OLD GRUMPY

January 2000 Table of Contents

OLD GRUMPY
(Our resident curmudgeon-at-large)

Abaco has local government, an excellent infrastructure, major utilities in every settlement and its own Internet Service Provider. When, you might ask, will its status as an Out Island become obsolete? When will TV and radio announcers say "Nassau, Freeport, Abaco and the Out Islands"?

To answer this we must focus on what Abaco does not have. Go to Nassau and drive around. Go to Freeport and drive around. What do they have that we do not? Answer: white lines down the centre of the road.

It all began in colonial times and continued into Independence. That patronising central government attitude towards everywhere outside of Nassau and Freeport led to subtle distinctions as to what was necessary in one place and not in others. Could you imagine Nassau without white lines? The anarchy, the confusion, the danger! Yet here we are on Abaco without a central white line to be seen.

Indeed, there are several intersections that have lost their stop signs and they have never been replaced. It must be a nightmare for our tourists who must accommodate riding on the wrong side of the road as well as no lines and missing stop signs.

Nassau never gave us white lines. Has the time come when Abaco can provide itself with white lines? Whatever the cost of the exercise, if one life is saved it would be worth it. I'd feel better on the Treasure Cay - Marsh Harbour highway at night, that's for sure!

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