The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Permit me space in your newspaper to comment on the proposed Tourism Development Corporation of the Bahamas Bill which I understand was pulled from the House today.

Having read through this draft it appears to me that other than preparing us for paying a tax of some kind there is little benefit for either the Treasury or the Vacation Rental hosts. It is my belief that “Gubment” just wants a piece of this income that someone thinks is huge and unlimited.

Believe me, it is not. I operated a vacation rental property in the islands for many years and found that, at the end of the day, I was making very little money.

Once you pay the gardener, the house cleaners, the insurance company and all the other costs associated with an out-island house you might break even. Mostly I operated this property to give a couple of people a small income. I have since de-listed my property from all the sites as the effort was too high and the income too low to be so charitable. This is a very competitive market and properties throughout the region are much less expensive than here.

If the “Gubment” really wants to regulate something, please take my following suggestions:

Regulate the Jet Ski operators who are a huge nuisance to people on the beach as well as all other boat operators who fly through Nassau Harbour at 90 mph creating six-foot waves. (This is the only harbour in the world where this is permitted).

Regulate the motorists who drive in a manner endangering all persons, other cars, dogs, cats and children.

Regulate the traffic lights that often do not work.

Regulate the street lights which often do not work.

Regulate the criminals who shoot each other with impunity on any given day and sometimes two or three times a day.

Regulate the constant cruelty shown to animals. This is the biggest complaint we get from tourists - the state of our starving pot cakes. Helping out the BHS would certainly not hurt either.

The vacation rental properties are self-regulating. If the property gets a bad review, it doesn’t get rented. They do not need someone to come and inspect the properties. The renters do that… I predict a lot of properties will remove themselves from the inventory if a lot of red tape and taxes are added to the cost of doing business in this sector.

Thanks for the space.

• acknowledgement to Pam Burnside for use of the word “Gubment”.

LESLIE L FRASER

Nassau,

March 21, 2023.