SAD CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR (LIFE IN THE THIRD WORLD)
As we approach Christmas, we have to point out how sad things seem to be in this country. The traditional good cheer will not be available this year because of a combination of factors: the meanness of the people who run the country and the fact that there is simply no money in the circulation. Everywhere you go, someone has their hand out in desperation. This one wants a fifty, the next one needs 200 hundred for the children, the community associations are seeking donations. It is simply not there to give.
Perhaps the one exception might have been the huge party and give away that was thrown in Kemp Road by the Island Luck Foundation. Kemp Road traditionally has that party and this year was no exception.
Other than that, it seems a pretty sad picture.
It has been exacerbated by the spin machine of the FNM that all is well. They keep claiming that they are improving the country. But within the last week, the following happened. There was a massive power cut throughout the island of New Providence. The underlying problems of high power prices and bad equipment and no planning are still with us.
It got worse. Bahamasair had to announce that they had multiple failures in their systems: a combination they say of bad weather in Miami which closed three airports in Florida and the power failure in Nassau. The power failures in Nassau knocked out the radar at the airport. The result was long lines around the corner at Bahamasair counters. A church group was stranded in Rock Sound and it took the special intervention of former MP David Thompson and his contacts with Bahamasair Chair Tommy Turnquest to get them to Nassau. This is going back to the days when Ministers used to simply call the plane off the line to pick them and their friends up.
Unfortunately, it was the second weekend in a row for Bahamasair. The week before, they had all their jets down and so their Exuma flight for example did not leave Georgetown for Nassau until midnight.
The final point we make is that of the crime rate. The Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson has become quite the FNM apologist. He claims that crime is down, and the fear of crime is down or that we are being irrational in our fear of crime because the people that are doing the killing are not targeting us the normal people. Who is to say who the regular, normal people are? Bullets have no brain or conscience. The Minister of National Security Marvin Dames was all smiles as he congratulated the new police officers on their passing out. The baby faced men and women will now be unleashed on the unsuspecting public.
Here’s what they cannot deny though, neither Commissioner or Minister: as of Friday 21 December 2018, there were 93 murders for the year and 13 within the last 17 days.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 22 December 2018 up to midnight: 174,437
Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 22 December 2018 up to midnight: 544,601
Number of hits for the year 2018 up to Saturday 22 December 2018 up to midnight: 12,448,932