Letters
28,000+ Signatures Cry Out for Preservation of Lighthouse Point, Asking to Give Island Jewel Away is Like Asking Me to Hand Over a Child
September 19, 2018
I am a man and I cry. There, I have said it...I cry for the inhumanity of human against human. I cry for all the parts and parcels of The Bahamas that Bahamians do not have access to...
read more »
Letter to the Editor-BE WHO WE IS
September 03, 2018
As I sit here at the beginning of a new month and reflect on the newspaper articles of the past several weeks, I can but shake my head in frustration and ‘bogglement’ as our country appears to be settling into the same ol, same ol formula of leading us nowhere fast...
read more »
Former M.P. Pierre Dupuch comments on Sir Roland Symonette's National Hero honour
August 14, 2018
The policy for the Award of National Hero is that all Prime Ministers are awarded it. So why not Sir Roland? If the truth were told, Sir Roland was the first Premier/Prime Minister of The Bahamas..
read more »
Ailing teens dream of swimming with Eleuthera pigs comes true
August 14, 2018
SEVENTEEN-year-old Grayson Richardson is battling a rare type of brain cancer called anaplastic astrocytoma.About 1,200 children under 19 are diagnosed with glioma (brain tumour) per year in the United States with a fraction of those being astrocytom...
read more »
Show Us The Money
July 23, 2018
Hello again my Bahamian citizens, another year has gone by, and it baffles me that there is still not one word being said in any quarters about our thirty million, plus, dollars ($30,000,000+) that was spent, wasted or pocketed on the so-called Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival...
read more »
Former M.P. Pierre Dupuch comments on Majority Rule in The Bahamas
May 07, 2018
When Hitler came to power he used a secret weapon called Goebbels. Goebbels was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda who believed that if a lie was repeated often enough people would start believing it. And it did wonders for him. He destroyed Germany and killed six-million Jews...
read more »
Former M.P. Pierre Dupuch comments on rumours of FNM Coup
April 09, 2018
A short while ago it was said that I was starting and spreading rumours about Hubert Ingraham being a part of a coup to challenge Dr. Hubert Minnis for leadership...
read more »
Former M.P. Dupuch comments on taxes, WTO and outsourcing
November 21, 2017
Ah well, here we go again! The talk of the town is now saying things like: "Let's even the playing field ... tax them!"; "By 2019 we'll be full members of the WTO" and "Let's outsource it..."
read more »
I'm not mad at the IMF
September 18, 2017
Dear Editor,
So the IMF has suggested an income tax to solve our fiscal woes.
Instead of looking at their proposed remedy, I suggest we look at the cause of the fiscal problems.
Simply put, it has been fiscal imprudence by successive governments that has caused this. Yep - spending more than they take in while singing the praises of yet another great budget expansion without taxation to pay for it.
Instead of raising taxes, governments, since independence, have borrowed until the country has hit a threshold that is bringing costs the taxpayer doesn't like.
But wait, the government can just blame the IMF for "forcing" it to implement harsh measures like more taxation; the government would never do anything to hurt Bahamians.
And to top it off, the new government is proposing bringing a so-...
read more »
A job well done
September 18, 2017
Dear Editor,
I have many differences with the Minnis-led administration, but he and his crew are to be congratulated on a job well done with the recent Hurricane Irma. Never before in this era has the central government ever seen fit to actually evacuate many of the Family Islands that historically have borne the brunt of any hurricane. Thousands of grateful Bahamians were brought to New Providence for safety, at the expense of the public, as it should have been.
We are waiting to see the same sort of bold and preemptory leadership by the doctor with the economy, healthcare, education and, of course, unemployment. Minnis is able to do it if he has the political will power needed.
I am not a supporter of the FNM but I like Minnis as an individual and believe that he means all of us well. I...
read more »
Police in our schools
September 18, 2017
Dear Editor,
Call 911! That's right, call the police. What's the matter? Well, I'll tell you - there's a fight going on in one of our schools.
Remember the good old days? A fight was just that - a fight with fists and legs flailing about. There were no guns or knives; it was just a good old rumble. Nowadays that is not the case. These children today are getting out of hand. These fights are so dangerous now that it is not enough to call a security guard to break up the fight. The school authorities have to call the police to deal with the matter. The previous PLP administration saw fit to station the police at our schools. There was no need to call Central. An officer should have already been there. I would pray to God that, that police officer was well armed, or else he/she would have...
read more »
Education: The dumbing down of a nation
September 15, 2017
Dear Editor,
We have known for more than a decade that our educational system and physical plants are in a total and abject mess. Under successive administrations they have gone from bad to worse, if that were possible.
All of the so-called modern ministers of education have lamented the state of affairs, wrung their hands and shed alligator-sized fake tears. Why do I state this without fear of contradiction?
Apart from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health is allocated the biggest chunk of the annual budget. In neither case, I submit, are we receiving value for money. Successive ministers in education, with the exception of the late Carlton E. Francis and now, Jeffrey Lloyd (FNM-South Beach), were not trained educators and may have not been as motivated as they could have been...
read more »
A Ragged Islander's response
September 15, 2017
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 ...
read more »
Please support text to donate campaign
September 15, 2017
Dear Editor,
Hurricane Joaquin literally devastated the southeast Bahamas. I was a Red Cross volunteer at the time and I saw firsthand how this storm affected so many people. I remember BTC introducing its text to donate promotion. I remember that everyone could contribute to the cause just by texting. This promotion was able to raise a lot of money, and I also remember BTC and Brickell Management Group matching the donation to provide $30,000 for the Red Cross to help those in need. I was happy to see that BTC is again doing its text to donate promotion.
The amount may sound small, compared to the widespread devastation, but what is important to note is that every single dollar counts. I am grateful for corporate citizens like BTC and so many others that do their best, not just in traged...
read more »
Responding to The Guardian's editorial on 'The Age of Superstition'
September 15, 2017
Dear Editor,
We live in a natural world with many phenomena that we have some understanding of through the benefits of scientific advancement. In spite of that, there are many things we do not understand. It is important to note that just as there are natural laws, there are also spiritual laws. These laws are not to be confused with each other. Having great knowledge of natural law does not equate to having great knowledge of spiritual laws. We are wrong to posit that we only need to understand one of these laws to understand the world around us. We need balance in all things, knowledge of the natural and spiritual.
Rational thinking works well for matters that require that system of thought, but it cannot be used to address every matter that we cannot understand. There are unseen forces...
read more »
Ragged Island will rise again
September 14, 2017
Dear Editor,
The people of Ragged Island and its descendants will not abandon their home in its time of need. Many have seen the pictures and the videos that have come from the island, which are devastating. In the wake of Hurricane Irma a massive cleanup has to be undertaken, and there will have to be a period of rebuilding. Ragged Island has withstood the test of time for hundreds of years and will continue to do so.
Where are the mobile homes that Island Luck and Sebas Bastian donated after Hurricane Joaquin in 2015? Is it not possible for some emergency housing to be sent there to house essential persons to help with the cleanup? Once the cleanup has been carried out, people will return to their properties. They will repair or rebuild with assistance from the government or by the swea...
read more »
Guardian editorial got it right
September 14, 2017
Dear Editor,
Please accept my congratulations for Tuesday's editorial, "Leaving the 'Age of Superstition' behind". Hopefully the editorial will persuade some Bahamians that hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and floods are natural phenomena and not divine events.
- Leonard Archer
read more »
Coming together
September 14, 2017
Dear Editor,
Thank you for allowing me space in your newspaper to share my ideas with your readers and hopefully initiate discussion by the government, radio talk show hosts and by people in their homes, workplaces and churches about how we can help The Bahamas to become a better country economically and socially.
Before the arrival of Hurricane Irma I spoke to many persons about the idea that this hurricane was going to make this country better, and they looked at me in surprise. I explained that the hurricane was going to affect us psychologically and open us to the possibility of renewal - renewed efforts to rebuild our lives, our businesses and our country. I thought that the hurricane would remind us of what is important (God, people, family, community); strip our desires down to the...
read more »
Christopher Columbus: Saint or sinner pt. 2
September 13, 2017
Dear Editor,
His primary, driving passion was something quite different. Listen to these startling words, written by Columbus himself to the then ling and queen of Spain concerning his lifelong passion to restore Jerusalem to its Christian origin:
"Most Christian and very high princes:
My argument for the restitution of the holy temple to the holy militant church is the following ... :
At this time I have seen and put in study to look into all the scriptures, cos-mog-raphy, histories, chronicles and philosophy and other arts, which our Lord opened to my understanding ( I could sense His hand upon me), so that it became clear to me that it was feasible to navigate from here [Spain] to the Indies; and He unlocked within me the determination to execute the idea. And I came to your Highnesse...
read more »
Christopher Columbus: Saint or sinner pt. 1
September 12, 2017
Dear Editor,
Happy Discovery Day! As recent as 10 years ago we could express that greeting to any Bahamian without hesitation and be certain of a like greeting in return. Not so today, however.
You could start a civil war if you expressed such a wish to certain people today. It's simply amazing just how much this once little tranquil island paradise and its peaceful, gentle people have changed over the years. If some could have their way, this could well be the last time we celebrate Discovery Day.
Christopher Columbus, our once much celebrated and revered discoverer or re-discoverer, is now regarded today with deep resentment and even hatred by some. They do not view Christopher as a brave explorer any longer, but as a vicious exterminator - the first "terminator" to hit "the New World";...
read more »