I have voted for the FNM in the past three general elections. I am not anti-FNM. I don’t want anyone believing for even one moment that I support the Opposition. I don’t, and I never intend to. The FNM received three votes out of my house in 2007.
I am, however, very dissatisfied with the government’s performance over the past four years.
Right now, it appears as if Grand Bahama isn’t even a tiny blip on either of the two major political parties’ radar.
This island is being treated like an under-developed Family Island.
I wonder if Grand Bahamians are being taken for granted by the FNM.
My brother had worked in Abaco for several months in 2009. He said that island’s economy was thriving. Stop-over visitors were everywhere. There were also many employment opportunities available to the people of Abaco.
My brother also said that it felt odd being in a place where things were booming. He, like so many of us, had become so accustomed to living in a place where the economy is bad.
Everyone who wanted to work were working. Those who were not working were either lazy or just plain worthless. But at least Abaconians have that option, most unemployed Grand Bahamians don’t.
The people from Abaco are well aware of what is going on in Grand Bahama. One Abaconian lady with a sly smirk on her face told my brother that Freeport is no longer the second city of The Bahamas, Marsh Harbour is.
My brother repudiated her bold and arrogant claim. It appeared as if she was glad Freeport’s economy was struggling.
It was hard though, for my brother to deny that Freeport’s economy was experiencing a devastating recession, or should I call it a depression?
People talk as if Grand Bahama’s economy went south after the United State’s economy collapsed in 2008 under president George W. Bush’s watch.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Grand Bahama’s economy started going south after the completion of the Our Lucaya Resort in 2000.
The two major storms in 2004 only exacerbated an already dire situation. That year saw the closure of the Royal Oasis.
Over 1,200 people were placed on the unemployment line after the closure of that resort, which had been for decades, the economic life-blood of this island.
Right now Grand Bahama really needs the government to give this island its undivided attention, before it gets worse. Perhaps the Prime Minister should seriously consider moving Parliament to Free-port, if only for one year. Maybe then the leaders of this country would get a firsthand look at what Grand Bahamians are really going through.
Right now, I don’t think that the government really appreciates how severe the situation in Grand Bahama is.
This recession has turned many former middle-class Grand Bahamians into paupers.
Persons have now resorted to playing numbers to make ends meet. Even Christians are buying numbers.
The economy is in shambles. How did it get this bad? What has happened to Grand Bahama? Freeport can no longer be considered the magic city.
Grand Bahama has seen no major investment in 10 years. The PLP were able to attract Mr. Bobby Ginn to the island during their tenure in office. But the Ginn Development has hit a major snag in recent years.
It now appears that the development is nothing more than a mere pipe dream.
The Our Lucaya Resort has also had its share of challenges since it opened its doors in 2000.
Our Lucaya is the only major resort on the island yet the owners of that resort have struggled for years to even keep the occupancy level at 40 percent throughout the year.
The Sandals Resort in Exuma is doing far better than Our Lucaya. How can this be?
Grand Bahama is closer to America than Exuma, and Grand Bahama has more amenities than Exuma.
The resort in Bimini is doing way better than Our Lucaya. Again, how is this possible? Understand, this is our only major resort, yet the government sits idly by as it goes to hell in a hand basket.
Grand Bahama’s economy isn’t dying, it has already died. Rigor mortis has already set in.
If you were to pay close attention to the PLP and the FNM, you would hear ab-solutely nothing positive for this island.
They have no plans to resuscitate Grand Bahama’s dead economy.
All the PLP and the FNM seems to be fixated on is the BTC sales deal to Cable and Wireless.
The PLP has even threatened to reverse that deal if re-elected to power in the next general selection.
Put bluntly, who cares?
Grand Bahamians have more urgent matters that needs addressing.
I for one don’t care if the government had chosen to sell 100 percent of BTC to CWC. Right now on Grand Bahama the unemployment rate is probably flirting dangerously close to 30 percent.
Yet, the only issue the two major parties want to talk about is BTC and CWC.
Right now on this island you have people losing their homes. I know of one man who has already received an eviction letter from his bank.
I know of another gentleman who was thinking about killing himself. He was broke and unemployed. And then I hear stories of Grand Bahamian women prostituting themselves to make ends meet.
Yet the PLP and the FNM are busy beating their gums over this BTC sale.
There was a time in Freeport when people held two and three jobs at a time. Those days are long gone.
Right now, if you have a small part time job, you are highly favored by the Lord. Even the gas pump attendant jobs are difficult to get nowadays in Freeport.
Maybe the Abaconian lady with the sly smirk on her face was right. Maybe Freeport is no longer the second city; maybe Marsh Harbour is!
Kevin Evans
Letter to the Editor
