MITCHELL IN WASHINGTON D.C.

The question came up at dinner with Senator Fred Mitchell: will you return home?  It is a difficult question and the issue is not just sentimental but structural and practical.  You have an offer of 28k to work  in The Bahamas as a doctor but one million dollars to work as a Doctor in the U.S.  No issues in the States about your family background and your political connections, you just do your job in the states and collect your pay. So the consensus when it started out, it was 80 per cent in favour of coming home and 20 per cent against.  But over time, the balance has shifted and now its 20 per cent in favour of coming home and 80 per cent in staying put in the states.  But it’s not as bad as it seems. The PLP opened consulates in various cities to engage the Bahamian diaspora abroad.  Once you are a Bahamian no matter where you are, you are a benefit and asset to the country.  It is up to the governments to develop those links.  The FNM has been woefully inadequate in doing so during the last four years.