<<< A snapshot of a city in Haiti. This can possibly be a snapshot of Nassau, 20 years from now. Like human carnage, garbage can be seen everywhere.
Nassau, Bahamas: When we saw this on cable channel 13 last night all we can say was WOW! Our eyes were opened! Now we know why all these bushy areas of Nassau are being cleared and coals collected. Haitian squatters are burning the forestry areas of New Providence to send coal back home to Haiti. No wonder why when you wake up early in the morning the smell is smoke, especially in the southwestern area of the island is soo strong.
Why is the Bahamas allowing its environment to be destroyed in this manner?
Haiti is a tiny island country in the Caribbean and the poorest in the Western hemisphere with 49 percent of its people living in absolute poverty.
Worldfocus special correspondent Benno Schmidt and producer Ara Ayer visited there recently and report that in their struggle to survive, Haitians are destroying the very elements of their environment that sustain them.
Months after the storms have passed, some Haitians are trying to dig their homes out of 10 to 15 feet of mud. The video Hurricane mudslides bury Haitian towns explores how long-gone storms continue to interfere with day-to-day life.
I have to admit I have mixed emotions when it comes to Haitians. I am a young Christian, and the Bible says the greatest commandment is to love they neighbour as thyself. So, on the one hand I feel sorry for them, the conditions they live in are horrible. However, they come to the Bahamas, squat on our land, they have countless children, and take advantage of many priviliges that even Bahamians are not afforded.
This Haitian situation has gotten worse and worse over the last two decades, and we have to admit that it is now uncontrollable. I blame the Bahamas government. I blame the Department of Immigration. But mostly, I blame the Bahamians who sold-out to the almighty dollar by selling work permits and selling papers to the point where Haitians can’t speak a word of English, but they have status. Where in the world can Bahamians go and get work permits and status papers in a matter of weeks? Our nation is eroded and morally bankrupt and sadly we are suffering by our own hands.
We must stop speaking out of both sides of our mouth! On the one hand we are willing to hire these persons to do the work we think is below us. (We the people-not the government) On the other, we blame them for all the ills of our society, whether of their making or not. Some of Altek’s suggestions are good and should work to a degree. I doubt that our leaders are cowards. The problem is so overwhelming that there is no easy solution. They are our brothers and knowing the abject poverty in which they and their families live we cannot in good conscience just send them back home. On the other hand our facilities are so overrun that our own people cannot get the services to which they are entitled. And a third thing must also be considered. No country can continue to go forward without allowing a certain number of foreign persons to emigrate into our society. They bring fresh ideas and a new perspective that helps us grow. We must be as selective as possible when encouraging outsiders to join us, yet we cannot justify abandoning our needy fellow beings.
BP the problem in this country is that we have leaders that are cowards. In my mind its not hard to seal of the southern boarder. If we can borrow money to build roads why cant we borrow money to buy the resources to seal of the Inagua passage?
The Immigration work permit policy needs to change.
1) If you have no education and you want to work in the Bahamas that work permit should only last 1 yr and then you have to leave the country and cannot apply for work in this country for 3 yrs. PERIOD!
2) A Skilled workers permit should last only as long as the job they are being brought in last. Afterwards they can not apply for a work permit for 2 yr
3)A professional work permit(folk with a college education) should be for 3-4 yrs max and then they cant work in the Bahamas for 1 yr afterwards.
But right now as it stands, a Haitian or any other foreigner can get a work permit and literally use it as a de-facto residency slip cause all they have to do is renew it every year. I know Haitians that has been in this country for over 20yrs on a work permit because they just renew it every year.
At some point the Immigration Dept has to set fix periods on each type of permit. Currently there is none and each permit holder’s request for renewal is subject to the Immigration Dept. To be fair Shane Gibson tried to do it, but he should have started it in yr 1 or 2 of governing and not yr at the 3 1/2 yr mark in government (too close to the election). the FNM government seems to have stopped the policy and we know why.
BP we have a bunch of jelly fish for MP’s and cabinet ministers. These guys are NOT thinking about the future of the country they are only thinking about today. All of us see what the Haitians and Jamaicans are doning to this country and our leaders sitting there like they dont see it. I swear sometimes i get so frustrated with our leaders. If they would just deal with the most obvious things life would be different in this country.
That is awful. Can another nation lawfully step in and assist them in governance etc to get them on the right track?
Drama King, part two of this story is really emotional. I am pained when I see how they’re kill off our environment, however when we saw part two of this report on Haiti it is chilling. It made us cry. The people are declining into the dust and no matter how much help they get from the world, the nation gets poorer each year.
ONLY PRAYERS AND A TURN OF HEART CAN HELP THEM NOW!
Do click and view the video below and stay tuned for part two of this series.
Bahamas Press/ Editor
This is no joke. These people are slowing taking over our country. Its happening….they are committing horrible crimes – killings etc and now they are the big guns in drug dealing. Its terrible.
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