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Showing posts with label Bahamians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bahamians. Show all posts

Friday, June 21, 2024

Gold and Diamond Exchange Opportunity for The Bahamas

The transformative impact of a gold and diamond exchange in The Bahamas 


Opportunity for Gold and Diamond Exchange for The Bahamas


By Dr Kevin Turnquest-Alcena

Nassau, The Bahamas

The Benefits Gold and Diamond Exchange in The Bahamas
In the heart of the Caribbean, The Bahamas stands poised to transform its economy through the liberalization of its gem and precious metals sector. The country, renowned for its stunning natural beauty, is on the cusp tapping into a rich vein of economic potential. This article explores the transformative impact that a reimagined gold and diamond exchange could have, creating jobs and ushering in a new era of prosperity.

Andre Rahming, a leading figure in Bahamian gemology Legislation, has been instrumental in charting a possible future for the country's gem and precious metal industries. His advocacy for establishing a precious metal commission to oversee this transformation underscores his commitment to harnessing these untapped resources responsibly and profitably.

Current Landscape: Overcoming Regulatory Hurdles

Despite its independence, The Bahamas grapples with outdated trade policies that curb its economic progress. The stringent government exchange controls, coupled with complex banking requirements such as KYC protocols, impede both local entrepreneurs and international investors. Notably, the country's reliance on archaic systems does little to foster a robust entrepreneurial environment which is critical for economic diversification.

Propelling Forward: The Need for Reform

To realize the full potential of the gem and precious metals sector, The Bahamas must reform its regulatory framework. Abolishing restrictive exchange controls and simplifying the banking process are essential steps toward creating a conducive business environment. By looking at successful models in Botswana, the UK, Israel, the UAE and Belgium, where regulatory reforms have spurred economic growth, The Bahamas can develop a blueprint for success.

Job Creation and Economic Stability

By opening the gold and diamond exchange, we anticipate the creation of over 7,000 jobs, significantly reducing unemployment and increasing the standard of living for many Bahamians. These jobs are not just numbers; they represent skilled positions offering sustainable livelihoods across the archipelago.

Proposed Framework: Establishing a Precious Metal Commission

One critical proposal is the establishment of a Precious Metal Commission, tasked with oversight and strategic development of the gem and precious metals sector. This body would ensure that the industry grows in a controlled, ethical manner that benefits all Bahamians without causing ecological damage or exploiting local communities.

Global Engagement: Enhancing International Relations

Modernizing trade policies will also enhance The Bahamas' international relations, positioning it as a significant player in the global market for gems and precious metals. This shift could attract foreign investment and foster partnerships, further enriching the nation’s economic landscape.

Overview of Current Trade Policies

Presently, The Bahamas maintains a conservative approach towards the trading of gems and precious metals, with stringent regulations rooted in a bygone colonial economy that limit the potential for market expansion and economic diversification.

Purpose and Scope of the Article

This analysis aims to advocate for a more open trade policy in The Bahamas, drawing parallels with global success stories to underline the anticipated economic and social benefits. We will journey through historical, current, and future vistas, identifying challenges and framing strategies for a flourishing trade environment.

Historical Context and Current Constraints
Colonial Legacy and Economic Policies

The Bahamas' trading policies are greatly influenced by its colonial history with Britain, marked by conservative economic approaches that now challenge the pace of modernization and globalization in its market strategies.

Current Legislation on Gems and Precious Metals

Under the current framework, the trade of precious items is tightly controlled, with heavy duties and rigorous processes that inhibit the growth of the local market.

Challenges Under Current Trade Regime

Limited Market Access: Restrictive policies prevented Bahamian traders from accessing larger, international markets.

Reduced Competition: High barriers to entry discourage new players, limiting competition and innovation.

Export Inefficiencies: Cumbersome procedures complicate the export process, making it less competitive on the global stage.

Case Study: India and Similar Countries
Open Trade Policies in India

India's liberal trade policies in gems and precious metals have positioned it as a global leader in these sectors. The government’s supportive measures include lower tariffs and fewer trade restrictions, fostering an environment ripe for growth.

Economic Benefits Realized by India

The sector’s liberalization has propelled economic benefits, with substantial increases in employment and contributions to the GDP.

Comparative Study with Other Countries

Countries like the UAE and Belgium also demonstrate how liberal trade policies can catalyze sector-specific and broader economic growth.

Proposed Benefits of Open Trade for The Bahamas
Economic Growth and Diversification

Open trade could diversify the Bahamian economy beyond tourism, tapping into the lucrative global market of gems and precious metals.

Job Creation and Skill Development

This policy shift would not only create jobs but also offer numerous opportunities for professional development in gemology and metallurgy.

Enhancement of International Relations

Liberalizing trade policies could enhance The Bahamas' position on the world economic stage, fostering better international relationships.

Challenges and Mitigation Strategies
Potential Risks Involved with Open Trade

Economic Vulnerability: Increased exposure to global market fluctuations.

Socio-political Concerns: Changes in trade policies might provoke resistance from traditional sectors.

Regulatory Framework Suggestions

A robust regulatory framework can mitigate these risks, ensuring that the expansion of trade is both sustainable and beneficial.

International Cooperation and Aid

Partnerships with international trade bodies could provide the necessary support for smooth policy transitions.

Conclusion: A Path Toward Prosperity

The path to revitalizing the Bahamian economy through a thriving gold and diamond exchange is fraught with challenges but brimming with potential. It requires bold leadership, like that shown by Andre Rahming, and a clear commitment to regulatory reform. By seizing this opportunity, The Bahamas can secure a prosperous and stable economic future, ensuring that its greatest gems aren't only found beneath the waves but in thriving markets and prosperous communities across the nation.

In reassessing its trade policies on gems and precious metals, The Bahamas stands on the cusp of economic transformation. Moving beyond colonial legacies and adopting a global economic model could usher in an era of prosperity previously unimagined.

Call to Action for Policy Makers

It's time for The Bahamas to boldly embrace change. Let's pave the path towards economic diversity and richness, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.

Friday, January 27, 2023

The Bahamas Immigration Minister Keith Bell resists United Nations - UN call to suspend deportations to Haiti as Haiti's crisis deepens

The Bahamas Immigration Minister Keith Bell resists UN call to suspend deportations to Haiti as situation spirals out of control


“Haiti has political instability, economic deprivation, and complete social collapse.  So you are talking about a myriad of challenges and problems.  That problem can only be addressed at the international level and so it isn’t a matter of frustration



Bahamian Immigration Minister Keith Bell
DESPITE calls from United Nations officials to suspend deportations to Haiti, Immigration Minister Keith Bell said The Bahamas has “a job to do” to ensure that officials protect the country for Bahamians.

The Bahamas is facing an influx of Haitian migrants.  However, United Nations Secretary General António Gutierrez on Monday called on governments to consider halting deportations as the situation there spirals out of control

Speaking on the sideline of a Labour on the Campus event, Mr Bell recognised the duty of the secretary general, but made it clear what the government has to do.

“The United Nations obviously they seek to ensure that there is harmony, there’s unity among all nations, so obviously that is his job.  We in The Bahamas have a job to do to ensure that we protect The Bahamas for Bahamians.  It’s as simple as that.  The Bahamas as all governments have consistently said we cannot absorb these persons who come in The Bahamas illegally,” he said.

“If you want to come to The Bahamas as a tourist or want to work, then there is a process.  If you follow that process, you may be granted access to The Bahamas.

“If you come here illegally and unlawfully, then, of course, there has to be swift justice.  We will not tolerate, nor will we support reasonably anyone coming into The Bahamas from undocumented or illegal means you will stay in the jurisdiction you will be deported.”

He also shared doubts that The Bahamas would sign on to provisions allowing for free movement when asked about CARICOM’s freedom of movement or labour within the region.

“I know you’re talking about a treaty – I think the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the (free) movement of people through the Caribbean.  The government of The Bahamas, both PLP and FNM, has consistently not signed on to those specific provisions.  I do not foresee in the very far future that we’re going to support a free movement throughout this country of anyone.”

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the crisis in Haiti poses a substantial threat to The Bahamas due to an increase in irregular migration.

He spoke earlier this week at the opening session of the heads of summit meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

During his remarks, Mr Davis stated: “With the support and leadership of Haiti, collectively, we can, through CELAC and other regional organisations, help Haitians build a path out of crisis.”

Asked if there was frustration with the international community over addressing Haiti’s issues, the labour minister listed some of the factors that needed to be considered when helping countries.

“I will not say it there is frustration and you would have seen all around the world where first world developed countries, superpowers go into these countries where they need help — where there is a genocide or there is this civil war and the like.  When you go into these countries you have to ensure first of all, what is your objective?  What are the objectives of you going in?  And what would be your exit strategy?

“Haiti has political instability, economic deprivation, and complete social collapse.  So you are talking about a myriad of challenges and problems.  That problem can only be addressed at the international level and so it isn’t a matter of frustration.

“It’s just a matter of how we’re going to address these issues and challenges and then determine how we can help, but Haiti has 12 million people, The Bahamas cannot under no circumstance, support any illegal and unlawful entry of persons from Haiti and that has extended to Cuba where we’ve had an exponential growth in illegal migrants coming from that country. We will not tolerate it.”

Friday, July 11, 2014

Gender discrimination remains in the constitution of an independent Bahamas


Equality Bahamas



Struggle For Gender Equality



By TANEKA THOMPSON
tmthompson@tribunemedia.net
Nassau, The Bahamas:


As the country gears up to celebrate its 41st anniversary of independence this week, it is clear that Bahamians do have many reasons to be thankful.  We have a stable government, the stagnant economy appears to be slowly getting better and while crime and a high rate of joblessness continue to plague our country, things are not so bad.

However the gender discrimination that remains in our constitution is a glaring reminder that the Christie administration has thus far failed to live up to its promise to hold a referendum to address the issue which puts Bahamian women at a disadvantage to their male counterparts.

The government missed its third self-imposed deadline for the constitutional referendum on gender equality last month. After it botched the gambling referendum in January 2013, it is no wonder that the Christie administration is hesitant to get the ball rolling on another similar process. However while the government was quick to galvanise the gambling vote (which mattered little in the grand scheme of things considering the Christie administration has disregarded the results of that poll and still plans to go ahead with the regulation the web shop sector) it seems slow to act on a referendum that will impact future generations of Bahamians.

Disappointment

Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, who served as minister of state for social development in the last Ingraham administration, told Insight she is “livid” at the repeated delays in the constitutional reform process.  She lamented the fact that the government seems hell-bent on regulating the underground web shop sector but has dragged its feet in bringing about constitutional reform.

“As a young nation, 41 years of age, we have had ample time to get it right,” she said.  “We’ve been promised, we’ve been hoodwinked, we’ve been really lied to from last year.  On July 10, 2013 we were supposed to celebrate the first year of full equality for women.  Here we are at our 41st year, a year later, and the government has misled the people again.  They (fell down) in their commitment to do what is right.

“Bahamian women, Bahamian families, should be enraged that this government has not seen fit to do the right thing,” she added.  “But yet, here we are concerned about appeasing a small group of individuals in terms of gambling, even after the referendum.  The government is spending huge resources to make sure that these people (web shop bosses) are catered to.  Women should be outraged at the fact that the government places less importance and emphasis on them, their families and their children and more emphasis on their benefactors who they wish to appease.”

George Smith, a Cabinet minister in the Pindling administration, was one of several who helped frame the country’s constitution ahead of independence in 1973.  He said he hoped the government would have held a constitutional referendum by now to not only remove the discrimination against women, but to hopefully address some of the other pertinent recommendations for reform made by the Constitutional Commission.

“We felt it was not a major issue at the time,” he told Insight, when asked why the discriminatory provision against women was included in the constitution.  “Those of us who went to London in the cold month of December in 1972 knew that once we attained independence, all those other things could be dealt with. But the prevailing view at the time was that women followed the domicile of their husbands.”

“No one at the time thought women were unequal,” he added.  “There wasn’t that feeling.  It wasn’t an issue that was front and centre on the agenda at the time to deal with.  It wasn’t given the attention that today we probably wished we would have given it. It wasn’t a deliberate and considered act against women, it just wasn’t front and centre at the time.”

Still Mr Smith believes the country’s constitution is not a flawed document and added that the issues that need to be addressed in the document do not reflect poorly on the country.

“In fact, we have fared well over the last 41 years, we have issues but we have a constitution that many have been content with but for those issues, gender inequality and others, it’s a constitution that has served us well,” Mr Smith told Insight.  “Generally (as a country) we’ve done well.  We’re very stable, we have an economy that’s resilient and it will get much better. Sometimes it’s easy to look at what’s wrong with the government, every country in the world has challenges.”

Promises and delays

Speaking in the House of Assembly in July 2012, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell first announced the government’s intent to try to right one of the Progressive Liberal Party’s wrongs.  Ten years after the PLP contributed to the failure of the first referendum which aimed, among other things, to remove the entrenched constitutional discrimination against Bahamian women, Mr Mitchell revealed the government’s plans to hold a referendum, that if successful, would grant Bahamian women the same rights as Bahamian men to pass citizenship on to their children.

“The government is committed to removing the constitutional anomaly which exists with regard to women and the ability to pass on their citizenship to their children,” Mr Mitchell said in 2012.

He added: “The government proposes to amend those provisions in the constitution with regard to discrimination against women, so that it is clear that gender cannot be a reason to discriminate against an individual.”

At the time the Fox Hill MP said the planned vote would take place within the Christie administration’s five-year term. Since then, Prime Minister Perry Christie has announced several different deadlines for the vote, all dates the government has missed, leaving women to wonder how seriously this government takes the issue.

The Prime Minister had said initially the vote would take place by June of last year, ahead of the country’s 40th anniversary of independence.   However in February 2013, Mr Christie announced in Parliament that he had postponed the vote until late November of that year. He said he was acting on advice of Sean McWeeney, QC, and chairman of the Constitutional Commission.  He added that the delay would give the government more time to launch an extensive education campaign and dialogue with the public on the important process.

“This is an extremely important undertaking, one that is vital to the orderly growth and development of our constitutional democracy, and the rights and freedoms we hold so dear.  Indeed, I would go further and suggest that the process of constitutional reform is vital to the growth and development of our civilisation as a sovereign people,” Mr Christie said at the time.

But last October, Mr Christie announced that the November 2013 date had been postponed.  He then said the process would take place by the end of June this year, after an extensive educational campaign.

The Constitutional Commission made its report to the government last July. In its report, the commission outlined 73 recommendations for constitutional reform.

The bills needed to effect the referendum were expected to be brought to Parliament by the end of last year.  Mr Christie had also promised that these bills would have passed through the chambers of Parliament by February this year: however the bills have yet to be tabled.

When asked about the matter at the end of June, Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage could not give the media a new date for the proposed vote.

“I cannot say anything other than preparations are being made for the constitutional referendum,” said Dr Nottage, who has ministerial responsibility for referenda. “Draft bills have been prepared and are being looked at.  There will not be a referendum until such time as they have educated the majority of the public and that process will begin shortly.”

Second time around

In 2002, the government, led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, held a referendum that asked voters, among other things, if they supported the removal of constitutional discrimination against women.

The majority of people who voted in that poll said no to all five questions.

More than 60 per cent of people who voted said no to the first question on that ballot, which asked voters to remove discrimination against women, their children and spouses in the constitution.

The PLP, which was in opposition at the time and led by Mr Christie, urged the electorate to vote no citing a flawed process.  However the PLP had earlier supported the constitutional bills when they were brought to the House of Assembly for debate and a vote.

The Bahamas Christian Council also protested the constitutional referendum and had admonished the government from rushing through the process.

As we rightly celebrate the country’s independence this week, we must be grateful for the blessings this country has received.  However, I think we must also demand progression from our government and hold elected officials to their promises.

Since beginning his second term, the Prime Minister has waxed poetically about the need for reform and the importance of placing women on equal footing with men.

Last year, Mr Christie said that the government hopes to amend the citizenship provisions of the constitution “to achieve full equality between men and women with respect to the acquisition and transmission of Bahamian nationality.”

However we have heard such promises from Mr Christie before.  It is left to be seen if the work of the Constitutional Commission will be in vain or if the government will get the job done and complete a process which should have been over and done with more than a decade ago.

• What do you think? Email comments to tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

Monday, July 7, 2014

Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent in The Bahamas have been oppressed for far too long

Our Haitian family


By JOHN CAREY
EYES WIDE SHUT
Nassau, The Bahamas



Haitian Family Bahamas

The Bahamas has a long history with Haiti. People like Stephen Dillet, who was born in Haiti, contributed to the development of The Bahamas on a national level. Haiti has been the pioneer for all people of color in this region as the first country to achieve independence in 1804.

Yet with all that it has contributed to the region, we seem to only know Haiti for its large numbers of illegal immigrants who make the treacherous journey to our islands. There needs to be a balance between having our borders secure while having legal migration from Haiti.

We have been playing with the idea of immigration reform for many years but have not addressed it in a satisfactory manner. We need to regularize Haitians who are here who have a legitimate claim to citizenship and residency. We must find a rational solution for all persons born in the Bahamas and we must treat all persons here humanely and with dignity.

The current administration’s policy on forging stronger economic ties with Haiti is an excellent approach to working towards a permanent solution for the illegal immigration problem. Many Bahamians would have a more open view of Haiti if they visited and saw the opportunity for business, entrepreneurship and the humanity of people who are all descendants from Africa, Europe or Asia – just as Bahamians are.

Haitians in The Bahamas have been oppressed for far too long. Those who are legally here face discrimination and Bahamians of Haitian descent often complain about how insensitive many in this country are toward them. I am not suggesting that we have a welcoming committee to wave through illegal migrants. I am saying that we must fix the immigration issue and be honest with ourselves if we expect our country to move forward and develop.

We have had many amnesty periods in our history with regard to illegal Haitian immigrants. As a continuation of what has been done before, why not do another amnesty period of 60 days where all illegal immigrants who have been in the Bahamas for 20 years or more and can prove that they have been here for that minimum time period, are put on a path to citizenship by being given permanent residency with the right to work?

Let’s face the reality: persons in that category are not going anywhere except to the United States of America if they can. However, by giving them residency, we can get more participation from those persons in our economy and regularize thousands of people who are here and who remain undocumented.

If we regularize and grant residency to those who have been here for 20 years or more, then we need to get more aggressive in enforcement of immigration laws. We must ensure that those who have not been here for the minimum 20 years are identified, processed and – unless they face the possibility of political persecution or other breaches of human rights – deported to their countries of origin.

As a result of the granting of residency to those who have been here for 20 years or more, their spouses and children could also be entitled to residency by virtue of marriage and/or being part of the immediate family. They may also qualify for residency on their own merit having been here for 20 years or more.

The policy that I am suggesting could apply to all illegal immigrants and therefore not be unique to one nationality because there are many other nationalities that are illegally present in the Bahamas. The Haitian population represents the largest block from one country.

The enforcement of our immigration law is critical to our national growth and development. The shanty towns must be demolished and those who do not qualify to be in this country must be processed to ensure the Bahamian taxpayer is not continuously stretched to the financial limit. This vexing immigration problem affects our educational system, healthcare system and other national resources.

The schools may be loaded with children who are illegal immigrants. The hospitals and clinics may be overburdened attending to the care of illegal immigrants and our other national resources are expended to attempt to manage this problem.

It should be noted that we are not the only country with an illegal immigration problem. Our closest neighbor, the United States of American, has millions of undocumented illegal immigrants and it is also a great strain and challenge for them to handle. I am not sure if the Republic of Cuba has a large illegal immigrant problem given their proximity to us.

If we address the illegal immigration problem correctly, our country can be better off as a result because there are thousands of persons here who want to contribute to our development and would if they were welcomed as residents and new citizens of the Bahamas. We cannot continue to ignore the ‘elephant in the room’ and hope that it will go away and things will get better. By default, there has been an underground society and economy that exists and will continue to thrive unless we have a bold and assertive paradigm shift to ensure that there is only one Bahamas. This one Bahamas includes all who are lawful residents and citizens whether by birth, or by a going through a process to become one of us.

How hypocritical of any Bahamian to want to keep a group of people in bondage. Those of you who use illegal immigrants to work for you, and/or who facilitate illegal immigration are traitors.

I am hopeful that the government will work to implement a few of these ideas to ensure that our illegal immigration problem is solved. With the addition of new boats to assist the Defence Force, we should have a higher detection rate and be able to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who get into the Bahamas. So while we work to eradicate illegal immigration let’s not discriminate against our Haitian family who are here to stay and a part of us.

 

• John Carey served as a member of parliament from 2002 to 2007.

July 04, 2014

thenassauguardian

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Create a Bahamas for Bahamians ...and then watch them care more for themselves, their people, their environment and their future

A country with no plan, pt. 1


Nicole BurrowsOf late, when I hear any of our political leaders speak about the need for a national development or economic plan I am baffled.

The prime minister and his deputy, along with the minister of the environment and a number of others in Parliament, have spoken of this on recent occasions and it is instantly disconcerting. If it were intended to display intelligence or passion, it missed the mark on both counts, and it is really not something that any member of a governing party should ever utter.

We have been a sovereign nation for almost 41 years. I know that there are all sorts of growing pains attached to that sovereignty, and, really, we are just an infant country. But, some issues, in particular, keep us stuck in our infancy: the lack of a national and/or economic development plan is the most significant of them.

Why, after all this time has passed since our autonomy are we just now saying that we need national and economic plans for development? As the country’s leaders, how is it that you’re only now asking for these plans, which should have been the crux of your existence and previous governance? Moreover, how do you win an entire government without having had such plans, be it the most recent win in 2012, or the very first win in 1967? What government can govern at all – never mind effectively – without first having a comprehensive plan to govern? As it appears, have we really been on autopilot for all these decades?

As a ruling government, the fact that you have no such plans, by your own admission or public comments, does nothing to inspire confidence amongst the citizenry. What are the 300,000 or more of us – less the ones sitting in Parliament apparently unaware of how significant an issue this is – supposed to think about where it is you intend to take this country and how you intend to do it?

A guest on a local radio show recently suggested that such development plans have not existed prior to now, yet there exists an Economic Development Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister? How is that even possible? What is it that they do there year after year? I am certain I know the answer – maintain the status quo. We are a status quo-maintaining society, and it shows from the top down.

Our direction

Going forward, in the best interests of the country, every man or woman who offers himself or herself as a servant of the people, for elected or appointed public office, should be required to submit a serious analysis of economy and government, in support of an overall plan of how to (sustainably) grow our nation. In the absence of this, and without demonstrating coherent and sustained thought on the question of growth, for what reason will I give you my vote?

With the exception of none, all of the issues we have as a country point to: 1) our (obvious) lack of direction; and, 2) the fact that so much has changed in our economy and society in four decades, yet so much is unchanged with respect to laws and regulations, structures, people and processes that govern their enforcement.

Is it at all realistic to expect to move forward when the framework of your country is so rusty and fragile that you can’t build anything new on it without predicting that it will collapse?

The current government while in opposition campaigned on a Bahamas for Bahamians first. But here’s something to think on: The Bahamas was never for Bahamians. It was a vacation home; a paradise for visitors. And out of that grew a tourism industry, which I suppose seemed the easiest thing to follow through with at the time. But we are surely paying for that easy decision now. To create a Bahamas for Bahamians would have required much more effort than simply leaning on tourism.

That said, the benefits of open trade and foreign direct investment are well known, but we should have developed, be developing, from the inside out, not the outside in. As long as we aren’t, we will always be either stagnant or backward moving because there is no real value being added to human capital and productivity. Employers and employees have hit a ceiling of achievement and most will stop there. Additionally, they have no vested interest in what they achieve internally, but will continually look to the outside for the answers and the reward.

Had we developed instead from the inside out, meeting and securing our primary needs first and steadily growing and expanding real industry, something like value-added tax, or the (threat of) implementation of any method of taxation, would be a far less likely bone of contention, as the desperate scramble for revenue would have been avoided, de facto.

External input into our economy, by way of tourism, foreign banking and other foreign direct investment should never occur without attached domestic investment opportunities for the people these investments are meant to benefit. And if we are to assume those people are the citizens of our country, then why is it that they are the very people who repeatedly end up with the minimum wage or no benefit?

Give the people whose country it is the opportunities to directly invest in the development of their own country, in whatever small portions they can afford. And then watch them care more for themselves, their people, their environment and their future.

• Nicole Burrows is an academically trained economist and a self-trained writer: nicole.burrows@outlook.com.

April 16, 2014

thenassauguardian

- A country with no plan, pt. 2

- A country with no plan, pt. 3

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

...a sub-set of Bahamians who do not have the technical skills to be employable ...due to the absence of job skills ...or being “scarred for life” by previous criminal convictions

Mp: 'Sub-Set Of Bahamians Are Unemployable'





By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
Nassau, The Bahamas
 
 
 
An MP has admitted there is “a sub-set of Bahamians” who are unemployable, due to the absence of job skills or being “scarred for life” by previous criminal convictions.
 
Emphasising that he was not speaking in his Cabinet position, Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, conceded that he was confronted with this reality every day in his Elizabeth constituency.
 
Responding to a question at a Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) luncheon, Mr Pinder described his constituency as arguably the most diverse in this nation when it came to the economic backgrounds of residents.
 
Agreeing that the Bahamas had to be realistic, and “confront reality”, the Minister candidly conceded: “We have a sub-set of Bahamians who do not have the technical skills to be employable. I can tell you as an MP that is the case.”
 
While some in this “sub-set” lacked the necessary skills, and workplace ethic and attitude, Mr Pinder said others were hampered by previous criminal convictions. Unable to produce a clean police certificate, they were immediately rejected by Bahamian employers.
 
“I know of a strapping young man who can’t get a job because he was convicted years ago for forging bank cheques,” Mr Pinder said. “One error, and he’s scarred for life.”
 
Emphasising that he was not excusing or condoning such behaviour, Mr Pinder said the inability of young Bahamian men to get a job due to their past mistakes inevitably meant many - proud, yet unable to feed their families legitimately - turned to crime to do so.
 
This was exacerbated by the Bahamas’ clogged court system. Mr Pinder said many were “more willing to [turn to crime] as they know the justice system never runs its course in a timely fashion, and they will get out and be OK. They won’t turn to crime if they know the justice system works”.
 
The Minister’s comments illuminate the other side of the Immigration/work permit debate, namely that a significant (albeit a minority) section of Bahamian society is effectively planning itself out of their economy.
 
Entrepreneurial and employment opportunities are passing them by, and their lack of suitability for the workplace is another factor behind employers looking overseas to fill key positions.
 
An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report recently revealed almost two-thirds of employee firings in the Bahamas stem from ‘behaviour problems’, finding that “the lack of skills” among workers is the main barrier to their hiring.
 
The report, ‘In Pursuit of Employable Skills: Understanding Employer’s Demands’, found that 62 per cent of the Bahamian companies it surveyed had either dismissed or seen employees resign in 2010-2011.
 
Noting that the ‘mean’, or average, was for companies to see five dismissals and three resignations, the IDB study added: “The most commonly cited reason for staff dismissals was ‘problems with behaviour’ (65 per cent).”
 
Mr Pinder told BCCEC members that the Bahamas had to “recognise reality and cause the proper technical development of our young people, particularly our young men”, to take place.
 
Apart from training, Mr Pinder said the solution also required economic growth. With 5,000 students graduating from high school every year, even assuming 50 per cent (probably a generous number) go on to tertiary education, the Bahamian workforce swells by at least 2,500-3,000 each summer.
 
Their numbers add to the existing 13.7 per cent unemployment rate, with 41,000 Bahamians either already jobless or not actively seeking work.
 
“They can only get jobs if the economy grows,” Mr Pinder said. “The economy has been stagnant for 10 years, and the population is growing every year.”
 
The Minister also called for improved mentorship of young Bahamians. He recalled a recent conversation with someone who had obtained an overseas posting with a bank, and her asking him how she could show the institution that she was “a woman of substance”.
 
“It tells you about the level of mentorship and bringing along young people in the country,” Mr Pinder said. “We need the buy-in of the entire community of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”
 
May 21, 2012
 
 
 

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

When we look out on the world... and back at The Bahamas, we agree with those who say that Bahamians -- despite hard times -- have much to be thankful for

The Bahamas has much to be thankful for



tribune242 editorial

Nassau, The Bahamas

Bahamians Bahamas

IN his Christmas message, published in The Tribune on Thursday, Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder pointed out that compared with other nations, the little Bahamas has much for which to pause and give thanks this Christmas. And so, although the dark clouds of crime threaten our islands, yet there are still many signs to encourage Bahamians to believe that there is reason to hope for a brighter future.

The Archbishop shared with our readers the contents of an e-mail, which had been sent to him. It said: "If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

"If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million in the world.



"If you can attend church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

"If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

"If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer the healing touch.

"If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all."

When seen in this light Bahamians have much to be thankful for. Our economy started to drag after the Lehman Brothers bank crash at the end of 2008. The seismic shock was felt worldwide. It was like a bowling alley gone wild, with one international house after another displaying warning flags until eventually Wall Street was hit and took a tumble. The world banking system is so interwoven that when one stumbled, the others came tumbling after. Not only was the world in financial trouble, but it was also in political turmoil with the Middle East on fire and headed for destruction.

Analysts blamed the financial crash on the "greed, ambition and reckless risk-taking that is now carrying the economy into the worst recession for a century."

The Bahamas was not immune. It too felt the shock waves. Greece was in meltdown, unemployment was out of control with the civil service being cut to bring spending into line. Around the world the first people to feel the belt tightening were the civil servants whose jobs disappeared almost overnight.

The civil service is the first place that governments look to cut costs when their treasuries are under pressure.

Here in the Bahamas, the Prime Minister would have been justified in trimming what for years has been recognised as a bloated and inefficient civil service. He did not.

As Prime Minister Ingraham said today in his Christmas message to the nation -- which will be broadcast by ZNS TV and radio at 8 o'clock tonight -- through prudent planning his government was able to "preserve jobs in the public service and to avoid salary cuts or lay-offs within the public sector as experienced in many developed and developing countries."

This is not to minimise the suffering of many Bahamians during this crisis. Many have lost their jobs, their homes, and really don't know where the next penny is coming from, but when one compares Bahamians' problems with the suffering of the world, the majority of our people have much for which to be thankful.

Government has been criticised for not investing in people during this lean period. However, not only is government investing in people by providing infrastructural jobs, but through these jobs it has enabled many workmen to maintain their dignity by enabling them to earn enough to support themselves and their families.

Government has been criticised for borrowing funds for roadworks. In the end, however, it will be money well spent -- not only will citizens see where their tax dollars have gone, but the infrastructure will have been so improved that it will raise the Bahamian's standard of living and enhance our tourist product -- better roads, better quality and delivery of water and electrical supplies.

Nor has the government neglected the youth. It staff has encouraged the business community to take on young people for training. And many have done so.

Next year, Bahamians face an election. When we look out at the rest of the world -- rioting and killing in the streets to overthrow governments -- we should be grateful for our democratic system. Every five years - although there is a lot of manoeuvring and name calling before hand - Bahamians go to the polls and in an orderly fashion vote their governments in or out. Just look at the turmoil and backwardness of the Middle East whose people have never experienced free elections. Earlier this year after months of street demonstrations and violence, Tunisia's president ended a 23-year rule by fleeing to Saudi Arabia. Tunisia was followed by the ousting of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, again followed by a full scale civil war in Libya, that took out Mummar Gaddafi. That 42-year rule ended in Gaddafi's murder. And now the populace is beating at the doors of Syria's regime. A forest fire is sweeping across the Middle East echoing a people's cry against unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech, and assembly and other democratic freedoms -- all the freedoms that we take for granted in our society.

When we look out on the world, and back at the Bahamas, we agree with those who say that Bahamians -- despite hard times -- have much to be thankful for.

And it is on this note that we wish all of our readers a peaceful, and happy Christmas with family and friends, and hope that the New Year will be filled with many blessings.

We also thank our advertisers for their valued business and assure them that The Tribune will give them even better service in the New Year.

December 23, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Friday, March 18, 2011

We Bahamians are an ungrateful people

While the world suffers, Bahamians fiddle

tribune242 editorial




WE SWITCHED the television on. Saudi tanks were rolling into Bahrain to prevent that country's social unrest spilling over Saudi borders. Libyans were rushing in mad confusion to avoid tear gas hoses as the Arab League considered asking the UN to impose a no fly zone to stop Col. Muammar Gaddafi strafing his people from the air - a reporter described Libya's turmoil of cruelty as a "problem from hell." Egypt was still in confusion. In short the Middle East was on fire.

Suddenly, television cameras focused on Japan. There one saw a scene of absolute horror. Viewers were told that Japan had just suffered an 8.9 earthquake, the largest in its history, and the fifth largest recorded in this past century. Then as though an invisible giant had drawn in his breath, taking the ocean with it and leaving behind a denuded coastline, there was a powerful outward roar as a mountain of water rushed back across the land. Out of the earthquake, a giant tsunami had been born and in a twinkling of an eye an ancient town had disappeared from the face of the earth. Houses crumbled under its mighty weight, thousands of men, women and children disappeared before they had time to consider what they could do to save themselves.

What we were witnessing would affect the whole world and an already crippled international economy was pushed back just as it was starting to slowly move forward. As a result of the confusion in one section of the world every man, woman and child on the rest of the globe was caught up in the turmoil. If never before, that short sequence of events was proof that we are all one family caught up in each other's destiny on this one big ship called Mother Earth. As gas prices started to climb -- as a result of the Mid-East crisis --and goods, already too expensive, soared, one wondered if indeed Armageddon was near. At least that was what our maid thought.

"Oh, dear God," she moaned, "the world is in confusion!"

Suddenly she turned angry. "We Bahamians," she said, "are an ungrateful people. See how the world is suffering and we have the nerve to complain about a little inconvenience." Yes, when one compares Bahamians' problems against the suffering of other humans on the same planet, they are indeed "little inconveniences" and we should all hang our heads in shame for trying to make the mole hill into the mountain.

Here we have politicians busy trying to score brownie points against their opponents, not for the betterment of the body politic, but to gain a seat in parliament and to win an election.

While Japanese dug through rubble looking for loved ones, occasionally picking up an empty shoe and weeping for the loss of the human who once walked this Earth in it, Bahamians were squabbling over the sale of a telecommunications company that ill performed at the best of times and should have been put on the auction block a long time ago.

"Bahamians are just too selfish and too greedy, always with their hands out instead of trying to do the best they can with what they have until things get better!" she sniffed, with the toss of her head and the suck on the teeth. "They have gold by comparison and they don't appreciate it!"

While others suffer untold damage, some Bahamians are busy trying to organise their own "small Egypt" -- like the monkey wanting to follow fashion no matter how destructive that fashion.

Today Bahamians are busy trying to figure out how many FNM MPs would have to vote in the House against its government's sale of BTC to send the people back to the polls. As Mr Ingraham told them in today's Tribune, a majority vote against the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless would be a parliamentary show of no confidence in his government. He would then turn the government back to the people; there would be an early general election, and Bahamians could then vote in a new government. However, he pointed out, the sale of BTC was one of the planks in the FNM's platform, one on which the FNM had won the government.

However, with 24 FNM members in the House to the PLP's 17, Brad McCartney is the only likely FNM to break ranks. This will in no way put the FNM's government in jeopardy. However, Mr McCartney has kept everyone guessing about his final decision of whether it will be an "aye" or "nay" for the BTC vote. The fact that, although he attends House meetings, he has avoided party meetings for many weeks, gives a pretty good indication as to how his mind is set.

Anyway, instead of losing precious time over such matters, Bahamians should thank God that they have a job. It is now up to them to give it their best until they can start climbing the ladder upward again.

March 17, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Bahamian political directorate has chosen Haitians for their most favoured political prostitutes...

Time to stop prostituting Haitians
NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net



Haitians have been migrating to the Bahamas for centuries. For race-based reasons, it was a problem in the early 19th century. While the racial legacy formed itself in the post-colonial psyche of African and non-African Bahamians, the modern problem is driven by other issues, like erratic fear, selfish politics and lackluster leadership.

One day, hopefully, Bahamians will wake up and realise, as sure as a man cannot cheat death, no number of raids, repatriations or immigration policies will solve the problems we presently have.

The political directorate know this, but they have chosen Haitians for their most favoured political prostitutes: to use and abuse to stoke fears and hoodwink the masses.

The reality is, neither the Department of Immigration, the Defence Force nor the entire might of the state have the power to ease the plight of all people in despair.

For centuries, migration has been the answer to populations seeking a better life, according to Leonard Archer, former CARICOM Ambassador. This is the story of Europe, Asia, Africa, everywhere in the world. When people experience scarcity, drought, famine, hardship, or persecution in one area, they move to another.

"If you interview the Haitian people who are coming, a number of them have been deported two, three, four times. People are desperate. The reality is desperate people will always move and we can't afford to put a wall around the country," said Mr Archer.

"We have been deporting people to Haiti since the 1970s. Has it helped? Has it worked?" he asked. People should know: we have no ally in the Haitian government or the Haitian people where the immigration problem is concerned. In a country of 10 million, the hundreds of people who migrate to the Bahamas, whether legally or illegally, is not a problem on the minds of most.

Plus, Haiti, like Jamaica, relies on remittances from its Diaspora population. When countries realised that the side effect of the brain drain was a supply of cold hard cash from the Diaspora, suddenly the migration of nationals did not seem so bad. On the contrary, migration was encouraged and remittances became a primary source of foreign exchange.

In the Bahamas, we are banging our heads against the wall with our hysteria over the illegals. All the banging is just giving us a headache.

We desperately need a new approach to the so-called immigration problem and we need a new vision of Haiti.

We should never forget: when the African world needed a sign that its certain fate would not be decided by the interests of slave masters and colonial rulers, it was a group of disparate Africans on the island of Hispanola, with the backing of their ancestors and the divine spirits, who rose to the occasion. Empowered by a collective will, they planted the seed in the African consciousness that we are more than they say we are; we deserve more than what they want for us.

Two hundred years later, Haiti that gave us hope, appears to face a hopeless fate. All we see of its people is what seems to be their worst. The eyes of the world take an interest only when the story line is one of strife and scandal; when the images fit the narrative of poor, desolate, pagan and black. And in the minds of most Bahamians and many Haitians, the light that is Haiti has faded.

Experience tells us that in our darkest hours it often takes a light, whether shone by an external source or a spark in our own spirits, to help us overcome. In an Avatarish way that light speaks to us and says: 'I see you'.

In an African way that light says, ubuntu, 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. In the language of psychotherapy, the light says, 'tap into the greatness that lies within and live it'. And from our queen mothers it says, 'I love you'.

Africans across the globe need to care enough to be more informed. Bahamians need to rise above the malcontent, so our people and the entire world knows, Haiti is more and Haiti deserves more.

It is more than what the international media depicts. It is more than the actions of its political directorate. It is more than the folly that befalls it, and it is more than what our eyes see. In this season of great frustration, Haiti needs neither our disdain or pity, nor our charity; it needs our great expectations, and with our collective consciousness, we will call out its greatness. Haiti has much work to do, but I wonder if we will start to play our part from where we stand. Certainly, in the history of our relationship with Haiti, the Bahamas has missed countless opportunities. That is largely because of our singular focus on immigration.

If we date the start of diplomatic relations to 1971, when the Bahamas signed the first of three bilateral treaties, then we can claim the 40-year prize of missed opportunities in building a meaningful relationship.

With newly acquired rights of self governance, and a dispatch from the UK's Foreign Common Law Office giving it limited authority to conduct external affairs, the Bahamian government negotiated its first bilateral agreement in 1971. Haiti was the foreign partner.

That agreement envisaged a broad range of relationships, including commercial trade and technical co-operation, education exchanges and cultural linkages - understandably so, because for two decades prior, Haitian labour had been growing in importance in the Bahamas. From the 1950s, Bahamians were working to establish modern commercial farming and Haitians provided a source of cheap agricultural labour from then. Mr Archer said Haitian farm workers employed in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, in the late 1950s, were not "perceived as a threat".

Owens-Illinois, an American company operating in Abaco, was known to recruit Haitian labour in the late 1960s, recalls Joshua Sears, director general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Owens-Illinois originally had a timber cutting license to operate in the Bahamas, but when cutting rights were transferred from Abaco to Andros, the company switched its operations and opened a 20,000 acre sugar cane estate in Marsh Harbour. Suffice to say, the population of Abaco and the available supply of Bahamian labour at the time would have given rise to a demand for Haitian workers.

Unfortunately, whatever promise the 1971 agreement may have embodied was short lived because it was "never really actualised", according to Mr Sears.

This is evidenced in the subsequent agreements - 1985 and 1995 - for which immigration was the central issue.

To this day, the almost singular focus of our foreign interest in Haiti is immigration. Dr Eugene Newry, former Bahamas ambassador to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, said in the modern world, countries establish diplomatic ties to look after economic interests. He said the Bahamas is the anomaly. Its interest in Haiti is solely to keep the Haitians out. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture might disagree, pointing to regional security initiatives and mediation efforts in Haiti in which the Bahamas has played central roles, or recent exploratory projects. But as valid as those efforts are, anyone would be hard pressed to contradict Dr Newry's overall assessment.

What makes our efforts so laughable is that given our efforts over 60 plus years, the solution to the immigration problem remains elusive.

This is so, notwithstanding the notoriously draconian efforts of the much loved Progressive Liberal Party Minister of Immigration Lofters Roker, whose administration was said to raid schools, churches and even hospitals to round up "illegals".

History has shown us we are inextricably linked to Haiti. Today is no different. Waves of immigrants are seen any time public confidence in Haiti wanes, during economic crises, at the mere threat of political instability, and at times of natural disaster, to which Haiti is no stranger. So unless the Bahamas has control over Haitian politics, the Haitian economy, and acts of God, things will not be looking up anytime soon.

Short of Haiti being restored as the light of the world, and probably even after, migration will be a Haitian reality, and the Bahamas, less than 200 miles off the coast, will suffer the consequences.

All is not lost, for there is a solution to the problem. It requires less money, less resources and fewer headaches, but it is infinitely more difficult than anything we have ever tried before.

A new approach to the Haitian problem is not incongruent with a clear understanding of the Bahamas' national interests. Illegal immigration strains national resources; Bahamian sovereignty is a national imperative, as is the security of our people. These are the interests that motivate Bahamians to call on the government time and time again to crack down on the immigration problem.

But in the interest of national development, and to play our part in history, someone needs to start being honest with our people and stop paying the pimps to prostitute the Haitians. There is a better way. The Bahamas has unexplored and underdeveloped interests in Haiti.

Let's look at our economic interests and the question of labour, because if we are honest, we would acknowledge that Bahamian and Haitian interests are aligned in many ways.

Economic migrants flock to the Bahamas year after year, not political refugees. That means Haitian people look to the Bahamas like we look to the United States - as a land of opportunity. For Haitians, there is a lucrative labour market in the Bahamas and their skills are in high demand. If there was no reason for optimism and they did not find employment in the Bahamas, they would not come.

Yes, unemployment in the Bahamas is high. The government has a responsibility to create jobs and to stimulate the economy, and the private sector has an interest in creating jobs where there are lucrative business opportunities.

Most Haitian labourers are employed by the private sector. For better or worse, Bahamian businesses are empowered by the law to employ foreign labour. Just look at the financial and tourism sectors, although they are not necessarily models to emulate.

In fact, the employment of foreign labour in these sectors is not scrutinised nearly enough. While Bahamians have their eyes on Haitians, predominantly white foreigners in finance and tourism are holding a virtual monopoly on well paying jobs that would otherwise give Bahamians an opportunity to create wealth and better the nation. Foreigners in these sectors gain employment on a so-called temporary basis, with a provision to train Bahamians, but in most cases they never leave and they don't truly empower Bahamians. They find it easy to get naturalised, and permanently secure the senior job ranks for Bahamians like themselves. This system proves that Bahamians do not have an entitlement to employment although many believe they do. Perhaps we should, because this is our country. But perhaps not, because we live in a global village. That argument is another debate altogether.

For now, clear eyes would see, Haitian labour is not the antithesis to Bahamian unemployment. That is our own problem. Haitians are simply the most favoured scapegoat. It is like a scorned wife blaming a prostitute for her husband's infidelity.

If we were to round up every Bahamian who has at one point engaged in the practice of employing Haitian nationals, they would probably outnumber the Haitians themselves.

If Bahamians were genuine about wanting to exorcise Haitian people, that would require draconian measures like strict penalties for Bahamians hiring undocumented workers. The sacrifice would be a culture where people would spy on neighbours and employees would spy on their employers.

Let us stop kidding ourselves. Most of the nationalist outcry is just rhetoric. It does not reflect the desires of the private sector, the practice of our people, and it does not reflect our true economic interests. The government can vouch for that. The trade in foreign labour in the Bahamas is a lucrative business. The government's coffers are kept fat by the millions paid annually for work permits.

Sixty years ago, pioneers in the agriculture sector knew we could not thrive without foreign labour. There was a reason why. The Bahamas has 326,000 acres of arable land. According to Dr Newry, it would require two workers per acre to fully exploit this resource commercially. That translates to every single Bahamian in the country needing to take an interest in agriculture, supplemented by an abnormally high birthrate, and steroid aided child development.

Our opposition to Haitian labour is simply coming from our hurt pride. The notion that we might need Haitian labour is not an indictment on Bahamian labour. It is just a reality. People who accept this do not fear or scorn the idea of an organised temporary worker programme like the South Florida work scheme Bahamians participated in during the 1950s.

For people like Mr Archer, who does not agree with talk about the massive farming potential of the Bahamas because of our "poor soil quality" and questionable water supply, there are economic interests for the Bahamas in Haiti itself. "Let us be practical. If there is going to be a farming industry in the Bahamas it has to be driven by private capital and private enterprise. If the government has to engineer it then it will be a make-work scheme rather than an agriculture scheme. The reason we don't have a farming industry is those persons who tried it didn't succeed. We don't have the natural kind of conditions for a successful farming industry," said Mr Archer.

There are many who would disagree, pointing to success stories of the past and present, like the famous story of Edison Key. But a fair question would be, what about longevity?

Mr Archer does not deny some success. After all, the seaside mango farm of the Maillis family is evidence of such. But he argues, if the farming potential were really so abundant, the private sector would have already found a way to exploit it fully. So here is another notion to consider. Haitian mangos sell for 99 cents or less in New York City. The same mango costs $2.50 - $3 locally, according to Mr Archer. His point: Bahamians could invest in Haiti, as farming there is a lucrative business proposition. It would have consumer benefits at home and produce employment benefits for the distribution and marketing of farmed goods. Again, it is our hurt pride that makes us scorn the idea. Many Bahamians would surely say, we need to invest in our people. We have done enough for Haiti.

"You have to make up your mind what you want. If by investing in Haiti you would create the conditions where they wouldn't need to come, surely that is a useful solution. There are people who just want the problem to disappear. Unfortunately problems do not just disappear," said Mr Archer. He agrees that a work programme is one way, but it is not enough, he said.

"We have to ensure there is economic growth in Haiti. When (Jean-Bertrand) Aristide became president a number of Haitians left the Bahamas and went back to Haiti because they thought things would get better.

"The source of the problem is Haiti itself not Haitians in the Bahamas," said Mr Archer.

February 03, 2011

tribune242

Monday, January 24, 2011

Crime is rooted like a canker in today’s so-called modern Bahamas

Crime & Social Hypocrisy
The Bahama Journal Editorial


Something insidious has been going on for some time now; with that ‘insidious’ thing being that evolution of a state of mind where so very many Bahamians are wont to complain about crime; all the while turning a blind eye to the kinds of crimes most of them routinely commit and which they routinely get away with.

Here we reference the extent to which stealing by reason of employment; other artful appropriation of things belonging to others and other such slick maneuvers that end with the same result.

And so, today the fact remains that, we now live in a land where while paradox and irony routinely cavort; social hypocrisy abounds.

Here we need only cite some of those ribald instances where thieves would sit around stolen tables and where they would feast on stolen food – and as they sometimes do, these fine people would chat amiably –and sometimes with the greatest of alarm – about the extent to which crime was on the rise in today’s Bahamas.

This kind of scene is both appalling and revelatory – appalling because these types are clearly oblivious to the extent to which their slick crimes against property is itself one of the more common expressions underlying the fact that crime is rooted like a canker in today’s so-called modern Bahamas.

And for sure, not only is crime deeply rooted; there is also a sense we are getting that crimes such as those that involve pilferage and other instances of what we would call exemplars of the ‘soft’ rip-off.

Here we find those instances where employees routinely steal time owed their employers; where these same employees appropriate office property, use them for their own purposes and who do so without permission.

These are all examples of theft done the slick way.

Evidently, these thieves could care less when they learn that, their honest neighbors, family and friends are the ones who will ultimately pay the price for crimes they do not commit.

Here we might cite some of what former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce President Dionisio D'Aguilar has already said about these kinds of criminals and the damage they get away with. Here he notes that, internal theft causes Bahamian businesses mind-boggling losses every year.

Mr. D'Aguilar also said that shrinkage, which includes many items, including spoiled goods, could cost this country's food-stores a combined $15 million a year.

We also understand that, Abaco Markets' president Gavin Watchorn has a similar tale of woe concerning the extent to which his firm has been victimized by the criminals in their Company’s employ.

Watchorn has also been reported as having said that, the level of stealing inflicted on his food-stores - both by staff and customers- had increased by 100 per cent.

This is absolutely disgraceful.

Yet again, we note that, in the end it is the Bahamian consumer who pays for these losses as theft is factored into the price of the goods.

Over the weekend, criminals did what they usually do – they went about their businesses that involve ripping other people off; raping and abusing some others and for sure, either maiming or killing some others.

Sadly, this is par for the course in today’s crime-ridden and sin-sickened Bahamas.

It is precisely this kind of society that has produced the kind of people who struck the Carnival this past weekend.

Here we cite the caper that involved the slickly successful theft of some motor-cycles used at the Carnival site in Oakes Field.

As we have read, “…Under the cover of darkness early last Saturday morning, thieves cut open a three-foot hole in the carnival’s perimeter fence, broke the lock of a trailer and made off with three motorcycles used to perform inside the “Globe of Death”.

“Becky Hitchcock, general manger of the carnival, said a show dog kept within the same trailer as the motorcycles alerted staff to the robbery. However, by the time the staff was alerted, the thieves were gone…”

And so, even as we note that the thieves were gone, note also that the crooks took with them two red and white 100cc Honda motorcycles and one red and white 70cc Honda motorcycle.

While we are today hopeful that the police will get to the bottom of this heist; we are not going to hold our breath as we wait.

But for sure, even as we might cite example after example of the kind of crimes and abuses Bahamians routinely inflict on each other, we do no such thing.

Instead, we call upon each and every Bahamian parent and all others who care for children to teach and show them how they should love and respect all other people; thus putting them on that path that would prevent them from becoming law-breakers, however artful.

January 24, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Bahamas: Bahamians want, need and crave to live in a land where they are more than spectators looking in on the doings of those who are really large and in charge...

Dreamers, Visionaries and Workers
The Bahama Journal Editorial


The Bahamian people are not really asking for that much.

In the ultimate analysis, then, our people want systems that work; they want institutions that are up to the challenge of delivering the goods – and clearly they want to live in safe and secure communities.

In truth, the Bahamian people are not asking for too much.

But just as surely, little of this can or will be achieved if Bahamians continue to repose so little confidence in themselves and people who look like them.

This mindset must be purged sooner rather than later; this because there is no one better situated than the Bahamian for understanding his own hurts, his own delinquencies and thereafter his own set of responsibilities to the self and others.

Here we are ever optimistic that, a time will come when Bahamians in greater numbers will realize that, while some of them are called to lead in the political realm; some others in the Church and some others in business and the unions, are also so called.

In addition, there are some others – the dreamers, visionaries and workers – who also have their full parts to play in the unfolding drama that is nation-building in today’s nascent Bahamas.

That Bahamas - like a host of other small island developing states – is a work in progress.

Clearly, then, no one should pretend surprise when some things go awry; when mistakes are made and when those who lead stray far from some of their own windy rhetoric.

But for sure, The Bahamas does have a lot that it could be justly proud of; here whether the reference is made to some of the changes that have taken place in the political realm or for that matter in the world of business.

On occasion, we have sought to make and underscore our fervent belief that, Bahamians should be given a chance to come on over and build up their nation and its institutions; inclusive of those that have to do with the provision of vitally needed public goods such as health, safety and education.

And yet again, we have also sought to make the point that there is an urgent need for those who make the law and those who would carry out the law to recognize that Bahamians want, need and crave to live in a land where they are more than spectators looking in on the doings of those who are really large and in charge.

But for sure, even as we hold to these views, we are today absolutely convinced that there remains a large role for so-called foreigners to make in the orderly growth and development of these islands, rocks and cays.

Evidently, therefore, there is a large role that could and should be played by people like Sarkis Izmirlian who resides in Lyford Cay and who on more occasions that one suggested that, these islands have become home to him.

In support of this, Izmirlian not only continues to dream big dreams about the future viability of this nation’s economy, but has sought -with the Bahama Mar venture- to see to it that our beloved country and its people remains on the cutting edge of tourism in this region.

As we have already noted, this is one of the reasons for choosing him to be our Person of the Year.

This man has lived in the Bahamas for 20 years and considers the archipelago his home.

We also so believe.

When asked elsewhere in media for some explanation behind his vision for Cable Beach, Izmirlian is said to have noted that, that even after protracted delays, giving up on the Baha Mar project was never an option.

As he is to be quoted: "It's very simple, my dedication comes from my belief in the project. And so as the world moves forward with trepidation, we in The Bahamas move forward with confidence to create a project that will change the lives of Bahamians forever. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move our tourism sector forward."

If things go according to plan, the Bahamian people writ large will be able to serve, earn and thereby find the resources necessary to help them fortify family life; nurture their communities; therefore helping to shore up and build the
Bahamian Nation.

Here –and for sure - many hands will make a burden light.

As we know so very well, people succeed when they work to see to it that other people succeed in realizing their visions or dreams.

And so, it is with our people as they struggle with the vicissitudes that come whenever seven years of drought set in.

Happily, while some despair, some others dare dream of the coming of a better day – and thereafter work to make it happen.

January 19, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial