Can anyone imagine two Romanian women landing on Columbus’ island of San Salvador ...scooping up 13 frightened iguanas, stuffing them in socks, then into a suitcase ...and getting as far as London on their way to deliver them to an unknown accomplice in Dusseldorf, Germany ...without some kind of local assistance?

Investigating Theft Of Iguanas

Tribune242:

AS Deputy Prime Minister “Brave” Davis said in a press statement yesterday, it is important that the mysterious appearance of 13 Bahamian iguanas — one dead— discovered in luggage at Heathrow Airport, London, should be thoroughly investigated.

Can anyone imagine two Romanian women landing on Columbus’ island of San Salvador, scooping up 13 frightened iguanas, stuffing them in socks, then into a suitcase and getting as far as London on their way to deliver them to an unknown accomplice in Dusseldorf, Germany, without some kind of local assistance?  No, we can’t, nor can Mr Davis.

“This story is troubling in many ways,” said Mr Davis.  “These animals are an endangered species, living in isolation from regular human contact.  They run away from intruders.  To secure 13 animals and to remove them from San Salvador in secrecy would seem to be a daunting task.”

Quite rightly, Mr Davis was concerned that these foreign ladies “probably had assistance from someone or others resident on San Salvador as well as in Nassau before boarding the flight to London”.

It is obvious that there is a local racket going on — if it’s not drugs, it’s our endangered species.

The question is what else and how many more of our rare species are being smuggled out?  Were these the first iguanas to leave our shores, or were there others that unfortunately missed detection?

We are certain that all concerned Bahamians, in the words of Mr Davis, are “anxious that this criminal act is fully investigated and that all parties involved in this despicable attack on our natural heritage are dealt with by the law in all relevant jurisdictions.  We must all play our part in protecting our natural heritage.”

Not only should any Bahamian who aided and abetted in this despicable act, all along the transit chain, be held accountable, but so should the two Romanian couriers, and whoever was to receive them at their final destination.

“I have been in contact with our security organisations and other agencies of the Government, to ensure that The Bahamas is intimately involved in finding a resolution to this theft and, hopefully, to arrange the safe return of the still living iguanas to their habitat in San Salvador,” said Mr Davis.

He called on “citizens everywhere to be mindful that there will always be those who try to use our islands for trafficking of drugs, people and our natural treasures to other jurisdictions.  We must all be vigilant and play our individual parts to the fullest to protect our Bahamas from criminals of all sorts.”

“With only a few of these creatures native to The Bahamas in existence, the San Salvador rock iguana is considered extremely rare and is near extinction.  All rock iguanas in The Bahamas are protected by the Wild Animals Protection Act,” The Tribune reported in “The Big T” over the weekend.

With all the publicity that this ugly escapade has attracted in Europe these are certainly 13 of the world’s best known iguanas.  They will probably be delighted to return to the warmth of their own sandy shores.

However, Bahamians should take the protection of their heritage seriously.  We recall that as a child — many, many moons ago — the delight we took in gathering the most beautiful shells from our beaches.

These precious pieces were in such abundant supply that no one ever thought that they could disappear — we believed that shells were washed ashore with every incoming tide.  And then, over time they were no longer there.  The only time that we see anything resembling these shells is in special shops in other lands.

Every summer we watched as American tourists walked our beaches, collecting the shells.  We remember one gentleman in particular.

Every summer barefooted with rolled up trousers on Montagu Beach, he collected the shells for sale in the US.  We watched him grow old on this beach and eventually take Bible in hand and establish a small church here.

He was not the only one.  The desecration was happening before our very eyes, but no one realised what it meant for future generations until it was too late.

The only one who seemed to notice enough to take it seriously and warn Bahamians through these columns that they should protect their possessions was the second editor of The Tribune.  He predicted that soon there would be a generation of Bahamians who would never understand the treasures they had lost — thanks to an earlier generation that did not protect what nature had bestowed upon them.

The busy pen was that of the late Sir Etienne Dupuch — nicknamed by many as the “Voice of Doom” – who daily through these columns told Bahamians truths that they did not want to hear.  It is now up to this generation to become aware and protect what is left of our heritage for future generations.

February 12, 2014

Tribune 242

A prophetic Joe Darville warns:- “…If we continue on the present course, poverty, in its deepest and most abject state ...will be the heritage of our future generation ...unless we as adults in this nation assure every one of our young men and women meaningful occupation ...as they exit the halls of our high schools

Rank Hypocrisy

Jones Bahamas Editorial:




When it comes to hypocrisy-exposed, some of this nation’s religious and other so-called holy ones rank high. Sadly, when it comes to caring for the needs of the captive or bringing succor to those who are being exploited and distressed, these types are nowhere to be found.

By omission they refuse to love their neighbor as they clearly love and adore themselves; thus that river of pain that courses through the lives of so very many Bahamians.

Today, we find distress on the hoof; poverty on the march and any number of men, women and children obliged to live and die under conditions clearly not fit for creatures said to have been made in the image and after the likeness of God Almighty.

Clearly, then, we live in a day, in a time and in a world when things seem to be falling apart is a proposition that is self-evident. Indeed, any reference to the latest breaking news would find story piled upon story as to how this man or that woman has been murdered. On other occasions, the report coming in from the whirlwind speaks to how rage-turned inwards has led this or that troubled person to that dark place where suicide presents itself as the preferred way out of a life suffused with dread, hopelessness and despair.

This is intolerable. We can also tell you that there are occasions when we wake to find ourselves pushed to that place in mind where we feel constrained to note how much certain religious figures have to say about matters such as gay marriage; lesbianism; homosexuality and other such contentiously debated issues. And as the attentive public knows so very well, many of these Church men and others can and do routinely cherry-pick their favorite ‘issues’ for debate, concern and public action. Here the recent brouhaha concerning gambling, gaming and Web-shops comes to mind.

Indeed, we can and do remember the zeal with which they responded to this congeries of issues.
Sadly, similar demonstrated zeal is hardly ever focused on the state of this nation’s youth, the brutal conditions under which they are held when in the so-called protective custody of the state; or for that matter when – perchance – some of them die when in the precincts of this or that police lock-up.

These reverend gentlemen and their bevy of first ladies are hardly ever to be found or seen near any court house as this or that youth man or woman is frog-marched through a justice system which – on occasion – can be unbearably harsh on the poor.

As one of our fellow Bahamians [Joseph Darville] so sagely reminds:-“…Vatican II reminds us that God destined the earth and all it contains for all men and all peoples so that all created things would be shared fairly by all mankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity…” As Darville explains: – “… In our use of things we are to regard the external goods we legitimately own not merely as exclusive to ourselves but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as ourselves.

There is then the universal destination of earthly goods and every man has the right to possess sufficient amount for himself and his family…” Much of this seems to have been lost on some of the holier-than-thou folks who would essay designing Bahamian society after their own cramped interpretation of the Word of the Most High King as witnessed in the life and witness of Jesus Christ in that time when the Word became Flesh and dwelled among us.

A prophetic Joe Darville warns:- “…If we continue on the present course, poverty, in its deepest and most abject state, will be the heritage of our future generation unless we as adults in this nation assure every one of our young men and women meaningful occupation as they exit the halls of our high schools.

Without this assurance, we have failed them miserably and have set the stage for future, certain and guaranteed criminal activity… Devoid of financial opportunities for further education and with the scarcity of jobs, they can so quickly lose that pristine grace of youthful enthusiasm and motivation as they tread the beat of the unemployed and the dispossessed…” For some among us this is the reality they now live; thus the murder and thus the rapine and thus that ocean of misery into which so very many men, women and children have been thrown.

The wasteland beckons; thereafter the dread news in the wind and therefore and thereafter the insistent call for each and every Bahamian professing Christ to come on over and help. In the absence of action, nothing remains but the stench of a most rank species of hypocrisy.

February 19, 2013

Bahama Journal

Caribbean Blog International