Next month, the new $300 million Nassau Cruise Port will open.

We have toured it several times. It is spectacular. And right across the street from it is a national embarrassment.

This is not a novel idea or position.

Everyone who works downtown knows it.

The people who visit downtown know it.

The cruise lines know it.

And the government certainly knows it.

"Downtown should be one of our proudest achievements, not a place we continue to make excuses for," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper just over a year ago. "The state of this historic thoroughfare is disgraceful and embarrassing.

"Downtown is, unfortunately, littered with too many derelict buildings that have become havens for vagrancy; that is a constant complaint of Bahamians and our guests.

"I plan to work with the Ministry of Works, the police, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Prime Minister to tackle these issues head-on."

One year later, several buildings have indeed been knocked down and there is more police presence, but the state of downtown has gotten worse, not better.

"It was thought that moving the various waterfront ports would spur the development of living spaces, a boardwalk, restaurants and shops, but that dream has stalled," said Cooper last March.

"I have often heard that buildings that are neither pleasing to the eye nor functional to the city are protected as historical sites, and that may require laws being amended.

"I am told that outdated building covenants that limit the height of structures are also an impediment. I foreshadow that, that will require adjustment as well."

Last we checked, no adjustment has come.

Cooper said existing and new legislation would be used to make the necessary changes to have downtown "restored, kept clean and provide a unique experience for our visitors and Bahamians".

We do not expect laws to be made overnight or for a problem as long-standing as the issues occurring downtown to be solved rapidly, but a year is more than enough time to have made meaningful strides.

Downtown is symbolic of our continued national behavior of identifying critical problems but failing to take the critical action needed to address them.

Property owners downtown have been the beneficiaries of generous redevelopment incentives for many years.

Those who had shipping interests were also the recipients of a major investment by the people of The Bahamas in the Arawak Cay Port.

But the government continues to soft-peddle on this issue, dallying in changing city ordinances and antiquities laws that would allow them to take action.

New Providence and Paradise Island are home to the two biggest luxury resorts in the Caribbean and, shortly, the nicest cruise port in the Caribbean.

It is an utter failure on the part of this administration and the last to have not given proper attention to upgrading downtown to match what foreign companies have built in our country.

But shame is clearly not a great motivator of the majority of our political and merchant class.

Frankly, Cooper's portfolio is far too large to give downtown the focus it needs.

While the Davis administration was finding government jobs for all of its members of Parliament, it should have had the foresight to have at least a parliamentary secretary with responsibility for downtown redevelopment.

The property owners deserve no more soft-peddling and the government should take drastic action with regard to downtown.

If it does not take seriously the restoration of Abaco and Grand Bahama, which, it appears it does not, and if it does not care about the state of communities Over-the-Hill, which it appears it does not, the least the Davis administration could do is address the area where our legislature, banking regulator and critical elements of our judiciary sit.

After 50 years of independence, dithering has been honed to a fine art by those who sit in Parliament.

It is predicted that up to six million visitors will come to the Port of Nassau annually by 2027; millions more visitors to bear witness to our lethargy and indifference in fixing up our home for our guests.

The post Downtown is still a disgrace appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Downtown is still a disgrace appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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