The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Bahamas is now a failed state in my view. The lingering effects of Dorian and the ongoing challenges of the Corona pandemic have exposed the fact that our ‘emperor’ has on no real clothes, but possibly a loin cloth. Our leaders, such as they are, across the board, are completely out of touch. For the past three years it has been reactionary governance and knee jerked responses.

Dorian was a national disaster of unprecedented proportions. A year later, Abaco and Grand Bahama are still struggling to recover and rebuild. The administration has Failed Big Time in getting a handle on the post Dorian reconstruction efforts. The Minister of State for Disasters, Iram Lewis, is in deep and uncharted waters.

Former Senator Kay Forbes-Smith, whose portfolio has yet to be fully defined much less explained, serves no real purpose and in fact there may be multiple levels of people tripping over each other. What about my brother Captain Russell down at NEMA? What is his real role? What is his compensation package like, compared to the Minister of State and the former Senator? Why do we need the three of them when disaster management and hurricane preparations should be a piece of cake?

Our people are determined, but we have sorely lacked leadership ever since the rushed resignation of the former Prime Minister, the Rt Honourable Hubert A Ingraham. As a student of the Constitution I fully appreciate and understand why he felt it necessary to resign as party leader, that was a decision which has plunged The Bahamas into uncharted waters. We ended up with the Competent Authority which has proven to be anything but that.

It is unfortunate that we have allowed naked partisan politics to dictate the development, such as it is, of our wonderful nation. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Politics is now not about the citizens but rather about how much money or power one is able to accumulate. The interest and well being of the unwashed masses is now, as it has always been secondary. This was amply and painfully demonstrated over the last six months.

The FNM did a great job during the first three months of the pandemic. It and the PM blundered, badly, when they prematurely reopened the borders thus allowing Bahamians unrestricted entry into the hot spot of Florida and equally unrestricted return to The Bahamas. Scores of Bahamians have died since then from Corona related and suspected deaths. Is there blood on the hands of this administration?

The average Bahamian, thanks to the cockeyed public policy initiatives of the Competent Authority and his kitchen (or is the bush) cabinet over the last six months has been reduced to beggary and worse. The bread and food lines are unprecedented and many have been literally stripped of their dignity and selfworth. The administration brags about how it is spending one million dollars per week on feeding Bahamians. Is this what was expected or asked for. NO.

The people of this wonderful nation must soon come to the certain realization that this crew, et al, means you all no good in the long run. We must come together as a people and craft our own solutions. May I suggest that we form a non-political and non-profit non-governmental organisation to be called and known as the United Bahamian People (UBP) Yes, you read correctly, UBP.

The PLP is the logical alternative to the FNM and I suggest that all opposition forces and entities should fold themselves into that organization. This would include the lurching Democratic National Alliance....DNA.....and the rest of those rudderless entities. The time to stop playing Doll House politics is over. Ever since Minnis ascended to unexpected political power it has been and continues to be downhill for our wonderful nation.

All Bahamians of good will are invited to join with me in getting out of this political rot. Some have asked if the Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP, can or will make a difference after he comes to power as Prime Minister. I say, yes, that with Brave we have a known character and his word is his bond. Not so with Minnis.

I was a paid consultant to Minnis and many others back in 2015 when he was being savaged by Loretta; Duane; Theo Neeley and a handful of others. I advised him on the strategy for eliminating, once and for all, the heel biting detractors. So advised.....so done. Minnis, however, is, in my opinion an ungrateful son of all things. Case in point. Ingraham brought Minnis into front line politics and made him. Ingraham also ensured that Minnis would become the de facto, if not de jure leader of the rump FNM back in 2012.

Yet, what was the first statement uttered by Minnis? ‘The Ingraham era is over......’ Well it now looks like the closing of the Minnis interregnum is at hand. Indeed, the handwriting is on the wall: ‘Minnis has been placed in the balance and has been found wanting’. There are three Trojan horses within the FNM who will be seeking to unseat Minnis before the scheduled general elections in 2022 (a good four ball). It really does not matter if there is a snap election.

The Bahamas is no Trinidad & Tobago and, for sure, it is not Jamaica. A united Bahamian people is what is needed now, more than ever before, to show our clueless and inept politicians to the front or back door. We have got to take our country back from the parade of clowns, across the board. We are governed by little boys wearing Big boy’s pants.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr,

Nassau,

September 10, 2020.