joeblow 5 years, 11 months ago on EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
It was time to say "enough is enough" 10 years ago! European countries have been raping the economies of other countries for centuries, so why should we help them enrich themselves by continuing to destroy our financial services industry?
sheeprunner12 5 years, 11 months ago on EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
Can the Third World blacklist the OECD for their bullying behaviour??????? ........ They rape the poor countries of their resources and put them in debt for their products ....... Where is the WTO fairness in that unbalanced trade system????? .......... Why join that?????? ........ Where is GATT??????? ............ At least the Lome Conventions gave the Third World a fighting chance.
concerned799 5 years, 11 months ago on EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
EDITORIAL: It may be time to tell the blacklisters - enough is enough
You meet one new "blacklist demand", another alphabet group just makes (another) new one, and in any event nothing guarantees country x nor bank y from not doing business with you in any event!
Thus the whole premise of giving in to this extortion makes no sense (the ethics of it notwithstanding in the first place).
John 5 years, 10 months ago on Carnival cruise port to create 1,000 jobs
Carnival cruise port to create 1,000 jobs
Shouldn’t these cruise ships be paying hotel taxes casinos and restaurant licenses and other fees when they visit/overnight in The Bahamas? Why should local taxes be used to maintain ports or cruise ships operate private ports and the country doesn’t benefit. The cruise line is a multi billion dollar industry and the islands of The Bahamas are a major input in generating that revenue.
licks2 5 years, 10 months ago on There's no cause for alarm over conch, says GB fisherman
There's no cause for alarm over conch, says GB fisherman
When I was a child you could find conchs in the shallows. . .just walk right out and there be conchs. . . don't talk about UE in San Sal. . .them conch them mussie wanted to go on the beach and cool out. . .they came so close to shore. . .water een been at my knee. . . plenty er them all about!!!
ThisIsOurs 5 years, 8 months ago on Robert F Kennedy, Jr to deliver 'clean water' lecture in Grand Bahama
Robert F Kennedy, Jr to deliver 'clean water' lecture in Grand Bahama
Miami Herald, April 2019
" the year after Carnival Corporation was convicted of systematically dumping oily waste into the ocean and lying about it to regulators, its ships illegally discharged more than a half-million gallons of treated sewage, gray water, oil and food waste, and burned heavy fuel oil in ports and waters close to shores around the world, according to a court-appointed monitor."
"The findings are part of a pattern of illegal behavior during Carnival Corp.’s first of five years on probation that led U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz to publish a previously confidential report last week. In the 205-page report, the monitor overseeing Carnival Corp.’s environmental compliance flagged more than 800 incidents from April 2017 to April 2018".
John 5 years, 8 months ago on Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
And yet the Bahamas are granting these companies permission to build their own private ports throughout the country when they do not have the means or the manpower to monitor their activities in port or out-to-sea. And if they are conducting themselves in this callous and reckless manner. Are we willing to sacrifice our marine resources and mass pollution by giving in to the cruise ships demands for private port facilities? In some parts of the world marine resources are already presenting with diseases and other anomolities including cancerous tumours due to high levels of pollution. So how much more dumping or how much longer before the seafood starts making people sick? Conch is already an endangered species. And conch poisoning, because of their feeding habits is already too common.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 8 months ago on Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
Just about any private pilot who has been flying for years will tell you they have witnessed many instances, going as far back as the late 1970s, of Carnival's cruise ships dumping tons of untreated refuse in our once pristine waters. I have taken many aerial photographs over the years from my plane showing the long plumes of dark brown refuse trailing for miles in the wake of Carnival's cruise ships while in our waters. And I'm sure I'm not the only private pilot with such photographs. Our government should be suing Carnival for damages to our environment, among other things, rather than granting them approvals or concessions of any kind for their proposed development projects anywhere in our country.
MaryMack53 5 years, 8 months ago on Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
Carnival’s catalogue of ocean dumpings
It can't be any clearer. These big monstrosities of water hotels don't value our country and the beauty that it has to offer. Instead, they're going out of there way to destroy our ecosystem because they darn right don't care. The carnival and we're sure many other cruise ships do the same thing. We have managed to give them multi-million dollar cays and pretty much everything that they have asked and they still literally "shit" on us. They need to be banned indefinitely!
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 8 months ago on GIVE US ANSWERS: Carnival facing grilling on shock ocean dumping
GIVE US ANSWERS: Carnival facing grilling on shock ocean dumping
By Jim Walker on April 17, 2019:
"The Court so far has permitted the filing of only CAM’s report regarding Carnival’s first year of pollution. The 2018-2019 report undoubtedly shows additional illegal discharges and pollution violations.
The Bahamas is a flag state where many hundreds of cruise ships are registered. The majority of cruise ships owned by Royal Caribbean fly the flag of the Bahamas in order to avoid U.S. income taxes as well as wage/labor law and safety regulations of the U.S. The Bahamas essentially has no mechanism to enforce international pollution laws when ships flying the flag of the Bahamas pollute the waters of the Bahamas. Carnival flags at least five of its ships in the Bahamas, including the Carnival Fascination, Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Sensation and Carnival Triumph. (The majority of the Carnival owned ship such as the Carnival Elation and the Carnival Conquest mentioned above are registered in Panama, so that Carnival can avoid U.S. taxes, labor laws and safety regulations. Like the Bahamas, Panama has little interest in enforcing international pollution regulations such as MARPOL).
As Carnival continues to develop the cruise port in Grand Bahama, the Bahamas should realize that it is dealing with what the federal district judge in Miami presiding over the pollution case called a “recidivist criminal” which has engaged in world-wide pollution and repeatedly lied about it."
Ask yourself: JUST HOW GOD-DAMN STUPID OUR RECKLESS AND GROSSLY INCOMPETENT POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN IN THEIR TREATMENT OF THE CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES??!!
DDK 5 years, 8 months ago on GIVE US ANSWERS: Carnival facing grilling on shock ocean dumping
GIVE US ANSWERS: Carnival facing grilling on shock ocean dumping
Just go away. Horrible floating hotels. They are far too big and can no longer be overlooked. They do almost nothing for the economies of the ports they visit and cause irreparable damage to the environment.......
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 8 months ago on None
None
Fining alone will not stop Carnival....they look at fines as a cost of doing business and simply carry on with their illegal dumping activities. A very hefty fine together with banishment from our waters is what's needed until we are satisfied we have the ability to monitor and enforce their compliance with our existing environmental laws. Our politicians are being pressured by Carnival to do absolutely nothing but tell us our country is hamstrung from doing anything because we need a whole new set of environmental laws. That's a load of malarkey of the same kind Carnival has been dumping in our waters for the past four decades.
juju 5 years, 6 months ago on US woman dies after shark attack
US woman dies after shark attack
Dio please ban chumming sharks for tourists, and someone please educate the BNT.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 6 months ago on Mega refinance for BPL ‘stable footing’
Mega refinance for BPL ‘stable footing’
We are doomed as a nation if Goldman Sachs (GS) is allowed to have anything at all to do with this mega refinancing. Doesn't the Holowesko family member on BPL's board have close ties to GS as his former employer? And why are we so anxious to fully fund BPL/BEC's under funded pension obligations, most of which is owed to present or former management personnel of BPL/BEC who have run what should have been a profitable monopoly right into the ground?
Think about it for a moment. Why the hell should we Bahamian taxpayers and electricity consumers have to bear the significant financial burden of unfunded pension obligations attributable to decades of grossly over bloated headcounts and padded payrolls at BPL/BEC? This is tantamount to the rewarding of the vote buying schemes of successive corrupt politicians who also gave their incompetent and non-productive friends, cronies and family members cushy jobs at BPL/BEC. Paying BPL/BEC pensioners 100 cents on the dollar of their pension benefits is most unfair to every other Bahamian and is the absolute height of lunacy. Why on God's earth should BPL/BEC's pensioners get any more than the rest of us Bahamians stand to get from a National Insurance Fund that is already technically bankrupt? Where is the fairness in all of this?
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 4 months ago on Disney unveils cultural theme central to Lighthouse Point project
Disney unveils cultural theme central to Lighthouse Point project
Agreements signed by a corrupt government with equally corrupt foreign investors are not legally binding if the country's system of democracy itself has been corrupted by foreign influence such that elected officials can no longer be deemed to represent the interests of the people. Such has been the situation of the Bahamas for the past two or three decades. There are few agreements with foreign investors that the Bahamian people should feel compelled or obliged to honour until such time that we have a true democracy free of corrupt influence....i.e. a government by the people and for the people. Hubert Minnis promised us that it would finally be the people's time, but failed to keep that promise by making it the foreign investors' time.
marrcus 5 years, 3 months ago on Tent cities for GB and Abaco
Tent cities for GB and Abaco
What happened to all those Fyre Festival tents? They were designed exactly for this purpose.
Porcupine 5 years, 3 months ago on PM tells UN General Assembly: Bahamas under threat from climate change
PM tells UN General Assembly: Bahamas under threat from climate change
Exactly. And, scientists have been warning us for decades now that these effects from climate change will be increasing. This may be a test case for the UN. Maybe they'll tell us that it is cheaper and makes more sense just to migrate to higher ground instead of rebuilding. Remember now, there are hundreds of millions of people who will have to move in the coming years due to rising sea levels alone. Why would they spend big money trying to keep a couple of hundred thousand people in a low lying island state.
rdonaldson 5 years, 2 months ago on New landfill managers raise site to international standards
New landfill managers raise site to international standards
I have recently visited this site and was amazed at the transformation it has undergone.
The people working there was so very helpful and courteous - I thought I was in a different place! The site was orderly and fenced in at the entrance. It was so easy to drive in and simply drop your small load off.. I was not hassled for a tip but I gave one willingly.. This is simply great and I applaud the Minister for achieving such a high standard in such a short time.
Great job!
The_Oracle 5 years, 1 month ago on EDITORIAL: BPL is walking a fine line with new charge
EDITORIAL: BPL is walking a fine line with new charge
"In short, we’ve been promised stable power supply and at a lower price – and people are ready to hold BPL to account if it fails to deliver." I don't agree, as a people we don't seem to have the will to hold anyone accountable, least of all political or civil service and essential service leadership. I remember the Water and sewage debacles of the 70's and 80's. Rusty water if you got any at all. The PVC Pipe and contracts scandal. We are so used to the sloth and avarice in Government we don't even use words like Scandal anymore. As long as we expect corruption and incompetence, we will accept corruption and incompetence.
Clamshell 6 years, 4 months ago on Lighthouse Point must be saved as national park
Lighthouse Point must be saved as national park
A good idea, but it would not solve the reality that Lighthouse Point is privately owned and is for sale. The private owner could gate off the access to the point at any time, and it’s actually surprising that he’s never done so. The ultimate solution is for the government to buy the property and preserve it.