Posted by Dr Andy S Leggett on April 09, 2002 at 05:04:21:
In Reply to: concern citizen posted by Tavar Sawyer on April 08, 2002 at 19:01:20:
Tavar,
I understand and empathise with your sentiments regarding the changing times for children. As a small child I played in wheat-fields that backed onto my family's house. Whilst the wheat was still green we would play hide and seek among the wheat-rows, and once it had been harvested we would build dens out of the wheat-stalks the harvester left behind. My brother was born 10 years after me, and by the time he was of an age where he too could have played with his friends in the fields they had been replaced with housing developments. Did he have a lesser childhood as a result? No, though he did have one that was different from mine.
I do not mean for my example to detract from your concerns about the 'gating' (physical or otherwise) of the northern and southern ends of Briland, but rather to show that it is a trend that has happened and is happening the world over.
The issue of land-prices on the island is a different matter, and I see no simple solution. As was expressed on numerous occasions during the Town Meeting last week, this island's economy is dependent upon tourists and winter residents. Without these people Briland's economy would likely resemble that of South Eleuthera. There the land is relatively cheap, but a huge percentage of the working population are unemployed. Here on Briland the land is expensive because it is in high demand and there is a limited supply. The land has not been priced so highly just to ensure that natives cannot afford it. The high prices are simply an economic consequence of Briland's popularity.
So what are Brilanders to do if they want to own a piece of this island?
Confiscating land legitimately owned is not an option. Not only is it illegal under the laws of this land, it will also drive people away from the Bahamas resulting in a collapse of the economy and poverty for the majority of Bahamians.
As I wrote before, there is no simple solution. As was said at the Town Meeting, many of your forefathers did not have the foresight to buy the land around them to keep in trust for their decendents. That is something that cannot be changed.
Thankfully, however, some people did have the foresight to recognise that even though God isn't making any more land on Briland, Brilanders will continue to make children who need a place to live. It is thanks to them that the Crown Land exists on the harbour side of Eleuthera. That land is the birthright of Brilanders - don't forget that you have that.
Andy
(A Limey who feels blessed to live on Briland)