New Category : Opinion
Former M.P. Pierre Dupuch comments on the WTO
Mon, May 20th 2019, 11:45 AM
What is WTO? It is the World Trade Organization comprised of some very large countries and organizations controlling the economies of smaller countries. Is that not colonization?
They flatter us by telling us that we would be able to negotiate various positions which would be good for our country. Are they kidding? That's like an ant crawling up an elephants leg with the intention of rape!!!
They don't ask you what to do, they tell you what you must do. Today the Government is overspending as did Government's before them. The WTO says that they must stop overspending or the dollar will weaken. Do we need the WTO to tell us that? Don't we have the guts or the knowledge to do what is right?
They say we must join the WTO to tell us it is best to reduce import duties so that prices can decrease? Do we need the WTO to tell us this and demand that we do it? Does our Government have a "yes sir boss" mentality?
Many years ago when I was in the House of Assembly we got a direct order from Washington saying that "bearer bonds" were immoral and should be made illegal. They didn't bother saying that their state of Delaware was thriving on "bearer bonds" and that we were giving them a run for their money. I suggested that we tell them that when they outlawed bearer bonds in Delaware, we would outlaw them here. Yes, you guessed it. We said "yes sir boss" and outlawed bearer bonds here and Delaware is still thriving on them.
And we want to join the WTO? Will it help us or will it help the big boys?
We are sitting on some of the most valuable assets in the world. But to make anything successful in commerce three things must be present: (1) production, (2) transportation, (3) marketing.
Bonefishing on the flats of Andros is a multi-billion dollar business. The Bahamians there have the knowledge of production, Bahamasair could provide the proper transportation and the Ministry of Tourism could supply the marketing.
Is that difficult? Or do we need to join the WTO so that they can do it for us?
Inagua has the largest colony of flamingoes in the world. The National Trust says that there are sixty thousand there. The people of Inagua have the product, Bahamasair could supply the transportation and again the Ministry of Tourism could supply the marketing.
Is that difficult? Or do we need to join the WTO so that they can do it for us?
The Bahamas could feed itself. We have any number of ripening seasons, what is blossoming in Abaco is ripening in Inagua.
The farmers on the islands can produce. Reliable transportation is for all intents and purposes non-existent. Marketing does not exist.
Is that difficult to make happen? Or do we need to join the WTO so that they can do it for us?
It would seem that this Government only knows how to tax, not to build!!
A most recent report says that our people are underproductive and overpaid.
Is this telling us something?
Immigration laws have made it easier to bring people in. Is it a stretch to say that since the successive governments have failed, the large corporations of the WTO should be able to come in here, bring in their workers, take their profits out and leave us and our grandchildren to wallow in the sludge left here by the likes of Carnival Cruise Line?
Wake up Bahamians!!!! We're being taken!!!!
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FREE National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer yesterday defended the decision to posthumously award Sir Roland Symonette with the Order of National Hero, saying the country’s former premier singlehandedly “did more for black people” than some people of colour. Sir Roland’s honour has been met with controversy, including allegations from the opposition Progressive Liberal Party that the former premier led a “racist regime” and opposed the fight for independence.
FREE National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer yesterday defended the decision to posthumously award Sir Roland Symonette with the Order of National Hero, saying the country’s former premier singlehandedly “did more for black people” than some people of colour.
Sir Roland’s honour has been met with controversy, including allegations from the opposition Progressive Liberal Party that the former premier led a “racist regime” and opposed the fight for independence.
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By entering the term “Facebook Security” into Facebook’s “block users” field it would reveal a list of people whom the social network had engaged to furtively monitor your activity, and each of whom had to be individually blocked by you to prevent them from spying on you:
Here is what you need to do to block the majority of the accounts that monitor your Facebook:
1. > Log into Facebook
2. > Account Settings
3. > Click on blocking
4. > In the search field where it says “Block Users” type in: “Facebook Security”
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A Ragged Islander's response
Fri, Sep 15th 2017, 10:54 AM
Dear Editor,
Please allow a few lines to voice this Ragged Islander's opinion. We, like our other Bahamian brothers and sisters, are a proud people who can trace our inheritance on Ragged Island back for the last few hundred years. The small settlement of Duncan Town, Ragged Island, has produced the most lawyers, doctors, boat captains (check the RBDF roster) nurses, businessmen, pilots, educators, musicians, fishermen and other nation builders per island capita, considering the fact that the population of Ragged Island has never been greater than 500.
Up to the 1950s, many boats sailed from Ragged Island to Haiti and Cuba, importing and supplying fruits, vegetables and meats to Bahamians from all walks of life via the market on Prince George Dock years ago.
I listened with much interest and disgust to the Adrian Francis show, "National Access" on 104.5 Radio while driving on Tuesday, September 12. The government of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is obligated to provide for each citizen equally. There is no policy of special treatment for one group of citizens to the detriment of another group. The last time I checked, Ragged Island was part of this great commonwealth. Using Francis' logic, will the people of Mason's Addition sit idly by without basic infrastructure, while the government provides infrastructure to the affluent areas on the eastern and western ends of New Providence. I think not, and rightly so. Also, using his logic, islands like Abaco, North Eleuthera and Exuma should demand and get more from the central government, because taxes collected for the consolidated fund exceed what is spent on each of these islands.
So, Adrian Francis, we as Bahamians should swim or sink together. We Ragged Islanders expect from the central government nothing more and nothing less than any other Bahamian from Abaco in the north to Inagua in the south: basic infrastructure, i.e. - electricity, potable water, roads, cable, telephones, a school, a clinic and mailboat service. The rest we will provide for ourselves through our sense of independence and positive work ethic.
Ragged Island will always be our home, and we will never allow depopulation of our beloved island paradise, Duncan town, Ragged Island.
- Mercianna Moxey
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