Leak of dollars out of the country is hurting The Bahama

Nassau._ The Independent candidate for St. Margarets, Pierre Dupuch, stated that "the only way to strengthen the Bahamian economy is to stop the hemorrhage of dollars out of the country."

Mr. Dupuch who left the Free National Movement (FNM) because of disagreements between him and the party, has been campaigning for the seat he has held for the FNM, reported The Nassau Guardian newspaper.

The statement which was issued from his Jerome Avenue constituency office reiterated the often gotten fact that The Bahamas is "just a stopping point". He explained that the reason for this is the fact that "of every tourist dollar that is spent in The Bahamas, at least 80 cents of that leaves the country immediately to buy food, souvenirs and other items for the tourist industry. It means we´re just a stopping point and that we´re creating employment in other countries," said the veteran politician and former cabinet minister.

He said that if each of the 4-million tourists who visit the country each year spent $100 on locally produced goods and souvenirs, an additional $400 million would be generated for the Bahamian economy. "We have to broaden the base of our economy. That is just one of the areas we could investigate that would bring millions of additional money into the country without having to advertise for one more tourist," says the longtime MP who has a degree in business and economics.

As a start Mr. Dupuch wants to see a change in the ratio of Bahamian to foreign straw sold in the market. "Next year, the ratio of Bahamian to foreign straw sold in the market must be 70 percent local to 20 percent foreign. That is something I have advocated for a long time," says Mr. Dupuch. "It is a good start, but there are other things we can do to boost local industry and employment. For example, we have the Chickcharnie.

It is uniquely Bahamian and should be produced as a souvenir. We have conch jewelry - cameos made in Italy from Bahamian conch shells. They in fact support an entire town in Italy selling cameos. T