Hubert Ingraham’s Bahamian vision
Front Porch
By Simon
Nassau, The Bahamas
Those who want to understand the full scope of Hubert Ingraham’s vision of a modern Bahamas, must look not only at what is happening in New Providence but also beyond. A good place to start is Abaco, the present-day, and circa 1947 to approximately 1964, the early years of the future Bahamian prime minister.
During his nearly 35 years as an MP, the member for North Abaco has had a singular vision for the development of all of Abaco. It is a uniquely Bahamian vision moulded by the geography of the largest archipelago in the Caribbean, with territory stretching approximately the same distance as from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago.
Among Mr. Ingraham’s signature accomplishments is his transformation of the historic challenge of developing the far-flung Bahamas archipelago with its complex of developmental challenges, into a strategic strength. In so doing, he is making The Bahamas a model for small-island state development.
To do so, he realized that he had to act on multiple fronts, with limited resources, prioritizing initiatives and capital projects while leveraging the strategic assets of our history, geography and fiscal capacity to diversify the economy and provide greater long-term sustainability and social protections in a modern liberal state.
In this ambition, Abaco has been a grand experiment in small-island development. It has been a work in progress for many years, now reaching critical mass.
ROOTS
The prime minister’s vision has its roots in his Abaco boyhood, which he has helped to transform from the Abaco of his youth. What he has done in the third largest island in the archipelago is a part of his long-term strategic plan for developing all of the major islands in our chain.
He has sought to ensure that each major island group, inclusive of various cays, has the critical infrastructure to become platforms for sustained development and a diversity of industries. Added to this vision was the introduction of local government so that Family Island residents have more say in running their own affairs and increased participation in decision-making on various local matters.
Mr. Ingraham’s model of integral development includes public investment in power generation, water, roads, docks, ports, hospitals and clinics, schools et al., which will help to sustain population growth by attracting domestic as well as foreign direct investment and enticing new residents including Bahamian and non-Bahamian second home owners.
Those in Nassau who have enjoyed cable television and internet service since the inception of Cable Bahamas do not truly appreciate what cable service, which Mr. Ingraham’s government introduced, means to Family Islanders.
Today, the owners of a bone-fishing lodge or charter boat service in Acklins or Andros may now advertise and have guests book online enabling them to better sustain their small businesses. They understand Mr. Ingraham’s vision better than the critic pontificating on the prime minister’s supposed “lack of vision” from the ease of both an arm chair and ready access to the internet.
The observation of former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur after visiting Abaco is instructive. Mr. Arthur, who knows well the challenge of developing a single island state, was impressed by the scale of development in Abaco alone.
Within two years of Mr. Ingraham becoming Prime Minister, Cooper’s Town had a major clinic. The pace of development in Abaco has accelerated ever since, continuing to gather pace with an impressive array of public investments similar to the infrastructural works in New Providence.
Mr. Ingraham’s delight in the Family Islands, and his enthusiasm for fishing, have made him an ardent environmentalist. In just 10 years he doubled the size of the national park system. He appreciates the need to balance development and conservation, one of several reasons he was appalled by the Great Mayaguana Land Giveaway by the former government.
Hubert Ingraham is a pragmatist, technocratic, not given to rhetorical flights of fancy. This has been a strength, as he has been typically careful to ensure that his rhetoric does not outstrip his ability to deliver on his promises.
U.S. President Richard Nixon famously observed that politicians campaign in poetry, but must govern in prose. The problem with one former Prime Minister is that he campaigns and governs in rhetorical flourishes rarely getting down to the prose and hard business of government. The difference between prose and poetry eludes another wannabe prime minister.
RHETORIC
The downside for Mr. Ingraham is that more technocratic prose often lacks poetic flourish. This is why some suggest that he lacks vision as they prefer the frenzied rhetoric of a church revival. But those who mistake performance art for substantive vision in both religion and politics typically fail to appreciate the breadth of the Prime Minister’s vision.
It is not only those who desire fanciful and syrupy rhetoric who fail to appreciate the scope of the Prime Minister’s ambition to modernize The Bahamas.
There are also the inveterate Ingraham-haters with personal grudges who cannot separate their personal feelings from the Prime Minister’s public performance, and political opponents who have a reason for their denials of his accomplishments. Then there are the intellectually slothful who revel in a “pox on both houses” mentality with regards to political analysis.
As the College of The Bahamas moves to university status, it may bolster its research efforts with more in-depth political analysis. One project may be an analysis of the Ingraham legacy. As Mr. Ingraham will leave a wide body of documents, public statements and accomplishments, he will prove a fascinating study in political leadership in The Bahamas in the closing decades of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st.
One may disagree with Mr. Ingraham’s style of governance and/or his positions on various issues. But to deny that he has a vision is akin to those conspiracy theorists and loons who still believe that Barack Obama is not an American citizen. Some will never be convinced despite the overwhelming evidence staring them in the face.
Nov 22, 2011
