keen insight

The recent and very public dispute involving the management of Port Lucaya Marketplace (Bourbon Street Limited) and LDV Limited, owned by Rick Hayward, is but another blight on the face of Grand Bahama.

The dispute appears to be regarding the late payment of rent for three restaurant spaces at Port Lucaya Marketplace, the waterside shopping centre that has become the de facto hub of retail commerce and entertainment in Freeport.

The three restaurants, La Dolce Vita, EAST, and The Pub at Port Lucaya (in the space formerly occupied by ‘Pussers’), are operated by Mr Hayward (son of Sir Jack Hayward), who has asserted that he has been a tenant for 22 years and has paid out more than $3.5 million in rent during that time.

According to court documents and legal papers filed, and subsequently reviewed by this writer, the landlord charges that Mr Hayward has failed to pay rent for those locations for the past ten months, and is in arrears just shy of $230,000.

Last week, the staff of the these businesses arrived to commence work to discover the doors locked and a noticed posted to advise that the landlord had exercised its right to control access due to the overdue sum and that it could further repossess the goods to recover any losses or expenses.

As a result, at least 75 Grand Bahama residents are out of work; while Mr Hayward has promised to continue to pay the workers while the problem is addressed, at the very least the future employment of these workers—and the livelihood of their families—are in jeopardy.

read more…

The recently announced appointment of Nicole Avant as the new ambassador to the Bahamas is significant for a few reasons.

As someone that has extensive experience in the public eye, she knows how to handle herself under pressure, and is well connected among several industries, including the financial industry, the entertainment business, and, of course, politically.

What is less obvious is whether her diplomatic acumen is sufficient to address the challenging issues that may lie ahead, not the least of which are the matters surrounding international copyright law and its application in the Bahamas. read more…

This past Monday and this Friday are public holidays. Quick: can you name what those holidays are?

We’re willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of people can’t name them, but who cares!? They’re holidays, and that’s all that matters!

We overheard this comment this past weekend and chuckled to ourselves, although on further reflection we wondered, what’s the point of a public holiday if the general public doesn’t know what the holiday is and why it even is a public holiday?

You can check the Wikipedia web page to learn more about Whit Monday and you also check out the (minimal) reference to Labour Day in the Bahamas. But finding out what the holidays are for isn’t the same as knowing why they are important enough to be holidays.

Another recurring instance of this unfortunately common ignorance is the holiday that falls on the first Monday in August, often referred to as ‘August Monday’, and also known as the start of the crawfish season. But the holiday in the Bahamas is actually Emancipation Day, when we remember the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was enacted. (See: Remembering the past and protecting the future, August 2, 2007)

It’s easy to blame the government or the schools for our people not being better aware of the history and importance of these holidays. But we think it is primarily parents’ responsibility to ensure that their children grow up understanding the history of our country, how and why it affects them, and why they are important enough to shut down commerce and education to commemorate them.

But to do that, parents need to be more aware themselves! Internet searches and history books (you remember books, don’t you?) are a good place to start. Talk to the elders of your community about their Labour Day memories, talk to your minister about how Whit Monday fits into the formal church calendar, and, students, ask your teachers to spend some time talking about emancipation and the history of slavery in the Bahamas.

All this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the time off work and school, of course! Spend time with family, get out to the beach, relax and recover from recent stresses; but take some time to remind yourself of the the significance of the day.

Stay safe.

~ejr~

The Dallas Cowboys unveiled their new $40 million HDTV in their new stadium. It’s 72 feet high and 160 feet long and hangs 90 feet above the center of the field

Take two things I love and put ‘em together: crazy/amazing technology and the Dallas Cowboys. And what do you get?

This HD TV makes your HD TV beg for mercy.

~ejr~

Editorial – Published May 21, 2009 on BahamaIslandsInfo.com

Most of the time there is no shortcut to success. Even so-called ‘overnight sensations’ usually have to work hard and long to get to the ‘sensation’ part; the ‘overnight’ could last years – decades even – until the critical mass has been reached.

We have been pleased to see a heightened interest in web-based content, even over the last six months since Christmas 2008. Subscribers to our weekly e-mail newsletters (Grand Bahama Info and Nassau Info) have increased dramatically, with more than 300 new subscribers added in just a few short months.

Even more significant has been the boom in the number of visitors that are drawn to BahamaIslandsInfo.com on a daily basis. We are always attentive to the many ways that people discover — or stumble upon —  BahamaIslandsInfo.com, because we want to be sure we are doing everything reasonably possible to get the word out about our web site.

We spend considerable time every day refining, improving and expanding BahamaIslandsInfo.com to make it more useful, more accessible and more accommodating to our web site visitors’ needs. We don’t just want you to visit our web site once, we want you to come back every day — several times a day! — to stay up to date with the news that affects you.

To help get the word out we focus on three main methods:
1. Make sure the content is relevant to those either living in the Bahamas or those that visit (planning to for the first time, planning to return, or those that live in the Bahamas seasonally);
2. Work hard at ensuring that the content is as current as possible; and
3. Pursue as many different external methods to spread the content and word around through other online resources.

Relevance is more than just seeing if the word “Bahamas” shows up in an article; any five-year-old that can spell “Google” can find thousands of articles and information about the Bahamas online. But sifting through the clutter to discover those that are the most salient and pertinent to people with a genuine interest in the Bahamas is the key. read more…