe and have one standard in the banking industry for non-citizens and another for the citizens. It's so good that we're independent and have equal rights under the Constitution. Forward, upward, onward, together! What a joke!
Hold on, he said they're feeding more than 30,000 people. How many people live in Grand Bahama? This numbers seemd to be a very large percentage of their population. This is indicative of the destruction of the local economy. I know hurricane Dorian did a lot of damage and Covid-19 didn't help, but people need economic solutions not just a meal. In the short term you provide food, but in the long term they need their economy stimulated. Isn't this what the Economic Recovery Committee should be looking at? Well, I'm assuming they're actually looking at things. The only thing they brought to Parliament was an idea from the public that was stolen from Barbados that is filled with holes.
trueBahamian says...
I guess people living in Florida don't travel to.thr Bahamas. There is a cruise ship, if I recall, which leaves Miami and come here. I've met people who came on this, who live in Miami. Miami is a hotspot. Lets assume.that the government was truthful on what they said on the second wave. Are we going to assume that Floridians coming in will all be fine?
If we talk about testing before travel, there are issues with that too. There's a politician, a Republican, I don't recall the state, he tested positive on one test and then took another test hours later and tested negative. So, you're getting false positives and we.can also.assume false negatives.
Like I said, we can open. Just do it in a smart way.
On TRAVEL BAN TO STAY TWO MORE MONTHS? Tourism pressure remains as foreign flights may be off until end of October
Posted 26 August 2020, 2:09 p.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
It's good that we gave this article here. We need more of these to highlight the gross incompetence of our government. Clearly there isn't a plan. The Economic Recovery Committee is a punchline for a bad joke. Unfortunately, the joke is at our expense.
The PM needs to get intelligent people with ideas who have a good understanding of how to build our economy. Like someone said you can have a very smart person in government, who has worked for a number of years, they may be excellent at what they do but is that the person you should ask how to stimulate an economy? If you have never ran a business to understand the complexity of what is happening now first hand, how can you advise anyone? You don't go to a good mechanic to prepare your financial statements.
On Where’s the plan on what we do next?
Posted 26 August 2020, 11:04 a.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
Reopening is inevitable. No economy can shut down forever. At some point before a total collapse, you have to reopen. But reopening has to be done in a smart, well thought out way. You can't simply open the doors and keep your fingers crossed.
On 15 more cases of COVID-19, two deaths under investigation
Posted 26 August 2020, 10:52 a.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
This situation is crazy. Criminal records for breaking curfews and lockdowns seem extremely harsh. There are already fines to punish someone. Even the fines in some cases are ridiculous. Each case has to be judged in it's own merits. A guy trying to survive should not be punished the same as someone on the street with no apparent need to be there.
It's like the marijuana situation. You catch a guy with two cigarettes and you charge him with possession with the intent to supply (if I recall correct). So, he goes to jail. But, a simple fine or perhaps community service or drug rehab would probably be more fitting.
The idea is the state should solve problems not create others.
On ‘Vendors criminal records should now be wiped clean’
Posted 26 August 2020, 10:47 a.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
His logic is flawed. He basically said tourists will not be a major source of the spread of Covid-19. Sounds like he is a fortune teller. If the US has a huge issue with Covid-19 and most of our tourist come from the US, how do you reconcile that a country where the disease is out of control will have people when they arrive here will have little to no impact on us.
If we have 1,000 tourists visit our shores and they move about, they can perhaps impact about 20,000 people they come across. So, if you have 100 infected and they have contact with 2,000 people, think of the potential impact. I think he forgot this is a very small country. You infect 500 people today, if you're not careful you can take infect half the country.
I'm not proposing that we don't open. I'm simply hoping that they have a sound plan and have an awareness of the risk. Given his position here, it doesn't seem so.
On TRAVEL BAN TO STAY TWO MORE MONTHS? Tourism pressure remains as foreign flights may be off until end of October
Posted 26 August 2020, 10:39 a.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
That's really harsh. There are some drivers that shouldn't be on the road. I would agree. But, there are honest, decent, hardworking drivers as well who are just earning a living like the rest of us. The same applies to taxi drivers. Some should not be driving and some are really decent people.
On the public bus system, it's a mess. Clearly they need to fix some things to say the least.
In this little country there's so much things to fix. It will generations to get everything done.
On Jitney boss calls for national plan for restart
Posted 25 August 2020, 4:48 p.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
Well, it seems he's fit for trial.
On QC urges: End Port/Hutchison tax breaks
Posted 24 August 2020, 4:50 p.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
I'm not a fan of what has been going on in Freeport for years now. But, Mr. Smith is not the white knight in shining armour. This guy always has some personal agenda he's pushing. He's as slimy as they come. He should enter politics.
On QC urges: End Port/Hutchison tax breaks
Posted 24 August 2020, 3:27 p.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
Interesting article! I see the Tribune did some great investigate journalism here. 🙂
I'm not sure why the PM (Competent Authority) granted approval for wholesale sale of alcohol. For someone to buy wholesale, either they are a retail company or they are a person purchasing a large order (perhaps for a party). So, if you shutdown the retail guy in one side, you also need to shutdown the wholesaler. They can have security. They can do whatever is essential for their operations, but there shouldn't be any product coming out of there.
This country is a joke! One dumb thing to another. I agree with Mr. Sands in a lot of circumstances, two rules are applied. The rule which allows the most freedom is always applied to the guys with a non-Bahamian passport. It's sad, but that's how this country works. A similar issue is with access to US dollar accounts. A foreigner or a small group of Bahamians can have USD accounts, but the average Bahamian can't have one. If the Central Bank is so concerned about exchange control, then let everyone have a BSD account and purchase USD when you need it. You don't go to the US or Canada or Europe and have one standard in the banking industry for non-citizens and another for the citizens. It's so good that we're independent and have equal rights under the Constitution. Forward, upward, onward, together! What a joke!
On Brewery chief hits 'double standard'
Posted 24 August 2020, 3:23 p.m. Suggest removal
trueBahamian says...
Hold on, he said they're feeding more than 30,000 people. How many people live in Grand Bahama? This numbers seemd to be a very large percentage of their population. This is indicative of the destruction of the local economy. I know hurricane Dorian did a lot of damage and Covid-19 didn't help, but people need economic solutions not just a meal. In the short term you provide food, but in the long term they need their economy stimulated. Isn't this what the Economic Recovery Committee should be looking at? Well, I'm assuming they're actually looking at things. The only thing they brought to Parliament was an idea from the public that was stolen from Barbados that is filled with holes.
We need serious help people.
On Grand Bahama food distribution programme expanded with Urban Renewal
Posted 22 August 2020, 8:25 a.m. Suggest removal