A low pressure system has been skittering across the northern Caribbean for the last few days and has just moved into the southern Bahamas in the last 24 hours. It is expected to move across the central and northwest Bahamas Thursday and Friday.

Fortunately this system is unlikely to pack much of a punch, but hopefully it is enough to get our attention.

How is your home’s roof? What sort of protection do you have for your windows? Have you been stocking up on a supply of non-perishable food and drinking water? Batteries? Have you test-run your generator? Got fuel?

It’s time to answer these and other questions to make sure you are taking the simple steps now to prepare for the impact of a hurricane or a tropical storm. No matter where you are in the Bahamas, we say ignore that statistics and admit that we all live within striking distance of a hurricane. Just because it didn’t happen last year or in the last 10 years, it could easily happen this year.

In case you missed it, we offer a 24×7 weather page with tools, info and the latest news to help you stay on top of what’s going on with weather stories around the world and specifically for the Bahamas.

It’s Bahamas Weather Centre on BahamaIslandInfo.com, and there you will find current animated weather maps, tides for every major island in the Bahamas, weather news stories and an excellent interactive current weather map that you can control.

Click HERE to visit Bahamas Weather Centre now, and don’t let severe weather catch you by surprise.

One school of thought believes that, if people are talking about you that means they aren’t talking about anyone else. In competitive business circles, that can certainly be a good thing.

The thinking is that, even if the topic is negative, people are thinking about you, getting to know more about you, and perhaps developing a curiosity for learning more. The next time your name comes up, they have something to associate with you, somewhere to ‘put’ you in their brain.

Well, the Bahamas has certainly gotten more than its fair share of publicity in the worldwide media this past week. The Colton Harris Moore (a.k.a. ‘The Barefoot Bandit’) story has generated thousands of visits to our own web site over the past several days.

And, despite a few negative aspects to the overall story, the fact is that this international fugitive has been wanted for two years by numerous law enforcement agencies in North America, and has effectively eluded their pursuit. But, just a few days after crash landing in the Bahamas, the pimply-faced teen was in the custody of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Of course, it came about through the assistance of upstanding residents in Harbour Island that chose not to help the thief but do the right thing. The fact that the Bahamas, as haystacks go, is a significantly smaller stack of hay than North America certainly helped track down and arrest the island hopping crook.

The Bahamas Attorney General’s office has released a statement on the extradition of the criminal to the United States where his more serious offences occurred. They rightly defend their decision not to impede the process by emphasizing the severity of the crimes in the U.S. and the mutually beneficial reciprocal relationship that our two countries have realised.

All Bahamians, and all who love the Bahamas, should celebrate the work of our law enforcement professionals and revel in the respect that our country has gained as a result.

This is truly a time when we can all lift up our heads.

The interviewer quizzed Bahamians on several basic historical facts, including identifying the first governor general (Sir Milo Butler, although Woodes Rogers was the first Royal Governor, and Paul Warburton was Acting Governor General for about a month after Independence), naming all of the prime ministers of the Bahamas (Sir Lynden Pindling, Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie), and the actual date of Independence of the Bahamas (July 10, 1973).

Most people answered these questions correctly, with some even rattling off many of the names of the ten governors general of the country, from Sir Milo onward.

What were perhaps most curious were some of the responses to the question, What does Independence mean to you?

Some spoke about enjoying the holiday from work, others talked about being “masters of our own destiny”, while still others recalled how the country had changed — for better and worse — in the last 37 years.

While these thoughts are mostly valid, it was shocking to hear at least half of the street-side respondents speak about how Independence brought “freedom from slavery”, “emancipation” and “freedom from the oppression of the Queen”.

Um, what?

The Bahamas gained its independence from Britain in 1973, after 256 years as a colony of the Crown. While the singular act of raising the black, aqua and gold flag for the first time signified the culmination of the independence effort, our formal independence was actually realised in stages.

Self-governance was established in 1964, majority rule was finally grasped in 1967 (read more in this article by Sir Arthur Foulkes), and full independence came in 1973.

Sadly, an apparent misguided and ill-informed education (either at home or at school — or both) has taught some of us that our country’s independence was the time when slavery ended and emancipation began. Not only must our history classes be on a pathetically poor path, but our math classes must have also fallen short of solid arithmetic skills.

The slave trade was abolished in the Bahamas in 1807, and emancipation was officially declared in the Bahamas in 1838, 135 years before Independence. While, surely, it took decades for people’s hearts and minds to accept this fact and a new behaviour to take hold, this was the time when that new reality could at last begin to raise its head out of the mire of bigotry and prejudice.

This fact seems to have slipped the minds of a shocking number of Bay Street interviewees that day. An embarrassing number of passersby also incorrectly believed that our national independence brought deliverance from some oppressive tyranny we experienced under the Queen’s heel. It was as if some believed that there was, at the time, a ruthless suppression of the Bahamian people doled out from Buckingham palace that resulted in the suffering and hardship of Bahamians.

In reality, the greatest oppression of Bahamians around the time of Independence came from within the country, not 4,300 miles away. The struggle to retain economic and political power by the leaders of the day, and the growing demand for a broader participation in the affairs of the country, is where the real tension laid.

But perhaps the “freedom from slavery” and “emancipation” talk was merely a few individuals that weren’t paying attention in school. Whatever the origins of such thought, we all should work a bit harder at leaving behind the destructive shackles of “us vs them” and focus our efforts on just “us”.

Happy Independence, Bahamas!

Prime Minister Ingraham was invited to attend the global gathering of footballers by FIFA, the international body that organises the World Cup, and The Bahamas Football Association (BFA), the national soccer body.

As was made patently clear in the release dated June 20, 2010 and published on BahamaIslandsInfo.com on that date, the Prime Minister’s travel, as well as that of Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest, is private and, quoting that statement, “is unofficial and for their personal accounts.”

Minister of Youth Sports and Culture, the Hon. Charles Maynard, it is stated, is traveling in his official capacity. While not specifically stated, it is inferred that Minister Maynard’s travel is being paid for by public funds, as it should be.

Despite these clear statements, and assuming that Bahamas Information Service is not outright lying to the Bahamian people, Mr Brown still feels compelled to cast spurious speculation on the matter saying, “If the trip is at the taxpayers’ expense, then it is even more deplorable.”

Mr Brown’s primary contention is that the perception of the Prime Minister leaving the country to attend a sporting event is, at best, insensitive and, at worst, “appalling”. Can the same be said when nearly every major world leader leaves their country to attend the Olympics? It is, after all, just a sporting event. Or perhaps there is some greater value in such excursions, beyond the 90 minutes when a soccer game is played.

As an example of a “caring leader” that knows how to respond in times of crisis, U.S. President Barak Obama is held in high places by Mr Brown. The former Freeport News editor draws the conclusion that Mr Obama’s sensitivity to negative perception was the reason for the recent cancellation of a state visit planned for Australia.

Mr Brown says that Mr Obama’s “sensible decision” to call off the trip down under was due to the fact that such a jaunt “would not look good back home for him and his children to be seen sightseeing in Australia  while his country was trying to find a solution to the worst oil spill in America’s history.”

While such romanticizing of the U.S. President’s motivations fits well in a thinly veiled attack on the Bahamas Prime Minister’s discernment, this writer could find no such reference to concerns over negative perception for Mr Obama’s change of plans in more than a dozen stories on the subject. The specific reasoning was stated variously as “to deal with”, “because of” or “due to” the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

No mention could be found of Mr Obama or his staff putting off the trip (for the fourth time) due to concerns of being misunderstood to be having a good time while his people suffered back home. Rather, the White House has rescheduled the intended Australia visit due to immediate pressing demands on the home front. Besides, Mr Obama and the Australia Prime Minister are due to meet in Toronto at the G20 summit this week anyway.

The Obama administration’s hypocrisy over such things was made clear recently, when they vilified the former BP exec Tony Hayward’s yacht outing last weekend. The very same crowd saw no conflict in principle when they defended President Obama’s golf outing on the very same weekend. They said that such down-time is important for the President to “decompress”; and so it is. After the well-deserved grilling that Mr Hayward experienced over his company’s mishandling of the Gulf oil disaster, spending a day with his son is not all that unusual. But that kind of thing does make for prime fodder when one is trying to embarrass an opponent in the press.
The reality is, whether Prime Minister Ingraham is traveling to South Africa in an official capacity or not, he remains the prime minister of the Bahamas. While in South Africa, it is only reasonable to assume that Mr Ingraham may engage in some discussions of matters of state. Even in an informal setting, such discussions can often have greater impact and result in more action than official press-orchestrated photo-ops.

In fact, it is clearly stated in the BIS release that the Prime Minister will attend a dinner in honour of Archbishop Desmond Tutu which will be hosted by Mr Sol Kerzner, the owner and operator of Atlantis, the largest resort in our country. A thinking person can easily surmise that such an event contributes to the evolution and development of a trusting ongoing relationship between our leader and Mr Kerzner.

If he is able to also enjoy some time of relaxation, is this a bad thing? Or is this an opportunity for our country’s leader to “decompress” as well, perhaps enabling him to better face and address the challenges at home? Of course it is.

In addition, as the guest of FIFA and the BFA, our prime minister is representing the importance of the role major international sporting events play in diplomatic relations, a fact almost anyone can clearly see.

There is value to such a visit.

Mr Brown’s attack on Prime Minister Ingraham descends into predictable insults, with references to arrogance, dictatorship and being “unbelievably stupid”. He goes on, disparaging the Prime Minister’s pension and belittling his retirement, all in the name of defending the working class Bahamian.

Providing our Prime Minister with a retirement package befitting the post is something that mature and responsible countries do, and something we should not in any way consider doing otherwise. A careful examination of the record of the current Opposition would show that they, too, support such an approach.

Perhaps most shocking in Mr Brown’s missive is his concluding praise for Bahamas Press, a unabashedly biased blog blatantly bogged down in its own skewed self-aggrandizing tabloid “news”. Bahamas Press, which (now somewhat humorously) refers to itself as “BP”, can hardly be viewed in any way as a credible or responsible source of news, yet Mr Brown believes it to be “the most effective medium for the dissemination of information in the country today.”

We simply don’t see the “house on fire” urgency and anxiety on this matter that some seem to have over the Prime Minister’s South Africa visit. Then again, we don’t have an axe to grind.

But it is not a hurricane, not a tornado and not a severe thunderstorm. The latest ’storm’ to hit Grand Bahama is a series of unrelenting power outages that have crippled the island over the last three days. Rolling area outages are striking with painful frequency.

Interruptions of power lasting two to four hours have impacted nearly every area of the island. Businesses have seen their work screech to a halt. Residents have suffered through the heat of the night.

The concurrence of these ugly disruptions with the start of the seasonal heat and humidity cannot be simply a coincidence. The heat brings an increased use of fans and air conditioners, which of course places additional load on the power system. But why is it that our power system cannot sustain this normal increase in usage?

Perhaps most shocking is that Grand Bahama Power Company has made no official statement to the media or its subscribers about the cause of the outages. Thursday’s Freeport News makes no mention of the interruptions or its impact; the only information that has been provided is a listing of the areas expected to be affected, but even these cannot be trusted.

A call to the Grand Bahama Power Company’s customer service number provides an incomplete pre-recorded list of the areas affected and simply states that these areas can expect a two to four hour interruption. A customer service representative that we spoke with could provide no other information.

Last week, Grand Bahama Power Company christened a new $4.4 million sub-station and the longest transmission line ever built by the company to service eastern Grand Bahama. New commercial development in the area has increased demand requiring an upgrade of electrical service.

What is bizarre to us, however, is that such an investment can be made to extend and expand service while service to existing customers is substandard.

At the opening of the new East End sub-station last week, Grand Bahama Power Company President Alan Kelley said that the company was not yet a leader in the island-based energy industry but, “in five years or so that is where we would like to be,” according to a report from Bahamas Information Services.

Residents of Grand Bahama fully understand what it means to be in a challenging situation. They have endured four major hurricanes in the last ten years, faced stagnation of its tourism industry, endured the battle over ownership and control of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, seen the exodus of existing and potential investors, and most recently suffered the death and destruction of tornadoes.

Grand Bahama has learned to bear many things but what residents have grown intolerant of is the loss of basic, essential services for no apparent reason, with no honest explanation and with no clear and effective solution in sight.

Losing electricity during or following a severe storm is something Grand Bahama residents can understand and even accept, but having to deal with regular interruptions when there are blue skies and calm winds is unacceptable.

But this week that myth was clearly and stunningly busted.

With three dead and more injured, along with potentially millions of dollars of damage, the impact of this sudden severe weather has been made tangibly evident.

Of course, Grand Bahama is no stranger to severe storms, with Hurricanes Floyd (1999), Frances (2004), Jeanne (2004) and Wilma (2005) having struck the island, leaving damaged infrastructure and weary people in its wake. Hundreds of acres of dead, topless pine trees stand starkly against the sky as our ever-present reminder of the winds and sea flooding.

But, aside from a single drowning death during Hurricane Frances when a man reportedly swam into flood waters, Grand Bahama has not recently experienced deaths caused directly by severe weather. Monday’s deaths paint a very different picture of what such events mean and how they affect us all.

Freeport Container Port must be commended for its swift and decisive action in responding to the situation, caring for their people and supporting the grieving families and staff. The mood at that facility has been described as “understandably somber”, but the facility has already began the long and difficult road forward in re-starting its business and maintaining its service to its clients.

The Container Port should also be applauded for allowing such extensive and thorough access to the Prime Minister, the media and the leader of the opposition on Tuesday, just 24 hours after the storm struck. This level of openness is rare but demonstrates that the company fully appreciates the need for people to understand and comprehend the true breadth of the event.

What Grand Bahama cannot afford is any major loss of jobs or an extended reduction of business at the Container Port. We should all celebrate the fact that the facility was not more significantly damaged and that it can begin its recovery quickly.

We offer our thoughts and prayers to the families of three that passed away on Monday, and to those that were directly affected because of injury and the entire Freeport Container Port family.

Let us also not forget that several residential and commercial areas of Lucaya were significantly affected, with one home losing a major part of its second floor. Visitors were also shaken after at least one resort was directly impacted by the storm. Let’s remember those that were affected in those areas and, where possible, offer up our assistance.

We encourage all in Grand Bahama to continue to stand tall and face this adversity as we have all others in the past, knowing that it will continue to strengthen us and prepare us for our future.

The concerns centre around two primary factors:
1. The large scale harvesting of tuna using a mile-long net
2. The indiscriminate nature of wide-range net fishing

Bahamians and concerned people inside and outside the Bahamas have noted that any large fishing operation will be detrimental to the existing fish stocks in our region, because it is anticipated that this operation will capture tuna faster than the stocks can naturally replenish themselves.

There are many historical cases where such fishing can completely eliminate fish stocks and can drive specific fish species to the brink of extinction.

Back in the mid-90s, there was an effort to establish long-line fishing in the Bahamas. Opposition arose then because of very similar fears as exist now: that the large scale and indiscriminate nature of this type of fishing is harmful to the entire marine ecology.

In a response placed on BahamaIslandsInfo.com this week, Paul Mellor, one of the men involved in the venture, stated that tuna stocks “…are at 96% and being managed by an international body called ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas).” He further asserted that, “…the Atlantic Tuna stocks are in great shape and will continue to be in great shape for years to come because there are international bodies carefully keeping track of there stocks and regulating them when and if necessary”.

Despite Mr Mellor’s declaration, available evidence suggests just the opposite is true, based on ICCAT’s own studies. In fact, due to more than 40 years of overfishing, it has been driven to just 3% of its 1960 or pre-longlining abundance — a decline of 97% — as shown in ICCAT’s figures available on this web page. The devastation brought by longline fishing is very well comparable to that inflicted by net-based commercial fishing.

Beyond this fact, greater attention must be given to the wider impact of net fishing; nets do not pick and choose which creature they capture. They capture whichever marine life they encounter, called ‘bycatch‘.

Sources close to the situation have said that a device designed to shred and dispose of non-tuna catch exists on-board the commercial fishing vessel, a charge which the Mellor partners deny. They also claim that non-tuna catch will be separated and returned to the sea.

But whether or not such a device exists and whether or not the Mellors plan to return non-tuna catch to the ocean is moot. Dragging a dolphin, shark or turtle through the ocean tangled in a net for hours on end is at least harmful to their existence, if not deadly. If they survive such an ordeal, hauling them aboard a vessel to be sorted and processed and finally returned to the sea is unlikely to leave them in sufficient condition to be viable for survival.

The Mellors are not without a questionable past. In 2002, they were arrested in a $26 million drug bust in South Florida that netted over 300 kilos of cocaine. The brothers were offered a plea deal as cooperating witnesses but their explanations were later called “weak” and “worthless” due to inconsistencies in their facts

We see inconsistencies in the explanations and defense of this new commercial fishing venture and believe it to be a bad idea for the Bahamas. Sustainable fishing methods are preferred as they still contribute to the national economy, employ individuals and serve the needs of the broader population, rather than filling nets and the pockets of a select few.

Whether you are a fisherman or not, the marine life that surrounds our islands is the lifeblood that our country is dependent upon. To threaten it in this way is incomprehensible and should be avoided at all costs.

Many Bahamians–individuals and organisations–have rushed to the aid of Haiti residents, giving money, supplies and physical support in response to the needs there. One school in Nassau has given nearly $8,000–no small feat for a school–our government has pledged extended support, other governments and regions have committed hundreds of millions of dollars, and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) such as Rotary, the Red Cross and churches have really stepped up to provide the means for individuals to assist.

This type of response is heartening; it shows that our humanity is well intact.

What is less encouraging is to see and hear the negative response among our people to the government’s decision to suspend all immigration efforts to ‘round up’ illegal Haitian immigrants, release those being held at the Nassau detention centre, and to consider those that are eligible for work permits.

The rather heated and forceful exchanges we have heard have made us wonder what is truly behind such barbed words and pointed attacks on Haitian people. While the earthquake’s impact on Haiti’s society, economy and psyche makes this even more outrageous, such an aggressive stance is shocking at any time.

To be clear, we do not believe that any country’s borders should be flung open to any and every one, especially for those countries with smaller and more fragile economies and limited infrastructure. The impact of a massive influx of undocumented immigrants can shatter an economy like ours.

The extreme circumstances of a natural disaster — and all the subsequent effects — can reveal the true emotions and feelings of those affected. It can lift the veil of restraint and expose the prejudice that may otherwise be hidden.

Are we reacting negatively to this (apparently temporary) change in government policy regarding Haitians because they are Haitian? Or is it because of the change in policy itself?

Listening to the hardened rejection from some quarters to the government’s change of stance regarding Haitians in the Bahamas makes us wonder. Is this legitimate concern over the impact of an increased number of Haitians coming to the Bahamas and having the existing Haitians become more established here, or are we displaying a more deep-seated bigotry against Haitians in general?

One simple way to check oneself on this point is to ask: if this involved someone from another country (say, from Jamaica, Turks & Caicos or Barbados), would we have exactly the same reaction? Or, is it specifically because the people in question are Haitian that we have this response?

If it is the latter, we need to deal with our prejudice against Haitians in general.

Of course, this subject is complex and cannot be fully addressed in a few short words. But at least let us consider what it is that motivates or influences our response and try to determine if it needs an adjustment.

Taken in the context of the reality of the current situation in Haiti, we must consider the demands of true compassion towards a people in need and determine what is the appropriate response.

The last 10 years in our lives have brought so many changes it would be impossible to recount them. Some have affected us all, some have changed our individual island, and some are very personal.

It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years since we were concerned about Y2K. Just nine years ago, Apple released the very first iPod. And it’s difficult for many of us to imagine life without Facebook (opened to the public five years ago) or Twitter (started just three years ago).

Many influential and unforgettable people left us in the last 10 years, from Sir Lynden Pindling in August of 2000, to Michael Jackson in 2009.

We’ve also seen tougher economic times affect many of us. The global economy, the Bahamas’ national economy, and our own personal finances have been strained in ways most of us have never before experienced. For many of us, we are happy to put 2009 behind us and hope for a more positive trend in 2010.

The Bahamas drew international attention for positive and not-so-positive reasons; from the Olympic medals earned in 2000, 2004 and 2008, to the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and John Travolta’s son Jett (and the related scandals and embarrassments).

In the 10 years since January 1, 2000 global events have touched us all in some way:

On Boxing Day 2004 the world’s deadliest recorded tsunami struck 14 countries surrounding the Indian Ocean, killing nearly 230,000 people

And in the Bahamas:

Grand Bahama was sideswiped by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, driving destructive storm surge inland on the island’s south shore, ripping structures from their foundations and leaving more than 100 homeless

Of course, there are many more events and occurrences that have impacted our lives, and even more things that remain unanswered and open ended as we move into 2010. But for those of us that can see beyond the immediate challenges to the future possibilities, we are sure to survive the present to thrive in the new year.

We want to take the opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to all of our nearly one thousand Twitter followers, more than 16,000 newsletter subscribers, and our nearly half million annual web site visitors. We have seen positive growth in 2009 and are so thankful for all of our advertisers and subscribers that have helped make that a reality.

We trust you will have a safe holiday and wish you a very happy new year!

We’ve used a few of these phrases before. Nearly three years ago we wrote about the state of the Grand Bahama economy and how, on the one hand, things looked pretty good, and, on the other hand, not so much.

Back then, Ginn was gearing up for their big push on the civil work needed to build their infrastructure and spoke about their concerns over a possible labour shortage. Workers at the Grand Bahama Shipyard threatened to strike. Event organisers talked about bringing a boost to the island’s economy with their planned events. The current Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing spoke then of the grim outlook for Grand Bahama, primarily because of instability in the relationship between the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and the Bahamas Government.

And here we go again.

Two years and 10 months later, shipyard workers are threatening strike again, church groups are planning big events to draw visitors that are expected to lift the island’s economy, and politicians are talking about the ways and means to resolve the economic issues of Grand Bahama.

The ownership of the GBPA remains unsettled, although the current management team have been noticeably active in new downtown projects. They have also engaged U.S.-based consultants to advise on ways to improve the investor climate on the island.

This week a story broke which indicated interest from a UK billionaire as well as a well-connected American investment group, lead by a Freeport resident, both of whom seem to have garnered the interest of Sir Jack Hayward.

But these may also fly in opposition to the interests of Hutchison-Whampoa, the group that already has expansive investment in Grand Bahama.

Whether or not such is the case, it is clear the Bahamas Government wants a resolution to the GBPA ownership issue, and they want it fast. How much they can influence a swift resolution remains to be seen.

There are some tangible things that can be celebrated in Grand Bahama:

WestJet, the Canadian discount airline, had its inaugural flight into Freeport this week, commencing its twice-weekly route from Toronto.

Treasure Bay has confirmed their plan to begin operations at the former Isle of Capri Casino facility at Our Lucaya Resort, starting November 23.

The Rand Memorial Hospital is due to receive a $4 million renovation and expansion.

These, along with a new Farmers’ Market, and real activity towards the new College of the Bahamas campus, are positive indicators for Grand Bahama.

But the ‘worst of times’ for Grand Bahama tourism were made patently clear this week in the release of results from a poll of 437 well-traveled experts in a variety of fields, compiled by National Graphic Traveler magazine.

“True tourism folly—unfinished shells of hotels, tacky shopping areas.”

“Cruise ship hell.”

“Overdeveloped, with the consequent pressures on the environment and social fabric of the community.”

“A destination dominated by cruise tourism that brings minimum benefits to the local population.”

These are just a few of the comments that came in about Grand Bahama, which ended up with a score of 35 out of 100, the fourth from the bottom of the list of 133 worldwide destinations. Eleuthera, in contrast, receive a score more than double that of the Grand Bahama.

We asked Bahamas Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace what he thought of the report. He responded by saying that trying to ‘spin’ this information in anything positive would be of no help to anyone. Instead, he said that an honest evaluation of the reality of Grand Bahama’s tourism offering must be made, and shortcomings must be fixed.

In talking with the Vice President of Communications at WestJet, Richard Bartrem, this week, we asked why the company decided to add Grand Bahama to their destinations. He espoused the beauty and natural attraction of the island, as well as the strong affinity that Canadians have with Grand Bahama.

With these features of strong appeal in mind, we were also told this week by tourism and government leaders how important it is for Grand Bahama residents and businesses to take the lead in ensuring that visitors and investors are served in such a way to keep them coming back.

We believe that this single point is critical to Grand Bahama’s future. It is all too easy to lay blame at the Government, the GBPA, and anyone else. But all Grand Bahamians must accept our own responsibility in bringing Grand Bahama to its true, intended and possible success.