The Tribune

WHEN The Tribune reported last week on wood infested with an invasive beetle in Grand Bahama, this column called for swift action.

It is pleasing then to see that the government has responded – and has done so by launching an investigation.

A number of government agencies are involved – as is the police, which is only appropriate.

After all, the government has said that the cargo was “offloaded without the prior knowledge, consent or approval of the relevant government agencies, including the Bahamas Customs, the Department of Environmental Health Services and the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources”.

If you were to try taking something that required so many approvals through the airport without consent, you’d soon find yourself pulled aside and perhaps on the way to the courts.

We would also applaud the government for other actions it has taken. A private company was hired to fumigate the site, the barge that transported the cargo to shore, and then all the cargo itself was fumigated at the landfill.

After that, the cargo was incinerated, and the bins used to carry it were also fumigated.

This is, of course, all after the fact. This should never have happened in the first place. But once it did, the government appears to have taken the right actions.

That should not be the end of the matter. Far from it. Those investigations are important, and anyone breaking the regulations should be held to account at the end of the process. The shipping agent for the vessel has vowed to fight any charges, while pointing the finger at a subcontractor and disputing claims by Customs. That’s why a full investigation is needed, to get to the bottom of this matter.

We also hope the investigation shines a light on how this could have happened in the first place. It’s one thing to clean up a mess after it’s been made – it’s better still to prevent it in the first place.

Find out how we got here, and what we can do to stop this happening again. Worryingly, one source told The Tribune that “this happens every week” and that “no one makes a big deal about it, but because Joe Darville and a few activists got up in arms about it the Government feels they need to respond”. If indeed this is happening every week, we need to bring that to a halt.

And let’s make sure the fumigation isn’t the end of it – let’s make sure there’s follow-up investigations at the site to see if any of the beetles have survived, and further fumigations as necessary. It might be costly – but those whose actions brought about such a need ought to be the ones to pay.

So well done to the government for its initial response – now make sure you follow through.

COVID testing

A change in tactics to curtail the spread of COVID-19 has seen a new requirement for travellers who are fully vaccinated being required to take a COVID-19 test within five days of arrival.

Adding any hurdle to the resurgence of travel is of course a difficult decision – and this decision may be one that also more heavily affects some of our Family Islands.

The new rule applies not just to New Providence, but also Grand Bahama, Bimini, Exuma, Abaco and North and South Eleuthera, including Harbour Island.

Recently, Bimini found itself with a shortage of tests, making it next to impossible for anyone to travel from the island – so test supply issues are crucial.

It also brings with it an extra cost – with travellers needing to budget to pay for the extra test they may not have been expecting.

The only advantage for vaccinated travellers over unvaccinated ones is that they can take the rapid antigen test rather than the more expensive PCR test.

We say the only advantage – that’s not strictly true, they have an altogether more important advantage, they’re more likely to stay alive.

As infectious disease expert Dr Nikkiah Forbes points out, while hospitalisations from COVID-19 cases have been on the rise, 97 percent have been unvaccinated people – and no fully vaccinated person has died.

The change in rules seeks to provide more protection at a time when the delta variant of the virus is running rampant in our near neighbour, the US.

And the consequences for tourism can plainly be seen in cases being diagnosed on cruise ships. That’s likely to happen from time to time – particularly with children not being eligible to take the vaccine as yet in many cases. Indeed, some of the cases on cruise ships have been children. The difference this time around as opposed to the start of the outbreak is that cases aren’t running rampant through ships. The reason? Vaccination and quarantining cases as they happen.

We’re still learning the best way to defeat this virus and open up our society – and these changes are the latest of those steps. Will they help curb the spike we’re experiencing? That, we can only hope.