I am speechless here...


Bimini's economic promise

BIMINI – Shirley Ritchie raised her children in Bimini. As they grew up, she watched them leave in search of greater economic opportunities.

It's been a common occurrence for generations. Ritchie, herself, spent several years working on Cat Cay before returning to Bimini. So when her son left, she believed it was for the best.

"I always hoped he would come back, but he needed a good job and there wasn't much of anything here at the time," Ritchie said.

But when Bimini Bay Resort & Marina began operating on the island, Ritchie's son, Shirlon, found the job opportunities that had long been absent from his homeland. He returned home and began working at the resort – a move that his mother couldn't be happier about.

"I get to spend more time with my family, with my grandchildren," she said. "We need more opportunities like this so our families can stay together. The resort has been the greatest thing to happen to Bimini in a long time."

The resort currently has a staff of nearly 200 Bahamians and plans to hire another 100 this year. That is in contrast to other islands in The Bahamas where une-mployment is on the rise.

"Bimini Bay Resort offers a variety of exciting career opportunities and those opportunities are only expected to grow in the next year," said Ben Davis, director of resort operations. "We are committed to hiring locally whenever and wherever possible."

Upcoming job openings range from desk managers to security officers. The resort even offers training opportunities with reputable programmes including Johnson & Wales University, to help new employees learn the hospitality industry and prepare them for long-term employment.

"I was looking for work for a long time before I found Bimini Bay Resort, and I have never learned so much in my life," said Nathalie Rutherford, Bimini Bay Resort wedding coordinator. "It's a tough economy out there right now, but Bimini is seeing better days."

The resort's economic boost extends well beyond the boundaries of the resort itself. The increased tourism has also increased the demand for gift shops and restaurants throughout the island. Just last year, a new straw market opened about a mile from the resort.

Brenda Hanna – known to most of the island as Mama B – opened her straw market shop right away, selling clothes, jewellery, hand-sewn baskets and other items to tourists. She can be found there on sunny afternoons weaving her colourful creations into baskets, purses and other novelty items. But when it comes to family for this mother of eight, she only has to look at the shop next door to show how Bimini Bay Resort has brought her family closer.

Mama B's daughter, Cleola, has opened her own souvenir shop in the space adjacent to her mother's. The mother-daughter duo spend their days working and socializing in each other's company. But Mama B remembers a time when it was harder for young people to stay in Bimini.

"We need greater business here on the island. Anybody will tell you that," Mama B said. "We're glad to see the resort here. I just hope it brings more and more people. More people means more money and more jobs. It means our kids can come back."

Cleola, herself, left the island 20 years ago to attend school. Mama B said she never knew if Cleola would come back to live in Bimini again. Cleola did return, but now has a daughter attending school in Florida.

"Time changes things," Cleola said. "The resort is bringing jobs. It's bringing visitors. We need more people to come here and spend money."

Rosalind Sherman, who also operates a store at the local straw market, is a native of Nassau. She grew up seeing how tourism can improve the economic prosperity of the Bahamas. She moved to Bimini with her husband, a native Biminite who found work on the island as a carpenter. With Bimini as her home, Sherman said she hopes the resort continues to grow.

"We want people here," she said. "The resort is a good thing. We have something to offer in Bimini. This is bringing the people here, and we want it to grow."

Shirley Ritchie agrees. With her son back in Bimini and five of her 10 grandchildren now living on the island, she says that is proof that the resort is helping Bimini and its people.

"This isn't just about money," Ritchie said. "We're not talking about a New York bay or a Chicago bay or even a Miami bay. This is Bimini Bay. That just has a ring to it. It's a place you want to visit for a getaway. We have a lot to offer and the potential is just getting realized."
- I can only agree with the statement: "This is Bimini Bay". That's a truth. Bimini is Bimini Bay not Bimini! -

BACK HOME — Today Shirley Ritchie gets to spend more time with her grandchildren, including her youngest granddaughter, Naomi, who is about to celebrate her first birthday. Ritchie's son returned to the island several years ago after finding a job at the Bimini Bay Resort and Marina.

I am speechless here...

Bimini's economic promise
BIMINI – Shirley Ritchie raised her children in Bimini. As they grew up, she watched them leave in search of greater economic opportunities.
It's been a common occurrence for generations. Ritchie, herself, spent several years working on Cat Cay before returning to Bimini. So when her son left, she believed it was for the best.
"I always hoped he would come back, but he needed a good job and there wasn't much of anything here at the time," Ritchie said.
But when Bimini Bay Resort & Marina began operating on the island, Ritchie's son, Shirlon, found the job opportunities that had long been absent from his homeland. He returned home and began working at the resort – a move that his mother couldn't be happier about.
"I get to spend more time with my family, with my grandchildren," she said. "We need more opportunities like this so our families can stay together. The resort has been the greatest thing to happen to Bimini in a long time."
The resort currently has a staff of nearly 200 Bahamians and plans to hire another 100 this year. That is in contrast to other islands in The Bahamas where une-mployment is on the rise.
"Bimini Bay Resort offers a variety of exciting career opportunities and those opportunities are only expected to grow in the next year," said Ben Davis, director of resort operations. "We are committed to hiring locally whenever and wherever possible."
Upcoming job openings range from desk managers to security officers. The resort even offers training opportunities with reputable programmes including Johnson & Wales University, to help new employees learn the hospitality industry and prepare them for long-term employment.
"I was looking for work for a long time before I found Bimini Bay Resort, and I have never learned so much in my life," said Nathalie Rutherford, Bimini Bay Resort wedding coordinator. "It's a tough economy out there right now, but Bimini is seeing better days."
The resort's economic boost extends well beyond the boundaries of the resort itself. The increased tourism has also increased the demand for gift shops and restaurants throughout the island. Just last year, a new straw market opened about a mile from the resort.
Brenda Hanna – known to most of the island as Mama B – opened her straw market shop right away, selling clothes, jewellery, hand-sewn baskets and other items to tourists. She can be found there on sunny afternoons weaving her colourful creations into baskets, purses and other novelty items. But when it comes to family for this mother of eight, she only has to look at the shop next door to show how Bimini Bay Resort has brought her family closer.
Mama B's daughter, Cleola, has opened her own souvenir shop in the space adjacent to her mother's. The mother-daughter duo spend their days working and socializing in each other's company. But Mama B remembers a time when it was harder for young people to stay in Bimini.
"We need greater business here on the island. Anybody will tell you that," Mama B said. "We're glad to see the resort here. I just hope it brings more and more people. More people means more money and more jobs. It means our kids can come back."

Cleola, herself, left the island 20 years ago to attend school. Mama B said she never knew if Cleola would come back to live in Bimini again. Cleola did return, but now has a daughter attending school in Florida.
"Time changes things," Cleola said. "The resort is bringing jobs. It's bringing visitors. We need more people to come here and spend money."
Rosalind Sherman, who also operates a store at the local straw market, is a native of Nassau. She grew up seeing how tourism can improve the economic prosperity of the Bahamas. She moved to Bimini with her husband, a native Biminite who found work on the island as a carpenter. With Bimini as her home, Sherman said she hopes the resort continues to grow.
"We want people here," she said. "The resort is a good thing. We have something to offer in Bimini. This is bringing the people here, and we want it to grow."
Shirley Ritchie agrees. With her son back in Bimini and five of her 10 grandchildren now living on the island, she says that is proof that the resort is helping Bimini and its people.
"This isn't just about money," Ritchie said. "We're not talking about a New York bay or a Chicago bay or even a Miami bay. This is Bimini Bay. That just has a ring to it. It's a place you want to visit for a getaway. We have a lot to offer and the potential is just getting realized."
- I can only agree with the statement: "This is Bimini Bay". That's a truth. Bimini is Bimini Bay not Bimini! -
BACK HOME — Today Shirley Ritchie gets to spend more time with her grandchildren, including her youngest granddaughter, Naomi, who is about to celebrate her first birthday. Ritchie's son returned to the island several years ago after finding a job at the Bimini Bay Resort and Marina.

if you can't understand the primary tensions that are at play within these various anchor developments, you really need to remove yourself as a "spokesperson" for the debate. the central issue here is the simple fact that many of these projects are for the first time affording locals the ability to live and work in their home islands, rather than emigrate to the main islands of new providence and grand bahama in search of a decent job.

yes, these "new" jobs come at a significant economic and environmental impact to our smaller islands ... but unless and until you understand this essential tension, you'd be best off stepping back from the debate. the fight here is far more nuanced than any you have apparently encountered.

forward, upward, onward together. bahamians need to figure this out.

And this is exactly what they want you to think about this project.

All I can say is that the appearances are deceptive...

Please read the Marty's Weech letter: http://www.bahamapundit.com/2008/02/a-letter-from-b.html

And this is exactly what they want you to think about this project.
All I can say is that the appearances are deceptive...

WE are not being manipulated. you are being naive if you think that out islanders have not been aching for real middle class jobs in the middle of their own neighborhoods for decades now.

too many out islanders have not been afforded the opportunity to vote for pristine posterity and preservation of their wetlands, oceans and environment over the hard cash that these jobs sincerely offer, at least in the short term.

again, your rose-colored not local glasses have impacted your sense of the situation. i'm most certainly NOT supporting these projects per se, but i certainly understand their attraction.

How can someone living in some European Country be a Spokesperson for anything in the Bahamas?? :hammer::hammer:

WE are not being manipulated. you are being naive if you think that out islanders have not been aching for real middle class jobs in the middle of their own neighborhoods for decades now.
too many out islanders have not been afforded the opportunity to vote for pristine posterity and preservation of their wetlands, oceans and environment over the hard cash that these jobs sincerely offer, at least in the short term.
again, your rose-colored not local glasses have impacted your sense of the situation. i'm most certainly NOT supporting these projects per se, but i certainly understand their attraction.

he need to goto the islands and see the abandoned house after house where people just up and left for Nassau, its sad. People want to go back to their islands, but there is nothing to go back to, yet.

How can someone living in some European Country be a Spokesperson for anything in the Bahamas?? :hammer::hammer:

you'd be surprised how many "members" of these various "save the ---" out island associations are populated with expats. not to say that they are not making some good points, but they could have put their money where their mouth was a loooooooong time ago by creating real jobs in their own neighborhoods, offering real wages the way the salaries were set back in the 1970s, when working bahamians could afford to send their children off to school abroad.

too many expats come here thinking that we are belize and offer up $200 per week* jobs, never mind the fact that we are all off to purchase the same $6 gallon of milk at the local store. and then they have the temerity to complain about local government's tendency to support these kinds of short-term jobs that come in dangling the promise of real money, if only for a short term, to local bahamians.

SMT.

(don't get us started on the millionaires who presently offer their domestics, support help $85 per week jobs in the middle of the most expensive marketplace in the archipelago.)

WE are not being manipulated. you are being naive if you think that out islanders have not been aching for real middle class jobs in the middle of their own neighborhoods for decades now.
too many out islanders have not been afforded the opportunity to vote for pristine posterity and preservation of their wetlands, oceans and environment over the hard cash that these jobs sincerely offer, at least in the short term.
again, your rose-colored not local glasses have impacted your sense of the situation. i'm most certainly NOT supporting these projects per se, but i certainly understand their attraction.

Well, I assumed to get reply like this one. Our views on this cause are a bit different but I really don't want to argue. If the majority of Biminites thought the same way as it is pointed out in this article then I would have been quit but this is not that case. It's quite the opposite.

Whatever I tell might be useless for you, so please form your own opinion but with the consideration of all aspects. Thanks

he need to goto the islands and see the abandoned house after house where people just up and left for Nassau, its sad. People want to go back to their islands, but there is nothing to go back to, yet.

I am talking chiefly about Bimini and I assure you that I went from house to house there andI could hear wishes and disappointments of Biminites...

Well, I assumed to get reply like this one. Our views on this cause are a bit different but I really don't want to argue. If the majority of Biminites thought the same way as it is pointed out in this article then I would have been quit but this is not that case. It's quite the opposite.
Whatever I tell might be useless for you, so please form your own opinion but with the consideration of all aspects. Thanks

trust me, the LOCALS are split fifty/fifty on these anchor developments that are rendering their communities as well. our views ARE not that different, but our appreciation of the tensions fueling the debate most definitely are.

you seem to think that most biminites can afford to decline real jobs in their midst, and that is where you miscalculate. if that were the case, local governments around the country would NOT be under enormous pressure to approve these idiotic developments from their local communities ... which vote to keep them in power.

your simplistic take on the situation is NOT moving the discussion forward.

trust me, the LOCALS are split fifty/fifty on these anchor developments that are rendering their communities as well. our views ARE not that different, but our appreciation of the tensions fueling the debate most definitely are.
you seem to think that most biminites can afford to decline real jobs in their midst, and that is where you miscalculate. if that were the case, local governments around the country would NOT be under enormous pressure to approve these idiotic developments from their local communities ... which vote to keep them in power.
your simplistic take on the situation is NOT moving the discussion forward.

I know how you are feeling about this. Although, I am not a Bahamian I can understand to people living there.

I just wanted to tell that Money can't talk anymore in these serious issues where it is about the unique environmental value of Bahamian marine habitats, about the resources which should serve to future generation. Destruction of irreplaceable marine ecosystems is an ill-considered action which causes the destructive impacts on environment and life of people. I mean the social side of people which includes also jobs and business.

It would be good if PM didn't ignore Biminites...

trust me, the LOCALS are split fifty/fifty on these anchor developments that are rendering their communities as well. our views ARE not that different, but our appreciation of the tensions fueling the debate most definitely are.
you seem to think that most biminites can afford to decline real jobs in their midst, and that is where you miscalculate. if that were the case, local governments around the country would NOT be under enormous pressure to approve these idiotic developments from their local communities ... which vote to keep them in power.
your simplistic take on the situation is NOT moving the discussion forward.

Tru dat girl! This is a difficult enogh matter for Bahamians to sort out,especially considering the economy is in the tank.Summarily denying possible jobs is a tough ting to do,so is destroyting a marine habitat.I do appreciate this person's point of view and concern.........both valid,but this is a Bahamian issue and needs to be decided by Bahamians and the people of Bimini in particular!:)

As I have said before...........my most vivid memories of Bimini are those of poverty.

I am talking chiefly about Bimini and I assure you that I went from house to house there andI could hear wishes and disappointments of Biminites...
The anchor project idea on each island was a good one by the former govt and will still be carried on under this govt!!

This govt said that they want to scale the projects down and before the election in 2007, this govt wanted these scale down projects to be owned by Bahamians but that idea is quickly changing. They seem to be taking whatever they can get, not that I have a problem with that.

I thought that they already had some Bahamians line up but I guess this was just another "pie in the sky dream". Putting small developments on these islands will bring about little change which would cause these small developments to close down.

If there is a large development on each island, the smaller developments would have something to feed off.....Just like Atlantis has caused the other hotels on PI to do much better than they used to before.

Just "COMMON SENSE"!!!!!!

Tru dat girl! This is a difficult enogh matter for Bahamians to sort out,especially considering the economy is in the tank.Summarily denying possible jobs is a tough ting to do,so is destroyting a marine habitat.I do appreciate this person's point of view and concern.........both valid,but this is a Bahamian issue and needs to be decided by Bahamians and the people of Bimini in particular!:)
As I have said before...........my most vivid memories of Bimini are those of poverty.

i guess i just responded in a knee-jerk way to mangrove's "speechless" comment, which i found rather condescending to the people of bimini being quoted in the original article being cited. it's hard enough for bahamians to wallow through this complicated mess of a heritage as it is without being called a sellout or short-sighted by someone from the outside that apparently does not understand or appreciate the local community pressures at play.