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

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.”

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The Bahamas Prime Minister Philip 'Brave' Davis brings focus on Illegal migration and gun trafficking to meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris

The United States reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening partnerships with The Bahamas, and the nations and peoples of The Caribbean

As Chairman of CARICOM, the Bahamian Prime Minister believes it is important for the United States and other partners in the hemisphere to support Haitian-led efforts to stabilize that country and find a path forward out of crisis

Washington, DC - January 17, 2023 – Prime Minister Philip 'Brave' Davis met earlier today with US Vice President Kamala Harris at The White House to discuss a number of issues facing The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean region.

The United States reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening partnerships with The Bahamas, and the nations and the people of The Caribbean.

In discussing items relating to our bilateral relationship, the Prime Minister and the Vice President emphasized the importance of both strengthening efforts to combat illegal maritime migration and reducing the flow of guns illegally entering The Bahamas from the United States.

The Prime Minister also raised the importance of reinstating pre-clearance facilities in Grand Bahama, a critical step to support the island’s economic recovery.

The discussion widened to cover a number of regional issues, including food and energy security, and efforts to combat climate change.

As Chairman of CARICOM, the Prime Minister believes it is important for the United States and other partners in the hemisphere to support Haitian-led efforts to stabilize that country and find a path forward out of crisis.

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After 48 years of negro political leadership in The Bahamas

 By Dennis Dames

Happy 48th Independence Bahamas. What are we commemorating, though? After 48 years of Black majority rule in The Bahamas, we Bahamians don’t have much to be proud about as a nation and as a people.

We cannot be happy to be unemployed, broke and in mounting debt. We should not be satisfied about being taxed to the max. Nor should we be contented with the out of control government deficit spending and borrowing with nothing much to show for it through the decades.

After 48 years of negro political leadership in The Bahamas, we have produced a continuous and healthy flow of young murderers – from generation to generation.

Our young men, in particular, are being slaughtered in mass numbers – year after year. Many of our youths are engaged in the dangerous and deadly gang life at an early age, and graduate to prison very young – with long sentences. It’s nothing to cheer about.

After 48 years of Black governance in The Bahamas, we have produced a Black ruling class that cares only about their selective lovers, family and friends. I’m sure that the quiet revolution was not about that.

After 48 years of Black political misrule in The Bahamas, we are stuck in the mud with more of the same static, mediocre and inept leaders – whom we all know well; but we are ready to vote for them over and over again. What a bunch of mad jokers we are.

After 48 years of Black self-governance in The Bahamas, we are going ‘round in circles. Where is the national vision? Where is the national unity and resolve? Where are the new breed of Bahamian leaders who are indeed serious about local government and power-sharing for the betterment of the nation?

Or is the new breed of national leaders simply chips off the old corrupt political blocks who have become comfortable with alternating one-term governments? Five years for you, and five years for me – and together, we’ll continue the corrupt legacy of our Black predecessors.

Where are the Bahamian leaders who truly believe in a Bahamas for all Bahamians – and not just for the chosen friends, family and sweethearts? Where are the Bahamian leaders who subscribe to true Black majority rule in The Bahamas?

Which of the no-good evils will we vote for in the next general election? No matter who wins, we must demand better, and a more productive, all inclusive, and prosperous way ahead as a sovereign Black nation.

Yes, let’s move forward, upward and onward together as proud Bahamians.

Our offspring will love and appreciate us for it; and I’m sure that they will do the same for their children. Let’s build a Bahamas where national independence has a genuinely rich meaning, and is worthy of celebration and observance by all Bahamians.

IN A DEFAULT TO ZERO SUM OUTCOMES, THE CARIBBEAN WILL LOSE!

Meanwhile, unfashionable seaside resorts within driving distance of urban centres may make a surprise comeback in popularity.

Atlantic City, near New York and Philadelphia, and Margate, east of London, may once again outshine the foreign, sunnier beaches that long ago eclipsed them.

The staycation trend may fuel the growth of economies already doing relatively well after covid-19, while setting back those doing badly.

By Gilbert Morris

The decline in international travel is hardening (See graphs below). Understanding this is critical to the right conceptualisation of what’s actually happening. I warned that our plantation economic model premised on a “double wait”

a. For foreign investors

b. For American tourists

Then feverishly dividing the meagre scarps by political tribalism, is not an economic model.

All the 258 pandemics recorded in history have not only shifted entire economic and social paradigms, they also reveal and punish system and structural fragilities, above and beyond the excuse-making voices of politicians, used to gaslighting their populations.

It was only a few weeks ago, public officials were exclaiming that “booking were up”. But we knew that if we had no protocols on the ground equal to the best practices of the best performing countries in Covid 19, point to booking was a mere demented distraction from reality.

Now underlying structural shifts are taking place, the success and strengths of which will be directly proportional to our economic prospects, and opposite to our lazy presumption that US tourists will soon return; an astonishing precept for an island state economy.

Read about the shifts - forecasted 13 months ago here - in a recent article from the Economist:

From The Economist!

The trend towards domestic holidays will create economic winners and losers:

A.J.P. TAYLOR, a British 20th-century historian, once wistfully noted that the only agents of state a Victorian Briton was likely to meet were the postman and the local policeman. How times have changed.

The pandemic has brought with it sweeping restrictions on what the state allows individuals to do. One of the latest is that, from March 29th, modern-day Britons will be fined £5,000 ($6,900) if they go abroad without reasonable excuse—a rule that in effect makes a foreign holiday a criminal offence.

No wonder that this year’s big vacation trend is the “staycation”—to go on holiday in one’s own country. That will have an uneven economic impact around the world.

Britain is not the only country to impose draconian restrictions on cross-border travel. America still bans virtually all Europeans from entering the country. Quarantine rules also have a chilling effect on leisure travellers.

Hong Kong’s system—among the harshest in the world—locks inbound passengers in hotels for 21 days to try and stop holidaymakers importing new variants of the disease.

Such measures, understandably, put a squeeze on leisure travel. Those with just two or three weeks’ paid leave a year have better things to do with their time than wait around in a quarantine hotel.

At the start of the pandemic, both foreign and domestic travel were destroyed by border closures and travel restrictions. So low was demand during the first lockdown that Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by some reckonings, almost shut down completely.

Even so, since last spring domestic travel has been steadily recovering, particularly in America, where lockdown rules have been loosened faster than elsewhere. According to OAG, a data firm, capacity on American domestic flights at the end of March—measured by the number of seats on all aircraft—was 23% below where it was in January of last year; in Australia it was down by 19%.

Meanwhile, cross-border travel remains in the doldrums. In China, where domestic-passenger traffic has fully recovered, international travel is 93% below where it was before the pandemic (see chart).

With a third wave of covid-19 cases sweeping through continental Europe, Latin America and India, the trend this summer could well be towards more border restrictions, not fewer.

The trend for more holidays nearer home will affect tourist spots in different ways. Islands are likely to suffer in favour of places that can be reached by car.

Insular paradises such as Cozumel in Mexico, which used to earn 70% of its GDP from passing cruise ships, and the Bahamas, which formerly generated a similar share of its income from tourism, will take a long time to recover.

Meanwhile, unfashionable seaside resorts within driving distance of urban centres may make a surprise comeback in popularity. Atlantic City, near New York and Philadelphia, and Margate, east of London, may once again outshine the foreign, sunnier beaches that long ago eclipsed them.

The staycation trend may fuel the growth of economies already doing relatively well after covid-19, while setting back those doing badly.

This was the conclusion of a recent report by Bernstein, a research firm, which estimated the economic impact of 60% of outbound tourism spending being used at home instead. Their result: China, whose economy is already larger than before the pandemic began, would be the biggest winner. And the biggest losers? Greece, Iceland and Portugal, whose economies have already suffered dreadfully over the past year.

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MOODY’s DOWNGRADE OF BAHAMAS SETS A MOOD!

By Professor Gilbert Morris


I have condemned the ratings agencies as corrupt and unfair:

I won’t change tune now!

The rating agencies aided in the near destruction of the global financial system in 2008; and shew themselves interested in money rather than clear crisp accurate analysis of the credit statuses for which they claimed expertise.

I have argued that we should rate ourselves according to the same mathematical and statistical benchmarks, determining for ourselves our financial and economic health and our prospects.

Alas, in the Caribbean and Africa we have no credibility on this front:

When Moody’s or the S&P gives us a favourable rating, we treat it like its  front-room flowers.

When they call us frowsy, we say we know ourselves better with no evidence.

The fact is our situation is frowsy at the moment and has been so for sometime...that is because:

1. Our governments mistake government’s finances for the economy, and speak of the health of the fiscal state without due regard to the economic realities; particularly the ‘misery index’.
2. We have failed to innovate away from our one-legged plantation economic model, which requires hardly even a pulse to fashion or manage and is susceptible to even mild exogenous shocks, toward 21st century decentralised systems.
3. We seem clueless about the economics of the PEG, and are prioritising  constantly away from the PEG and so away from the more efficient means of feeding the PEG - so the National Reserves - which is the ONLY means to broaden the capacity for economic growth. I emphasise: IT IS THE ONLY MEANS TO BROADEN THE CAPACITY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH!
4. Our government’s focus has been constantly lusting after an even larger share of GDP through further regressive taxation; despite failing to collect taxes currently on the books!
5. We have failed to innovate toward a system in which investing in and through Bahamians becomes a driver of economic expansion.
6. Our government systems are sclerotic and nations that arose from nothing 20-years AFTER our independence, surpassed us 20 years ago from nothing to world leaders; as we make the same excuses we made 40 years ago.

I am on reactors on January 20th 2020, here in in other spaces Zoom Conference and the like, in urging government to borrow large...because the crisis would extend beyond 2020.

We did not follow that proscription!

At the moment, the Bahamas are at a precipice...and whilst Dorian and Covid 19 have driven economic prospects to some degree, our current situation arises from our own failures to have been proper stewards of the largess of these islands.

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Wake-up My Bahamian People!

The Bahamas: A Perfect Financial Storm Brewing in Tourism Paradise

By Norman Trabulsy Jr.

The Bahamas is entering a period for which I see a Perfect Storm gathering, and this is unfortunate. A Perfect Storm comes about when a number of factors synergize to exacerbate what would otherwise be a mildly disruptive event. Although a number of other supporting realities strongly buttress my view, for the sake of brevity I will base my analysis and prediction of a Perfect Storm on the following.

Implementation of a value-added tax (VAT)

It does not take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out who owes hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bahamian government in uncollected property taxes. Value-added tax is being implemented because the government has failed in its job and been unable, or unwilling, to collect even half of the taxes it is owed. The VAT is a consumer-based and regressive tax, meaning that it hits the poorest the hardest.

The estimated revenue from the VAT assumes that the economy will remain roughly at its current level. I strongly suggest that the Bahamian economy will take a very hard hit for several years due to the high cost of VAT compliance, higher prices, fraud, and the overestimate of the tax revenues to be collected, causing the government to further tighten its belt, all contributing to a dangerous shrinking of the economy. This: before the risk of any hiccup in the tourism sector, which accounts for 80 percent of The Bahamas’ gross domestic product (GDP). It is rather naive to suggest that the tourism sector is immune to rising prices, when survey after survey show that the No. 1 complaint of tourists is high prices. Sun, sea and sand have a value, but there is a limit, and we are pushing it.

Legalization and proliferation of gambling web shops

In The Bahamas, a social epidemic of gambling appears to be a symptom of the larger desperation of being unable to make a decent living and provide for one’s family by holding an average job. But more on that later. I predict that the net effect of a proliferation gambling web shops will be a continued drain on the real economy and an increasing transfer of monies into the hands of web shop owners. The health of an economy is based on the amount of money that freely circulates within it. As more money leaves the real economy via the web shops, the net result is unarguable: a rapid and decisive transfer of wealth into the pockets of those who produce nothing.

A software designer for some of the web shops told me that, for every winner, there are 8,000 losers. Ponder these odds for a moment. I live on a small family island, and I have paid attention to this matter for nearly a decade. I cannot count the times Bahamians who do not gamble have said to me, “These web shops are going to take this country down.” Perhaps they say this because, like me, they have seen the dashed hopes, the unfinished houses, the children whose lunch moneys were squandered by their parents’ spinning, and the money leaving this small island on a weekly basis that could have gone to so many worthy causes and needs. The language should be more honest: gambling is not an industry, it is a Ponzi scheme, and it should be called what it is.

Downgrading of the credit worthiness of The Bahamas by Moody’s

Moody’s recently downgraded the credit worthiness of the Bahamas due to the unlikely probability that it will reduce its 50 percent debt-to-GDP ratio. We are unlikely to do this because for the past 10 years our country has only grown by six percent, and we continue to borrow more money. Moody’s rightfully wonders where the government will find the money to pay off its increasing debt. The prospects are bleak. I liken this situation to the following conversation. A friend comes to me and says, “You owe me $500 today.” I ask, “Why is that?” He answers, “Because 50 years ago your grandfather borrowed $500 from my grandfather and he said you would pay me the $500 your grandfather owed him.” Who doesn’t think this is absurd? Yet, what do the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Free National Movement (FNM) do each year to the citizens of The Bahamas? How is this any less absurd than what our well-educated economists, politicians and lawyers are proposing to us today? When politicians take out these big loans, with interest, who winds up paying for them?

State of the global economy

Not enough honest people have spoken out about the implications of what the major players in the financial sector and government officials have been doing. Since the global financial crisis in 2008, the United States in particular, has pumped trillions of taxpayers dollars into the banks and financial institutions there and around the world, in an attempt to “save” the economy that was put in danger by, you guessed it, the banks and financial institutions. Soon the consequences of this policy will become yet more apparent in rising inflation, increasing inequality, and a greater impoverishment for most of humanity. Any prudent government would have, after assessing the crisis and its causes, broken up the largest of banks and nationalized those that had done the most harm to society.

The largest banks, financial institutions, and here in The Bahamas even the web shops, have completely captured our politicians and the political process. Consider the phrases: Too Big To Fail and Too Big to Jail. Justice has become lopsided and no longer applies to the rich and powerful. This is the reality today throughout the world, and it is contrary to any concept of democracy. The people of The Bahamas said “No” on the referendum regarding web shops. Yet, what did our Prime Minister do? Who do the politicians really work for? Does democracy exist in The Bahamas, or anywhere? Answer honestly. Now, what are you going to do about it?

Increasing poverty rate in The Bahamas

The realities about poverty in The Bahamas are probably worse than the government statistics suggest. For an indicator of the real state of our economy and the hurdles that must be overcome to change our course, speak to any social service worker. They will tell you that they are seeing an increasingly depressed, despondent and hopeless people who come for assistance. Yet the government is cutting back on social services to balance the budget, so that there will be even less resources to help the rising numbers of people who need them. The economic considerations are in themselves sufficient cause for concern, but it is also reasonable to expect that, as the poverty rate increases, the crime rate will increase, and public safety, the quality of life and tourism will decline.

Increasing emphasis on the “financial services industry”

The so-called financial services industry is the second largest contributor to the GDP of The Bahamas, after tourism. It is not an industry but a scheme to attract people who don’t want to pay taxes in their own countries and need a place to hide their money. The Bahamas levies no income tax, no corporate tax, no inheritance tax, no capital gains tax, and it seems that property taxes are very low and not collectable. The money to run the government comes, for the most part, from the working people of The Bahamas. The rich pay a minuscule percentage of their incomes to live in paradise: sort of like going to Disney World for free.

If the tax policies here in The Bahamas actually created an incentive for investment, an improvement in the job market, and a healthy economy, wouldn’t there be better results after all these decades of such policies? Instead, our politicians, lawyers, bankers, the financial services representatives, all of them, have become beholden to big money. Who, in their right mind, can possibly say that things here and around the world are going well and that the future looks bright for most of the world’s people? The “financial services industry” produces little to improve the lives of ordinary people. There is no reason to give the rich a free ride in this country; the benefits of living here are too great to be given away for free. I say: make them pay their fair share. The Bahamian people need to stand up and call for these changes, because not one person in the government has the guts to tell it like it is.

Aspiration to join free-trade organizations

Generally speaking, free trade in today’s world is a way for transnational companies to subvert a county’s legal system and destroy its sovereignty. The result of almost every modern free-trade agreement has been the destruction of a country’s agricultural and manufacturing base and its replacement by highly subsidized foreign corporate ownership, gutting of environmental laws and crushing of organized labor. Any complaints and lawsuits must now be handled by an extra-judicial group of corporate lawyers with loyalties to big business. This idea of The Bahamas joining these free-trade agreements will only further the interests of those businessmen, lawyers and politicians who are pushing them. They will not help the tourist economy or manufacturing economy of The Bahamas or create more and better jobs for Bahamians. These issues must be known to the Bahamian people before our politicians sell this country out from under our feet.

Lack of leadership

Anyone old enough to remember, or who has gone to YouTube to hear, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. understands that we have no statesmen in this world today. Do not be duped by the words of the first African-American US President. He is not even worthy to stand in the shadows of MLK Jr. Listen to the words of our own politicians in The Bahamas: mere words, poisonous words, for they are meant to trick us into believing that they have our interests in mind. Nowhere in the world is there a leader with the integrity, honesty, courage and fortitude required to govern. Each and every one is beholden to the moneyed interests in the world today. I have heard the expression, “We get the government we deserve.” If this is true, I am saddened by where we are as a people. If we can rise up, and create a better society, it is time to do so. Let us get rid of the charlatans, the spineless, the greedy, the dishonest and egotistical excuses for public servants that we now have. This isn’t about one political party or another. Wake up people! I believe we are staring a Perfect Storm in the face. It is up to us to do something for ourselves to avoid the impending crisis.

Editor’s Notes: Norman Trabulsy Jr. is an expecting father, restauranteur, sailor, captain, carpenter and naturalist living in The Bahamas. His writing generally focuses on environmental issues concerning tropical marine ecosystems and economics.

Photographs one, four and nine by Thomas Hawk; two, five and fourteen by Albyan Toniazzi; three and ten by Susan; seven and thirteen by Bruce Tuten; eleven and twelve by Shutter Runner; six by Jordon Cooper, and eight from the IMF archives.

Oct 13, 2014

News Junkie Post

Yuan Guisen, Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas on China-Bahamas relations

Onward together to a better future for China-Bahamas relations

By YUAN GUISEN

“Bosom friends make distance disappear,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping to the president of Trinidad and Tobago during his visit to Latin America and the Caribbean last year. In July, President Xi concluded a successful visit to Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba with fruitful results for further ties, a gesture of China’s sincerity and the high value China places on its relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.

During his visit, President Xi attended a China-Latin America and the Caribbean Summit and delivered a keynote speech titled Striving to build a hand-in-hand community of common destiny. His address announced China's proposals and measures for promoting China-Latin America cooperation. It proposed to build a Five-in-One new pattern of China-Latin America and the Caribbean relations: sincerely trust each other in politics; cooperate with each other for a win-win outcome in terms of economy and trade; learn from each other in people-to-people and cultural exchanges; closely cooperate with each other in international affairs; and promote each other in overall cooperation and bilateral relations, so as to forge a hand-in-hand community of common destiny.

China firmly believes that the world tide flows in its mighty power. The cooperation between China and Latin American countries and the Caribbean states serves the practical and long-term interests of both sides. China proposes to jointly build a new "1 + 3 + 6" cooperation framework:

• "1" means "one plan", referring to the establishment of the China-Latin American Countries and Caribbean States Cooperation Plan (2015-2019) with the aim of achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development.

• "3" means "three engines", referring to promoting the comprehensive development of China-Latin America practical cooperation with trade, investment and financial cooperation as the impetus, striving to promote China-Latin America trade to scale up to US$500 billion and the investment stock in Latin America up to $250 billion within 10 years and promote the expansion of local currency settlement and currency swap in bilateral trade.

• "6" means "six fields", referring to boosting China-Latin America industry connections with energy and resources, infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation, and information technologies as cooperation priorities.

State-to-state relations thrive when there is friendship between the peoples. And such friendship grows out of close interactions between the peoples.

Over the next five years, China will provide Latin American and Caribbean countries with 6,000 government scholarships, 6,000 training opportunities in China and 400 positions of in-house studying for master’s degrees.

China will also invite 1,000 political party leaders from Latin American and Caribbean countries to visit China and launch the Future Bridge training program for 1,000 Chinese and Latin American youth leaders in 2015. China proposes to set the year 2016 as China-Latin America Cultural Exchange Year.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1997,

China-Bahamas bilateral relations have remained on a track of steady development, with deepening cooperation in all fields. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Perry Christie reached an important consensus on furthering our ties during the meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last year. A mutual visa exemption agreement in effect since this February has vastly facilitated exchange between our two peoples. In early May, a Chinese medical team visited The Bahamas and performed free cataract surgeries on 101 Bahamian patients, whose sight was improved or recovered.

This year, three-dozen Bahamian officials have been invited to China for short-term training programs sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Nine excellent Bahamian students were granted Chinese government scholarships to study in China in the coming years.

There is an old saying in China, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What our bilateral relations have achieved up to today is the sum of numerous single steps made by our two governments and peoples.

Through the new measures and initiatives for developing relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, our bilateral relations will be injected with new momentum that will usher in a new era.

Six decades ago, leaders of China, India and Myanmar initiated the Five Principles, including mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

Sixty years on, China firmly observed and will observe the five principles of peaceful coexistence. China will firmly pursue peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening-up, which will create new opportunities and space for the development around the world.

In spite of the differences in geographical location, territorial area, per capital GDP and culture between our two nations, we have enormous potential for cooperation. The Bahamas has become an important partner of China in Caribbean region.

Since my assumption of office over a half year ago, I have experienced the friendship between our two peoples and the enthusiasm of Bahamians to develop relations with China.

The Chinese government would like to make every effort to enhance our ties in various spheres based on the Five Principles. We will seek to expand our common interests and ensure our two peoples benefit from the strengthening of our bilateral relations. We firmly believe that it’s a good time now for us to work together onward to a better future of our relations.

• Yuan Guisen, Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas

September 13, 2014

thenassauguardian

The Bahamas’ numbers on foreign trade are dismal

Annual Report Reveals Dip In Trade Numbers

Jones Bahamas:

The Department of Statistics has released the 2013 Annual Foreign Trade Statistics report and according to the numbers released, the country’s numbers on foreign trade are dismal.

The report that presents data on the volume and nature of trade between The Bahamas and its trading partners estimated that during the year 2013 the value of commodities imported into The Bahamas totaled nearly $3.4 billion resulting in an eight percent decrease below the 2012 total of $3.6 billion.

“The largest contributor to imports which totaled some $726 million was mineral fuels accounting for 21.6 per cent of the imports,” the report noted.

“This category was followed closely by machinery and transport equipment which accounted for nearly 20 per cent or $657 million. Other categories that contributed significantly to total imports were manufactured goods that included wood, metal, steel or other construction materials, textiles and articles of clothing. This category accounted for 13.7 per cent or $460 million.”

In terms of exports the largest contributor to this sector consisted mainly of chemicals that include polystyrene and other plastic materials which accounted for 67.3 per cent of total domestic exports.

This category was closely followed by food and live animals which accounted for 25.2 per cent and included in this category are crawfish, rum and salt.

“More significantly though, of these two categories, three commodities combined, expansible polystyrene valued at $174.7 million, other compounds containing a quinoline or isoquinolinering’ at $61.6 million and spiny lobster tail frozen at $84.4 million accounted for some 88 per cent of total domestic exports,” it added. “Other exports included, mineral fuels at $237.8 million and machinery and transport equipment $95.9 million.”

Countries that The Bahamas trades with virtually remained the same with The United States maintaining its position as The Bahamas’ number one partner.

Even though The Bahamas did a significant amount of trade with Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan and Canada, the US still represented 81.8 per cent of total imports and about 83.6 per cent of total exports.

Oil products imported from Trinidad and Tobago, valued at nearly $80 million, accounted for 90.9 per cent of total imports.

“Significantly, trade between The Bahamas and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries was minimal as the region represented only 2.6 per cent of total imports and less than one quarter of one per cent of total exports,” it continued. “Pharmaceutical products imported from Barbados were valued at $1.0 million accounted for 1.1 per cent of CARICOM imports.”

July 02, 2014

Jones Bahamas

The Bahamas does not need another tax!

VAT model a recipe for disaster?

VAT on top of customs duties ‘a dangerous proposition’

CANDIA DAMES
Managing Editor
candia@nasguard.com
Nassau, The Bahamas

Dissecting the 2014/2015 budget

The logical impact of the government’s new model for value-added tax (VAT) is that it would likely result in less consumer demand and therefore less spending, according to Professor Gilbert Morris, an economist, who chairs the Turks and Caicos Resort Owners Economic Council.

In response to strong opposition from the business community to the originally planned 15 percent VAT rate, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced in the House of Assembly last Wednesday that VAT will now be implemented at a rate of 7.5 percent on January 1, 2015 and customs duties will essentially remain unchanged.

The previous plan called for a lowering of customs duties and an implementation date of July 1, 2014.

According to the 2014/2015 budget, the government projects that it will collect more under the 7.5 percent model than it projected under the previous 15 percent model.

The government had projected to collect $200 million under its old VAT plan. It now says the 7.5 percent would result in a collection of $300 million.

While on the surface the 7.5 percent rate sounds more palatable than the 15 percent, the fact that there will now be very few exemptions and unchanged customs duties (at least in the near term) may not produce a more desirable outcome for businesses and consumers.

But it is a painful measure the government says makes more sense to bear than cataclysmic repercussions within two to three years in the absence of reforms.

Morris predicts the 7.5 percent on top of customs duties will lead to substantial burdens for consumers who must shoulder the weight of current costs along with the new tax.

“My understanding also is that mortgage arrears are very, very high and in that situation if you’re going to add 7.5 percent VAT you’re just piling another cost on top of things and what will happen, because as you know, businesses don’t pay taxes; they pass taxes on to the consumers.

“But the taxes won’t simply be the 7.5 percent. Whatever it costs businesses to comply with the tax, it would be more like 8.5 percent...all of that will be passed on to the consumer.

“Here’s what this does. Consumers may then, and this is a theoretical point, but the logical follow through is that consumers may consume less. The economy may shrink. Black markets may emerge.”

In his budget communication, the prime minister was non-committal on when customs duties will be lowered.

“Moving to a single rate of VAT, other than zero for exports, with very limited exemptions would enormously reduce the compliance costs of the private sector and the enforcement costs for the public sector,” he said.

“Based on the revenue performance of VAT early next year, the government may be in a position to consider tariff and excise reductions at the time of the 2015/2016 budget.

“More general tariff rebalancing, however, is still a requirement that will need to be implemented once The Bahamas concludes the ongoing WTO negotiations.”

But Morris told National Review the new model is simply not a welcomed proposition.

“Adding 7.5 percent to the consumer spending bill to me is a dangerous proposition because you’re just going to lump that, essentially with duties remaining unchanged,” he reiterated.

The 7.5 percent VAT will come as disposable income and savings for many Bahamians remain virtually non existent.

The following year, January 1, 2016, the government plans to introduce National Health Insurance, which is expected to be financed by way of a payroll tax. This will further stretch the incomes of many Bahamians.

As it relates to VAT, the government has not yet revealed what products or services would be exempted, but the prime minister stressed that these will be “limited”.

Christie said VAT exemptions are a costlier method of trying to help the poor, because more revenue is sacrificed to those who are not poor.

“Having the means to provide direct assistance to low-income families is thus a far more efficient mechanism than exempting necessities from VAT,” he said.

The government is introducing VAT in response to what it says is a critical need to act.

Christie announced that government debt at the end of 2013/2014 is projected at $5.1 billion, or 60 percent of GDP.

This is up from the projected 59.4 percent of GDP in last year’s budget.

At the end of 2013/2014, the GFS deficit is expected to stand at $462 million, or 5.4 percent of GDP.

That compares to the budget estimate of $443 million, or 5.1 percent of GDP.

To cover its projected shortfall in revenue in the coming fiscal period, the government plans to borrow $343 million, pushing to $1.5 billion its total borrowing since coming to office.

Public debt interest is draining around $260 million of the annual budget and would likely trend even higher if the government fails to act, Christie noted.

With our finances at such a critical point, few would doubt the need to act. Just what action the government ought to be taking is the point of contention.

Morris contends, “You can’t add costs to an economy which shrinks consumer demand and project higher income. That’s basic economics.

“It’s just not possible because you make no provision for the increased costs of goods for businesses that won’t be able to cope, for businesses that have to add costs. If someone has to hire an accountant and pay out a certain amount every month that’s one staff person gone.”

Economic reform

The prime minister said economic developments in 2013 have had very clear implications for the evolution of public finances this fiscal year.

In particular, the tepid rate of growth of our economy, along with weak consumer demand and imports, impacted recurrent revenues directly, he reported.

Christie also laid out a series of investment projects he said would have a beneficial impact on the Bahamian economy.

“We are diligently striving to strengthen the foundations of the economy to secure steady growth and private sector employment creation,” he said.

“In particular, we are continuing our push to develop new and expanding private sector investment projects across the breadth of the nation.”

But Morris sees no serious effort at transformative economic reform.

“I see all these governments across the Caribbean talking about tax reform and again, as I always say, it’s not that these people are any less smart than anybody else,” he said.

“They went to the same schools with the people whose countries are doing very well, but they are stuck in a system and have adopted the priorities and prerogatives of that system, and appear to advance all that that system permits.

“A first-year economic student would not come with a concept of tax reform except it was embedded in economic reform, and so when I see governments of the Caribbean talking about tax reform and merely adding taxes this is a rather sad occurrence, unfortunate occurrence.”

Morris added, “Economic reform would reveal where that $300 million is going, whether it’s waste, whether there are outstanding taxes that you ought to have collected that you didn’t collect, what the reasons are for not collecting them, and it may be well in excess of the $300 million that you are about to add in taxes to the economy.

“So, the government has the power to tax and the power to impose penalties when people don’t pay taxes, but governments are refusing even to look at their own incompetence, the inability to collect taxes, and instead of reviewing those policies through economic reform and taking responsibility for them, they’re coming out with additional new taxes to make up the shortfall.

“This produces a sense and a habit of aversion in people because eventually people will begin to say why should I pay any more taxes?”

“They’re just going to waste it anyway, so people lose faith. They begin to resent the taxing power of the government and they lose faith in the judicious decision making of the government to spend tax dollars wisely.”

Christie claimed, however, that the government is addressing “deficiencies” in its “grossly deficient” system of tax administration.

But these reforms have clearly done little to change the course of public finances.

Morris is far from impressed.

“We should have had a comprehensive economic review and comprehensive economic reform and that would have revealed where our true direction should be,” he said.

“The Bahamas does not need another tax.”

June 02, 2014

thenassauguardian

‘Significant’ Rise In Syphilis Cases in The Bahamas ...and other Caribbean countries

‘Significant’ Rise In Syphilis Cases

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas

 

THE number of syphilis cases among other reported instances of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) is on the rise in the Bahamas, said Ministry of Health officials yesterday.

According to Larry Ferguson, Coordinator of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) at the Ministry, the incidence of persons who contracted syphilis since 2010 is concerning, especially among younger people.

Prior to 2010 the older population, in some cases those up to 80 or 90-years-old, were the front runners in statistical data, Ms Ferguson said. However, as more young people contract syphilis, healthcare professionals believe there is substantial mixing in sexual activity between both age categories. 

Ms Ferguson was not able to give the specific numbers of increase in syphilis cases since 2010 but she insisted that there was no doubt that the rise was significant. She said the same has been found in other Caribbean countries.

She noted that the groups most at risk in recent times were men who have sex with men (MSM’s) along with the unemployed and underemployed.

“We know that for the longest time,” Ms Ferguson said, “we have been seeing chlamydia more than any other infection. But even though we are seeing a large number of chlamydia more than any other infection chlamydia cases are going down.

“However we are seeing an increase in syphilis. That is the one thing that we are concerned about. What we find for syphilis, not specifically 15 to 24 age range even though they are included, is prior to this time we always saw syphilis in our older population. Just now we are having syphilis in that population which is a concern and tells us that there is a mixing of the two.

“Unemployed persons who engage in transactional sex, they don’t call themselves commercial sex workers, they just have sex for things. That group is at high risk because quite often if you are going to have transactional sex the other person might not want to use a condom. ‘You want the money, I want the sex so you have to go on my terms’ and that’s one of the reasons why they are at high risk.

“Men who have sex with men, in many cases you have a group and they stay amongst themselves. So if one has syphilis and is intermingling it is more likely that it will spread. But with this group there are persons in the group who take the initiative to ensure that other group members get care and come for testing and necessary treatment.”

Ms Ferguson was speaking to reporters during the Ministry of Health’s first STD Awareness Symposium where scores of health professionals gathered under the theme “Talk, Test, Treat”.

With the rise in cases, the Ministry of Health runs ongoing awareness programmes to sensitise the public of the risk factors involved with unprotected sexual activity.

April 25, 2014

Tribune 242

Research shows domestic violence is a major driver of The Bahamas' crime problems

'Crime Driven By Domestic Violence'

NEW research shows domestic violence is a major driver of country’s crime problems, Social Service Minister Melanie Griffin revealed.

Addressing the premiere of the docudrama “Get Out” at the New Providence Community Centre over the weekend, Mrs Griffin said Bahamians cannot continue to “bury their heads in the sand” when it comes to reporting abuse within the home, as research undertaken by the Bahamas Crisis Centre shows children who are abused become desensitised to violence, and are more likely to carry weapons to school or social events.

“To put it bluntly, many of the young males paraded before the courts today charged with violent crimes and many of the young girls committed for uncontrollable behaviour were themselves likely victims of some type of abuse,” Mrs Griffin said.

“Over the years we have hurt ourselves by ignoring the problem, because studies show that unchecked domestic violence not only escalates, but manifests itself in many other different ways.

“The stark reality is that our crime problem will not be solved if we do not solve the problem of domestic violence.”

Violence within the family, particularly against women and children, has been an “open secret” in the Bahamas for many years, the minister said.

“All too often we have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the scars and screams of those who are regularly beaten and by doing so we have, in fact, hurt ourselves.”

She explained that Bahamian law defines domestic violence as physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or financial abuse committed by a person against a spouse, partner, child or any other person who is a member of the household or dependent.

For its part, she said, the government has passed legislation in the form of the Domestic Violence (Protection Orders) Act, 2007 providing legal protection for victims and counselling intervention for perpetrators.

In 2008, changes to the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act increased the sentence for the offence of rape to life imprisonment and criminalised voyeurism, sexual harassment and certain forms of pornography, she said.

“Last year the government established a National Task Force on Ending Gender-Based Violence and approved a State Accountability Study to end Violence against Women and Children funded by UNWomen. These two initiatives are designed to co-ordinate the work of all agencies in the fight against violence and to produce a national strategic plan to eliminate gender-based violence.

“The work of the National Child Protection Council and the Child Protection and Urban Renewal Units of the Department of Social Services, as well as our community and school-based programmes are also ongoing.

“We must all realise, however, that no government can do everything. We need the help of every man, woman, boy and girl to fight this onslaught. It is up to you to report the crime of domestic violence just as you would any other crime,” she said.

Mrs Griffin said the filming of the docudrama was a step in “the right direction” as it seeks to raise the level of awareness of the problem and discuss what can be done about it.

“The organisers are commended for bringing the project to fruition and we pray for its success. I thank you,” she said. “The importance of this film cannot be stressed enough as it brings focus to a most pervasive global and national problem, domestic violence.

“I applaud Mr Trevor Clarke, director, and Mrs Patrice Lockhart-Stubbs, executive producer, the production staff of Fujon Media Video and Photography and the actors involved in creating this docudrama for their outstanding work,” Mrs Griffin said.

January 21, 2014

Tribune 242

Why has banking in The Bahamas become such an ordeal and so dysfunctional?

Our dysfunctional banking system

Consider This...

PHILIP C. GALANIS
Nassau, The Bahamas

The key insight of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is misleadingly simple: if an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it. Most economic fallacies derive from the neglect of this simple insight, from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another. – Milton Friedman

Once upon a time, banking in The Bahamas was a relatively pleasant experience.  One could meet with a banker, solicit prudent financial advice and, with relative ease, obtain a loan to start or expand a business, purchase a home or a car and even address challenging financial matters facing the customer.  But that was a very long time ago and today, that has all changed.  Therefore this week, we would like to Consider This… why has banking in The Bahamas become such an ordeal and so dysfunctional?

What has changed?

Following the blacklisting of The Bahamas by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and with the passage of the compendium of financial services legislation in 2000, The Bahamas entered a new banking era, one that was characterized by over-regulation by the Central Bank and a private sector gestapo-like gatekeeper, nominally called the bank compliance officer.

This relatively new bank compliance officer that has recently emerged has rapidly joined the ranks of threats to the progressive development of our financial services sector by imposing extraordinary and often ridiculously rigid requirements on prospective customers, some of whom have had long-standing relationships with their banks.  Like many faceless bureaucrats, it appears as if some compliance officers take a delight in thwarting positive bank-customer relationships.  Instead of seeking to find a happy medium between due diligence and sensible regulation, the insistence on some of their non-negotiable requirements seems to be a zero-sum exercise.  Banking in The Bahamas could be an experience where everybody wins.  However, recent experiences have resulted instead in chasing business away from the jurisdiction.

Some examples

Many persons who bank in The Bahamas have experienced those institutions imposing stringent reporting requirements over the past few years.  Long-standing customers complain about banks requiring them to provide excessive information on a regular basis, even though much of the same information requested has previously been submitted.  Equally vexing is requiring customers to provide the same information if they wish to open new accounts at the same bank, notwithstanding that they have operated an account or various accounts for many years.  Some customers complain that they are treated like strangers at best and criminals at worse just to open new accounts.

This writer recalls a recent frustrating experience of opening a bank account to service a client which took more than a month, despite providing all the information that was requested by the compliance officer at the bank.  The client became so frustrated with the constantly changing additional requirements of the Compliance Department that the person gave up on The Bahamas and this writer had to open an account in a major New York bank in order to satisfy the client’s needs.  It took exactly one week to complete the account opening procedures in New York, the same procedures that took over a month in The Bahamas, and the Bahamian bank still has not yet opened the account.  The frustrated client wrote: “I thought that The Bahamas was a very investor-friendly jurisdiction.  I simply don’t understand why it’s so difficult to open a bank account there.”  The client, a major South American multinational, reputable company with banking relationships all over the world, had intended to transfer millions of dollars to The Bahamas for management here, but that business and those funds will now move to New York.  We believe that this experience is replicated many times each week.

It is unfortunate, but reasonable, to assume that these harmful practices are allowed to persist with the full knowledge and complicity of some of the banks whose head offices are located in North America, principally in Canada.  While those banks have significantly contributed to the national job market here, they have invested very little in The Bahamas, compared to the enormous profits that they earn in our country.  The unfortunate fact is that too many of our Bahamian bankers have become nothing more than glorified paper pushers with impressive job titles but very little authority.  Sadly, they seem determined to frustrate their customers, domestic and foreign.

The fallout

The short- and long-term consequences of the attitude of some compliance officers are that the jurisdiction is fast becoming an increasingly difficult and undesirable place to do business.  Considerable losses are resulting from this behavior on the part of some Bahamian bankers.  Not only are we losing an enormous amount of banking business, we are also losing legal and accounting fees and government taxes because of the attitudes of some compliance officers in Bahamian banks.  In fact, some Bahamian professionals are now advising their clients to incorporate and bank in another jurisdiction and not to conduct business in The Bahamas because of the inordinately difficult and ridiculously rigid scrutiny to which they are subjected.  And the word is rapidly spreading internationally.

The implications for our financial services sector are ominous.  If we are not careful, we will experience a larger number of banks leaving The Bahamas because of the over-regulation of the jurisdiction and the generally unfriendly attitude of some bankers.  This cannot be a positive development.  It is therefore critically important to arrest the behavior of some of our banks and to change the harmful attitudes of their compliance officers.

Conclusion

It is ironic that a large Bahamian delegation is presently in the United Arab Emirates on a business promotion trip, encouraging high-net-worth individuals and businesses to establish their businesses here.  Therefore, while this delegation is doing all it can to encourage business to come to our shores, here at home we seem to be doing little to make it easy for them to actually conduct business should they decide to invest here.  If we are not careful, and if we do not arrest the negative attitude by some of our banks and compliance officers, there will be little need to have a Ministry of Financial Services.  Instead of the influx of business that we need, we will experience the exodus of sound businesses from our jurisdiction.

As a part of the global village, we need to remember, in the words of Milton Friedman, the famous United States economist, that business activity, including banking, does not have to be a zero-sum experience where one party can gain only at the expense of another.

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services.  He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

October 28, 2013

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

Political ineptness in The Bahamas... ...

Rights and wrongs of Cuban migrant dispute

By Front Porch
frontporchguardian@gmail.com
Nassau, The Bahamas

Last week was settling into another stretch of bad news for the inept and faltering Christie administration. Suddenly, on Thursday, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis handed a government in a defensive crouch a line of offense, an unexpected opening to attempt to switch the storyline from that of its gross incompetence to one of Dr. Minnis’ patriotism.

With the announcement of its trading places two-step, swapping the placements of ambassadors to the U.S. and the UN, the bungled appointment of Dr. Elliston Rahming neared a sort of climax, though leaving serious unanswered questions, the government on its heels, looking amateurish and incompetent.

Of alleged abuse of Cuban migrants at the detention center and the domestic and international fallout from what is now widely acknowledged as a fake video of the alleged abuse, the government seemed stuck in Goldilocks mode with Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell often too hot in his rhetoric and Prime Minister Perry Christie too cool when it came to taking charge of the matter.

The opposition was left with two prime opportunities to flex its policy and political muscles. First, continuing to hammer away at the ambassadorial appointment fiasco.

Secondly, in the vacuum left by the government’s too cool indecision and too hot impetuousness on the Cuban migrant issue, Dr. Minnis had a golden opportunity to get it just right on a contentious matter at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy.

Tone-deaf

Prudence and good judgment are synonyms for getting it just right. Gifted by events with the opportunity to demonstrate prudential judgment, Dr. Minnis proved to be foolhardy and tone-deaf.

Effective communication involves not just what one intends to says. More importantly, it concerns what others hear you to say and what they don’t feel they have heard.

There are multiple issues related to the current Cuban migrant affair. Dr. Minnis and the opposition are right in vigorously pressing for the full disclosure of any abuse at the detention center.

But what has been sorely lacking in the opposition’s response is a more comprehensive approach. That approach should have included a clearer message reaffirming the opposition’s support of basic immigration policy relative of migrants.

More so, the opposition needed to be more emphatic in demonstrating national unity in the face of those seeking to scuttle our immigration policy, run roughshod over Bahamian sovereignty and inflict damage to our tourist-based economy.

Dr. Minnis’ failure to ensure the proper sequencing and calibration of the FNM’s messaging left the opposition open to severe criticism. And it has been withering, from charges of recklessness to failing to stand up for the country.

While Dr. Minnis may not have shown the best judgment in handling the complex of issues at hand, attacks on his patriotism and that of the opposition are ridiculous and offensive.

Mitchell is no more of a patriot than Dr. Minnis. And vile and contemptuous are claims by some that various of Dr. Minnis’ remarks were treasonous; which is not to say that such attacks are ineffective.

In his handling of the Cuban migrant issue, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has often proven imperious, rattled, undiplomatic, bellicose and belligerent.

Understatement

The Opposition and others are justified in criticizing various elements of his conduct of the matter at hand, as minister responsible for both foreign affairs and immigration. Mitchell himself has admitted that matters could have been handled better. Which of course is an extraordinary understatement.

By failing to act quicker and in a more forthright manner in addressing the abuse claims, the government helped provide fodder to the Florida-based interest group Democracy Movement, endlessly itching for any opening to attempt dictating Bahamian immigration policy to their liking.

As an aside, by interfering in domestic politics in calling for the resignation of Minister Mitchell, the interest group again demonstrated its unbridled arrogance. Imagine how out of bounds it would be for a Bahamian group to call for the resignation of a federal U.S. Cabinet member.

Now Prime Minister Perry Christie is hemming and hawing about whether information will be provided to the public on abuse at the detention center, abuse that is said to be quite gruesome and sickening.

When will politicians learn that covering up certain matters makes a bad situation even worse. The information should be released as soon as possible. Failure to do so will fuel more demonstrations and potential international fallout. Meanwhile the credibility of the Christie administration continues to dwindle.

Amidst its prevarication, ineptitude and bungling, the government has seized the politics of nationalism and the politics of empathy, something Dr. Minnis, thus far, has gotten wrong to the amazement and consternation of many, including many FNMs.

The FNM has often gotten wrong the politics of nationalism and the politics of empathy, despite its record of protecting the country’s national interests and better record than the PLP in areas ranging from social policy to economic empowerment to women’s rights.

Pretending

And yet the FNM has consistently allowed the PLP to get away with pretending to be the more nationalist and empathetic party. A part of the PLP’s winning combination in 2012 was to appear as the feeling party that also put Bahamians first.

In politics, empathy typically beats arguments of competence and effectiveness. And nationalism is usually a trump card, something that many in the FNM seem unwilling to learn.

The PLP’s claim of being more nationalistic than the FNM is laughable and far from credible given its record of allowing drug barons to overrun the country in the 1980s, its dalliances with all manner of shady foreign interlopers, the massive giveaway of land at Mayaguana, clear conflicts of interest by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister with a foreign oil exploration company, and many other examples.

But when Dr. Minnis failed initially and more clearly to express common cause with the government in the face of certain attacks from abroad, it made the FNM seem less empathetic and nationalistic than the PLP on an issue necessitating a demonstration of national unity.

This is yet another blunder by Dr. Minnis, who has now demonstrated an entrenched pattern of misjudgement and shockingly poor judgment.

Increasingly more and more Bahamians and FNMs are concluding that Dr. Minnis is far from up to his current role, which is disheartening as the country desperately needs a more prudent and capable opposition leader who can mount a more effective opposition to a feckless and disaster of a government that is the Christie administration.

In the end, the Cuban migrant affair is not about the opposition’s response. It is about whatever abuse may have taken place at the detention center and the government’s response in getting the facts out and taking appropriate action in a timely manner.

Further, it is the prime minister and his Cabinet who are ultimately responsible for acting appropriately or with “gross stupidity”, negligence and arrogance in handling the domestic and foreign policy elements of this entire affair.

August 29, 2013

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

...the future of The Bahamas

The young and unemployed

The Nassau Guardian Editorial
Nassau, The Bahamas



On May 7, 2012, many young Bahamians exercised their right to vote in an election for the first time.  But it is this generation lured by promises of a better Bahamas that continues to suffer the consequences of continually failing government policies.  The Bahamas has an overall unemployment rate of 14 percent that surges to nearly 31 percent for those between the ages of 15 and 24.

It is this generation of discouraged Bahamians who asks where are the promised 10,000 jobs?  The government’s answer: An inadequate campaign to expel domestic staff in the pursuit of a so-called Bahamians first policy.  Surely, the government can do more to inspire, develop and meet the career aspirations of our children?  To the misfortune of our young, simply being Bahamian will neither improve educational aptitude, nor professional qualifications.

Spending on education has not doubled as promised.  Repeatedly passed for seemingly more pressing matters of webshops and lottery, poor education now stands as a significant barrier of entry to the workplace.  A point of consternation reiterated by the Bahamian business community and acknowledged in a recent Inter-American Development (IDB) report.

Yet this government prefers to appease the cronies of independence, while our youth stand idle with dangerous temptation.  They naively listen to the PLP’s ongoing eulogy of a glorious era under Sir Lynden Pindling that seldom touches on the problems of drugs and corruption during those times.  They dream of the yesteryear of independence because this is a government that prefers the past to the present.  They cheer the creation of a holiday to celebrate majority rule, while our Parliament bars entry to young people when they seek accountability.

The College of The Bahamas Union of Students (COBUS) made a laudable attempt to express its dismay for college fee increases but saw its efforts dashed by ridiculous assertions that the peaceful and professionally-dressed student group was a security threat.  Unlike Spain and Greece, our youth have not marched en masse on Rawson Square to demand change.

In its second year, this government must reaffirm its commitment to education and make it a priority.  It must showcase talented Bahamians whose intellectual prowess has lead to success.  It must advocate scholastic achievement through hard work and dedication to study.  It must engrain in the minds of our youth that education is the key to success.  Most importantly, the government must engage this next generation of Bahamians in the process and administration of government.
They are the future Bahamas.

June 11, 2013

The Nassau Guardian

Bahamas Blog International