Dear Editor,
This letter is addressed to the people of the Bahamas
regarding the Resorts World Bimini development from a Biminite’s
perspective.
I was born a Biminite and
have always held Bimini very dear to my heart. I moved away from Bimini as a
teenager to seek a High School and College Education like many of my colleagues
at that time, and to find something different from fishing, conching or
Salvaging, actually this lead to me being away for some 38 years off and
on.
I have now returned to my home land
(Bimini) and have now opened by own business, but I can tell you that Bimini is
alive with full employment.
This Resort
World Bimini continue to bring employment, and as a Biminite who is back home
permanently I want to say that I do not have any issue with the development
which is being undertaking by Resorts World Bimini and I will go ahead and say
neither does 99% of Biminites.
Through the years the people of Bimini have done a very good
job in educating their children by sending them abroad to seek institutions of
higher learning, and
many of us have
gotten this education but only to return home to basically nothing resulting in
non-usage of their education, and so I pose the questions.
Shouldn’t we be able to have the opportunity
to come back home to work in the skills we were educated in?
Why can’t we have the right to determine our
own faith without outsiders coming in to determine our faith/destiny for
us?
Are we that dumb and stupid you
think?
Sir/Madame I recently returned
back home to open a consumer electronics business, because this is the field
where by discipline resides.
I came back
home basically because of the opportunity that is being presented due to the
Resorts World Bimini development.
I am
quite sure that many other Biminites will return also, because there is now
something for them to do besides fishing, conching and salvaging.
Sir/Madame Editor, a lot of outsiders such as the Blue Coalition
who have been speaking against the development of Resorts World Bimini are not
Biminites, and to tell you the truth I have not heard much negative talk from the
most important people which is the people of Bimini. Shouldn’t the people of
Bimini voices be heard on the topic of this development?
These outsiders who are trying to stop this
project are talking a lot of foolishness with their doom and gloom, most of
these persons on these collations have already made their money and don’t give
a darn about the poor people who is just trying to make it day by day .
The Blue Coliation who have decided to go to
the Privy Consul have being defeated by the Bahamas Supreme court are not from
Bimini and is made up of 99.9% of persons who are not Biminites but appear to
love the publicity they are getting to the detriment of Biminites.
I will tell you that over 90.5% of Biminites approve of this
project and only ask of the developers that Biminites are treated fairly and
that these developers do what they say they would do to preserve our eco system
which many Biminites believe they will do, and further, to be trained in all
phases of the development with some preferences, nothing more, nothing less.
Look sir madame there are miles and miles of
reef in Bimini and since the development specifically of the jetty is only a
very small area many of us don’t see this as a big issue that the Blue Coalition
is making it out to be,
additionally the
property they are building on is much higher that what was there before making
the areas less likely to flood than before.
And so,
it makes many of us Biminites
wonder
if they would like to see us
Bimini Natives once again living in huts and begging to put food on our family
table or deal drugs.
This jetty is
needed, the entire development is needed and so, they should stop their nonsense,
stop creating fear in our community and stop trying to take bread out of our
mouths.
Sir/Madame editor I believe that instead of the nonsense
that this coalition is betraying they should more be concern that the owners of
the development stop the indiscriminate firing of Bahamians on the job without
notice.
That the foreign Executives at
Bimini take a course in Bahamian culture.
Many of us also believe that the Government of the Bahamas should come
clean with the citizens of Bimini through public meetings on whether they are
giving the Capo’s and Malaysians more of our land in Bimini because we do not
feel that the rest of the land including the east well area should be preserved
for Biminites.
We need to know what’s
the deal with this entire project and we should be repeatedly informed through
town meetings on the progress of this development.
Actually there has not been one town meeting held by TGOTB
informing the general public of the development taking place in Bimini and we
need to hear from the Government.
We
are also concern that there will soon be a riot with workers up Bimini Bay if
they don’t start paying their staff on time and coming up with a solution to
treat Biminites fairly.
As you can see none of the things mentioned in the above
paragraph relates to a small piece of reef being dug up Sir/Madame editor. So
why persons from as far away as California along with the Blue Coalition trying
to disrupt progress only god one knows.
I
remember with they were digging the channel that the nay-sayers were saying
that this was going to destroy the conch, the bonefish, the turtle and all kind
of foolishness we sir we can inform that there are more of these creatures than
ever.
Lastly a vast majority of Biminites would like to say this,
that if these entities the Blue and the Green Coalitions are successful in
stopping the projects in Bimini and spending 100’s of thousand to do so, they
should also be prepared to gave all residence of Bimini which numbers
approximately 2,750 persons the cost of revenue lost for stopping this
development.
We Biminites are not prepared
to live in huts,
thief steal or sell
drugs just to put food on our family table, Fishing, conching, salvaging, and
being a boat deck for the rich and famous is just not going to cut it any
longer with us, and we say to the Blue Coalition to resist from trying to take
food out of our mouths.
E. Rex Grant
Bimini, Bahamas
05/30/2014