A heavy focus is placed on stemming the flow of illegal drugs into The Bahamas... the same must be given to stopping the influx of illegal guns

Gun trafficking and murder in The Bahamas

thenassauguardian editorial



On Monday, The Nassau Guardian in its National Review section published some revealing figures on the homicide rate in the Caribbean.

Out of 15 countries in the region, The Bahamas had the fifth highest homicide rate last year, with 29 homicides per 100,000 people.

The international homicide standard that countries seek to be at or under is 5 per 100,000.

The Bahamas recorded a total of 96 homicides last year, and along with the vast majority of other countries in the region is far off that mark set by the United Nations.

While the latest statistics on gun killings in The Bahamas are not available, it is reasonable to state that the vast majority of killings and armed robberies in the country are done using handguns. A special license is needed to possess a handgun.

So how are these guns getting into the country and what is being done about it?

The Bahamas has reasonably strict laws when it comes to gun ownership. They are among the toughest in the region. A genuine reason must be given to obtain a firearm licence, an applicant must pass background checks, there is a limit on the number of guns any one person is permitted to possess, there is a limit on the quantity of ammunition, and gun owners must re-apply and re-qualify for a firearm license every 12 months, among other regulations.

The maximum penalty for illicit possession of firearms is five years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000.

Local law enforcement agencies must ensure that constant surveillance initiatives are conducted to break up gun smuggling operations to and through The Bahamas.

The government must be commended for putting in place additional tools and key personnel in the battle against violent crime; however, the gun laws on the books must be enforced, and amended where needed.

The government and judiciary should also consider re-establishing a ‘gun court’ in order to expedite the trials of suspects of such offenses.

If we can help stay the flow of guns into the country surely we can impact the troubling homicide rate.

A heavy focus is placed on stemming the flow of illegal drugs into the country, the same focus must be given to stopping the flow of illegal guns.

Special legislation is also needed to punish those found in possession of illegal assault rifles and machine guns. These are weapons of war. Those who use these weapons are usually involved in the drug trade. It would seem reasonable to incarcerate these individuals for a period of up to ten years if they are found on our streets with such weapons.

1/18/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

...wishes and desires for The Bahamas moving forward - 2011 and beyond

My wish list for the Bahamas in 2011
By ADRIAN GIBSON
ajbahama@hotmail.com



WHILE 2010 was a roller coaster year, featuring a myriad of sleaze, an upsurge in violent crimes, mediocre national exam results and, in other instances, nationally recognized accomplishments and highlights, 2011 provides the nation with yet another blank slate in determining its future and proposes to also be an eventful year of high drama in the political arena as a general election draweth nigh.

Last year, the country was beleaguered by crime and an influx of illegal immigrants and saw an upsurge in the unemployment rate. This new year, I've decided to state a few of my wishes and desires for the Bahamas moving forward.

Firstly, the Bahamas' educational system desperately needs to be revamped. The government, parents and educators must all begin to think outside of the box, particularly since our current educational set-up is producing hordes of arithmetically-challenged, illiterate graduates who are soon expected to manage our country's affairs.

This New Year, we must make a conscious, courteous, curt effort to assist and encourage our student population in a united thrust to strive to increase the national GPA from a D to a C. Frankly, I am not an advocate of standardized tests. I firmly believe that while some students may perform well academically, standardized tests cannot measure the full range of the multiple intelligences.

Standardized tests are also criticized for tending to be outdated as a curriculum changes, failing to assess an adequate sample of skills and for failing to meet the standards of their own field, among several other criticisms. The ministry must align the curriculum with the development needs of the country in order to imbue a strong sense of self, speak to nation-building, address the question of self-reliance and entrepreneurship, teach the Constitution, etcetera.

Only the most scholarly of students, in my opinion, should be permitted to sit the BGCSE/BJC exams. To truly diversify and establish a more comprehensive educational system, the government and private entities should also construct technical and vocational schools to teach the less bookish, academically-disinclined students a trade/skill.

It is a misconception to assume that every Bahamian is studious enough to become a doctor, lawyer, educator, or to attend university. There will always be a need for repairmen, handymen, plumbers, masons and so on. At grade nine, teachers and administrators should be able to gauge a student's abilities, and thereby separate the more scholarly students from those with technical and vocational leanings.

Furthermore, consideration should be given to establishing a pilot programme, where male and female students are educated at separate schools/classes. This possibly will revolutionize education and lead to greater productivity, as students of both sexes would have fewer distractions and spend less time seeking to impress one another.

Moreover, classrooms must be outfitted with cable tv/internet to foster interactive learning!

One wish is that this new year, a greater number of parents positively become involved in their children's lives, whilst also constructively reinforcing the lessons learnt at school.

This year, with a newly instated president, the evolution of the College of the Bahamas (COB) to a university must be at the vanguard in advancing the national education system. The transition of the college to university will not only foster academic and intellectual leadership but also assist the country with small island sustainability issues and foster economic diversification. Indeed, a university is a "living" system and grows in response to, or alongside, national development.

Will crime escalate to the point that the US blacklists the country as Jamaica has been done?

Going forward, Bahamians must strive for greater social cohesion and partake in community drives to reduce violent crimes. The past year was the third consecutive record-breaking year for murders and rapes, resulting in the Bahamas being listed high atop the listing of countries--per capita-- where rapes and heinous murders are frequent. We must return to being our brother's keepers.

The government must formally articulate its position on capital punishment. There appears to be a lack of political will relative to the reading of death warrants, which would usher in the finalization of legal appeals so that convicted murderers can receive their court-ordered, just desserts. After a suspect is convicted of murder and sentenced to death, the Police Commissioner should immediately be summoned to read his death warrant, particularly if he has exhausted all appeals. As it relates to capital punishment, the law --as entrenched in the Constitution--must be carried out.

Moreover, a witness protection programme must be established to protect state witnesses who are being bumped off which, as a result, has left many Bahamians afraid to testify about crimes seen.

Much more must also be done to combat human trafficking.

Regardless of the noble fight of drug enforcement officers, is it ever possible for the Bahamas, considering our geographic location, to be removed from the majors list (top 20 countries) of illicit drug-producing or drug-transit countries?

In the fight against crime and other social ills, the Bahamas Christian Council must lead by example, focusing more upon community outreach programmes in helping to curb crime, assisting the poor, socializing our people and playing an active role in the lives of citizens, instead of the usual utterances, self-aggrandizing gambits and apparent politically driven mandates. (This does not apply to Rev CB Moss, who is in the trenches and doing a commendable job).

I continue to await any serious, long-term proposals for sustainable tourism. Our tourism product must be reinvigorated to highlight the distinction and indigenous nature of this country's tourism product when compared to any other country in the wider Caribbean, targeting new markets and nurturing wider market share and by incorporating a focus on regional and Latin American tourism.

Considering the spate of violent crime and other social issues, in 2011 more emphasis must be placed on implementing mental health programmes and a plan to confront rampant alcoholism and drug abuse. Furthermore, I look forward to the broadening of the healthcare coverage--particularly for the elderly and indigent--of the national prescription drug plan!

This year, when electioneering is sure to spring into in high gear, I trust that both major political parties would move forward with the people's agenda, scrupulously working towards bettering the Bahamas instead of squabbling over semantics and other trivial, rather foolish barbs.

Will there be an early election called this year or will the election go on as scheduled for 2012? In the 2008, both parties should begin looking towards the future and start preparing the next generation's leaders to succeed the current head honchos, as no party presently seems to have any plans in place to ensure a smooth transition from one leader to another without there seeming to be a leadership void.

Greater efforts must be made to diversify the economy. We must gradually begin shifting from tourism to other industries or we will become a nation of overly dependent, virtual slaves.

The government must encourage the local entrepreneurial spirit and foster economic diversification through a variation of different industries such as farming, fishing, gaming, research and development, manufacturing and so on. I was pleased to see that the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources recognition of the urgent need to resurrect agriculture and fisheries has, in conjunction with FAO consultants, led to the creation of the first five-year development plan for agriculture and fisheries. In 2011, it is expected that the initial phases of this plan will materialize!

Indeed, this year it is hoped that the rate of unemployment--which skyrocketed during the economic recession--and the country's national debt be reduced.

With a general election on the horizon, it is my fervent hope that the government maintains its position relative to the new straw market, ensuring that the products sold at the market should also be 100 per cent Bahamian-made and the market's occupants are either Bahamian or legally allowed to work in this country. Moreover, regardless of the political pressure, the government must maintain its position to no longer subsidize vendors, but instead require each purveyor to pay a fair rent and a maintenance fee.

The influx of illegal immigrants, particularly Haitians, must be more vigorously tackled.

Since yesterday was the commemoration of the one year anniversary of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, I'm anxious to hear the government's account of what happened to those illegal Haitian immigrants who were released from the Detention Centre for a six month amnesty following the catastrophic event.

This year, the implementation of more stringent laws/regulations to manage the construction of future projects along beachfronts is imperative. Furthermore, more work must be done to protect coral reefs, mangroves and wetlands; greater monitoring must be undertaken relative to developments on private islands/cays, of cruise ships and the disposal of waste products in our territorial waters; attention must be paid to national parks and those foreign sports fishermen who enter under the guise of gaming, but purportedly leave the country with coolers filled with an illegal catch; and there must be more of a concerted effort to address the environmental impact of climate change, particularly as the Bahamas is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world.

Let's face it, one way or the other, BTC must be sold! Even more, corporations such as BEC, Water and Sewerage and Bahamasair should be privatized and demonopolised as well as they are (particularly the latter three) pecuniary albatrosses and a burden to taxpayers. It is time to end all monopolies afforded to local service providers to encourage competition and better services!

Will Cable Bahamas ever fulfil its contract for cable television/internet to the Family Islands since many islands do not yet have cable or only has its services in certain areas? When will Cable Bahamas bring its services to the residents of north Long Island?

Lastly, when will the Family Islands, which are in desperate need of economic upliftment, be a greater priority on the government's agenda?

January 14, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) Privatisation: 1999 to 2011

Privatisation of BTC: from 1999 to 2011
By LARRY SMITH


"What I've found out about change is that when you propose it

people don't want it, when you are doing it it's hell, and afterwards

they think it's always been like that."


- former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

IN EARLY 2008, about 10 months after the last general election, the Ingraham government appointed a new privatisation committee (headed by bankers T. B. Donaldson and Julian Francis), with a mandate to find a buyer for the Bahamas Telecommunications Company as soon as possible.

This was a goal that had been pursued ever since the FNM first came to power in 1992.  In fact, even before then the Pindling regime had been seeking to divest state assets that were draining the treasury.  By the early 90s the PLP had decided to offload government-owned hotels.  And believe it or not, they also had confidential talks with Cable & Wireless about a stake in BaTelCo.

Privatisation continued to be pursued by the PLP during its most recent term in office, from 2002 to 2007.  Although the Christie administration eventually cancelled the auction launched by the FNM, they went on to start their own process, and agreed (just before the 2007 election) to sell BTC to Bluewater Ventures, a foreign firm with an uncertain ownership and no operating history.

But the incoming FNM government could find no evidence that a deal had been finalised, although Bluewater - in the shape of American executive John Gregg and PLP politico/lawyer Brave Davis - insisted that the Christie cabinet had shaken hands on an agreement.  In mid-2008, the Ingraham administration relaunched the privatisation process, eventually paying Bluewater $1.9 million to cover its out-of-pocket costs.

THE FIRST PRIVATISATION

This was surely a damnable waste of money, but the reasoning behind it was clear.  The policy had always been to sell a stake in BTC to a major strategic partner - a company with the technical expertise, operating record, and bulk purchasing power needed to take the corporation to another level.  There was no interest in selling to someone who merely had the financial capacity to buy.

In 1999, during the first privatisation exercise, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said that if the government simply transferred ownership of BTC to its employees, the corporation would go out of business as soon as it faced real competition.  A strategic partner, he said, would enable BTC to compete and move forward in a transformed market.

"We seek to privatise BTC in the national interest," Ingraham said a decade ago, "and we have sought a phased approach to ensure minimal disruption."  More recently he said: "We told Bahamians from day one that it was not possible to continue to have a monopoly in the telephone business and we established policies to prepare ourselves.  There are hundreds and hundreds of people employed in the telecoms sector who were not so employed before we began to liberalise the market."

Before the government began downsizing BaTelCo in the mid-90s, the corporation had accumulated a workforce of 2100 to accomplish what experts said should require only a few hundred.  And this padded payroll was clearly reflected in BaTelCo's dismal performance up to that point.

In 1992 the corporation's revenue was $120.3 million, with a net loss of $1.8 million that year.  But after a 50 per cent reduction in staff (based on generous separation packages), BaTelCo's 2001 revenue was $226.4 million, producing a net profit of $57.3 million - almost as much as the corporation had earned over 10 years from 1982 to 1992.

THE CURRENT PROCESS


In 2008, the government appointed an advisory committee to oversee the new BTC sale process, under the chairmanship of State Finance Minister Zhivago Laing.  This group would formulate the final recommendations to cabinet from information presented by the privatisation committee (headed by Donaldson and Francis).  The leaders of both BTC unions were full members of the advisory committee.

The advisory committee authorised a new BTC auction in mid-2009, with the publication of a notice inviting bidders to register.  Qualified parties were asked for technical proposals, and the best of these were invited to submit financial bids.  The privatisation committee reviewed the bids and passed them on to the advisory committee for evaluation.

At the same time, major changes to the regulatory environment were being pursued to support market liberalisation.  These included legislation to set up a new Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority to govern both broadcasting and telecommunications.  In short, the government was totally reforming our antiquated communications laws.

According to the April 29, 2009 minutes of the advisory committee, Minister Laing said the new legislation was the result of "a vast amount of work and represented a new era for The Bahamas" that would bring clarity to what could, and could not, be done in the telecoms industry.

UNION ISSUES


At the July 13, 2009 meeting of the advisory committee, Minister Earl Deveaux recalled that during the first privatisation exercise, BTC workers rejected the decision and responded "in a way that brought great distress to the nation."  He asked the union leaders for assurances that this would not be repeated. The BCPMU is the middle managers union.  The BCPOU is the line staff union.

At that meeting BCPMU president William Carroll said the major issue for the unions in 1999 had been the separation packages, and that was why workers demonstrated.  He added that treatment of staff should be one of the determinants for a successful bid, but went on to acknowledge that BTC employees now accepted the fact of imminent privatisation.

In response to a comment from BCPOU leader Bernard Evans that Bahamian buyers had been excluded from the process, Minister Laing said the search was for a strategic partner who would have the financial and technological resources to "take BTC to the level at which the government wanted it to be."  That position did not necessarily exclude Bahamian proposals, but it was unlikely that a Bahamian group would fit the bill.

According to the minutes, Minister Carl Bethel said the government wanted a strong international connection, a company with experience in all areas of telecommunications and with the financial strength and operating platform to be able to support BTC's infrastructure and mission.  He questioned whether any Bahamian entity possessed those qualities.

Minister Laing said that unlike the previous attempt, this time the government was not seeking to shape the product that was on offer, outside of its conviction that privatising BTC would be better for the country, for the economy, and ultimately for the workers.  The government was reforming the regulatory environment and selling BTC as it exists today, and the role of the advisory committee was to determine the best buyer.

CABLE & WIRELESS

The BTC auction notice attracted six initial responses, and four were invited to submit bids.  Only two were received by the December 11, 2009 deadline - from JPMorgan Chase's private equity arm and from Atlantic Tele-Network, a consortium that included Colina Financial Advisors.  Neither was considered to have met the government's criteria.

According to minutes of the July 23, 2010 meeting, the advisory committee unanimously rejected both bids as "departing significantly in their requirements and expectations from the conditions acceptable to the government."

The committee was then informed by Julian Francis that, following its recent restructuring, Cable & Wireless had expressed an interest in BTC. While both union leaders had reservations about C&W in terms of employee relations, the advisory committee unanimously endorsed a recommendation to engage in talks with the company, which is a major regional and international telecoms operator.

In October of last year, the advisory committee met for the final time to consider the report of the working committee on its talks with Cable & Wireless. According to Julian Francis, a non-binding memorandum of understanding had been drafted that valued BTC at $400-450 million, based on a two-year exclusivity period.

"However, Cable & Wireless believes that an extension may be necessary for BTC to prepare for competition, which would be aggressive given the low threshold for investment under the new regulatory regime," Francis said.  "In comparison, the Bluewater proposal was for a five-year exclusivity period for mobile, with each year being valued at between $60-70 million by the committee's advisors."

THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING


Francis said the MOU called for Cable & Wireless to produce a five-year business plan acceptable to government before a deal could be closed.  This plan would spell out Bahamian involvement in the management of BTC and Cable & Wireless' international operations.

Going forward, he said, the government wanted to have a veto over remuneration, staff cuts, the sale of assets and the location of operations.  According to Francis, Cable & Wireless was "convinced that BTC should be run by a Bahamian and the government had indicated that management must remain in the Bahamas."

Both union leaders reiterated their focus on job protection, but Minister Deveaux pointed out that taxpayers wanted better service.  Sir William Allen, the government's economic advisor, said technology would continue to erode whatever advantages BTC currently had, even if the market was not liberalised.

With respect to workforce restructuring, BCPOU leader Bernard Evans said "voluntary separation packages are an acceptable option once the terms are suitable."  Minister Laing responded that there was room for standstill, with compulsory reductions tied to the end of the exclusivity period. Both union leaders agreed that a three or four year exclusivity period would be "more manageable" in this regard.

The advisory committee agreed to recommend only voluntary staff cuts prior to the end of the exclusivity period, and urged government to extend this period "to help with job preservation in the short term."  In a closing note, the October minutes recorded that the committee's recommendations would be passed to government for a final decision, with Minister Laing satisfied that that "all major issues have been discussed and agreement reached."

On December 2, the government announced the signing of the memorandum of understanding, as recommended by the advisory committee, on the same day it was signed.  Talks then began to develop more precise contract language to clarify all issues.  The agreement included a three-year exclusivity period for mobile and a voluntary workforce restructuring.

POLITICAL RESISTANCE


But within days of that announcement, the two union leaders and the PLP had begun a drumbeat of opposition to the deal - which was already 13 years too late.  "This is just not the right time," said BCPOU leader Evans.  "We don't support Cable & Wireless - period."  He insisted that separation packages offered to workers should be more than BTC employees got in 1999 (which cost the country some $90 million), and should be enough to last workers a lifetime.

According to the prime minister, "the PLP agreed just before the election to sell BTC to a foreigner, who some think was fronting for some of them.  And they never told the public a single word that they agreed to sell BTC.  The reality is that the union and the PLP are at one in their fight against this exercise.  And you can figure out why the PLP, which agreed to sell to a one-man show, is now opposed to selling to a $2.5 billion publicly traded company that operates around the world.

As the minutes of the advisory committee show, the plain fact is that the union leaders were part and parcel of the entire privatisation process, and after seeking concessions from the government they signed off on the major components of the memorandum of understanding.

"We went out of our way to protect jobs at BTC to the public's disadvantage," the prime minister told a meeting in Grand Bahama recently.  "As night follows day, rates are high because BTC has more people employed than they need, and they are seeking to protect what they have because there's plenty juice there for them."

As for the prospects of general strike similar to that which occurred in 1958, it seems clear that the BTC unions' action is a greedy attempt on the part of special interests to hold the nation to ransom rather than a struggle for democracy.  And as for the question of Bahamian as opposed to foreign ownership, why hasn't this been raised before?

What do you think?

Send comments to

larry@tribunemedia.net

Or visit www.bahamapundit.com

January 12, 2011

tribune242

FNMs against the Free National Movement (FNM) Government's Policy on the Proposed Sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC)

FNMs speaking out against party policy
thenassauguardian editorial


It was surprising to read published comments by two Free National Movement (FNM) members this week on the sale of the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC).

Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney said he would wait to see the memorandum of understanding the government signed with CWC, as well as the details of the proposed sale, before he gives his support in Parliament.

“I cannot make a decision without having the facts,” McCartney said to The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday. “I don’t have all of the facts.”

The government has promised to make all the details of the proposed deal public before it comes up for debate in the House of Assembly.

“Once all the facts are in hand, I’ll be able to make a decision as to whether or not it’s the right thing to do or otherwise,” McCartney added.

FNM Vice-chairman Darron Cash, who is a former party senator, wrote a long opinion piece that was published in The Guardian on Monday. In it, Cash set out why he strongly opposes the BTC sale to CWC.

“I disagree with the government’s proposed action. I believe it is wrong for the country,” said Cash.

“This decision sells the country short. It is a betrayal of future generations, and like a bad stock on BISX—in which you have little confidence—the government is selling the next generation (my generation) short.”

Cash then used more than 5,000 words to explain why he disagrees with the deal.

Hubert Ingraham has run his FNM in a different manner than Perry Christie has run the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). PLPs have regularly criticized Christie and the party publicly.

Ingraham’s troops are not known for this behavior. From all accounts, Ingraham, like the late Sir Lynden Pindling, ensures order is maintained by inflicting painful political consequences for dissent. Christie’s followers seem to have little fear of him.

The FNM has had a tough time in the public relations war over the sale of BTC. The union movement, the opposition and some prominent church leaders have opposed the move.

That public relations fight becomes more difficult when FNMs join the public fight against the sale. When young party members question the party’s actions, or disagree with it, the party is weakened during a war.

The danger for the FNM is that these young members of the party can do more damage to it than the PLP.

The PLP has no credibility when it comes to the BTC debate. It too wanted to sell a major chunk of BTC to foreigners.

The PLP is only protesting the CWC sale in an attempt to cause trouble for the government in the run up to the next general election. The opposition is not concerned about the real debate that has emerged surrounding privatization policy and Bahamianization.

But when FNMs speak out publicly on the issue at the risk of being savaged by the party’s leadership, it appears as if the messenger attempting to convince the country of the wisdom of the CWC sale has turned on itself.

The FNM would be wise, for its sake, to conclude the BTC deal as soon as possible. More public dissent from within the governing party will not stop the deal, but it would weaken the FNM at a time when it is attempting to convince Bahamians it should serve another term in office.

1/13/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Specify the nature of the national security threat or withdraw the remarks ‘Tommy’ Turnquest

Please Specify the Threat
The Bahama Journal Editorial


Information reaching us notes that, this nation’s armed forces have been put on alert – with this alert being sounded because of some unspecified threat to the national security of the Bahamas.

We are also hearing it said that, the Hon. Orville A. T. ‘Tommy’ Turnquest believes that there is a credible threat to this nation’s security.

While we have our full share of doubts about this matter, we are today respectfully calling on the Minister of National Security to step forward; this with a view to specifying the nature of this threat or – in the alternate- withdraw these remarks.

Indeed, there is information coming in suggests that, the unions' fight to oust Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) as the purchaser of the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) constitutes some kind of threat to this nation’s security; this according to the same Minister of National Security, the Hon. O.A.T. ‘Tommy’ Turnquest.

We cannot and will not believe this of the unions in question; and for sure, we agree with them when they say that, the charge made is unwarranted and unfair.

We are also somewhat discomfited by information coming in that suggests that the same Minister is on record as saying that, the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) are on alert for any signs of a "threat" as a result of the sale of BTC to CWC.

This statement is at best gratuitous; since the police should always be on alert. The question here should more rightly be turned on the question, alert for what!?

Yet again, new information reaching us indicates that, “…when asked if the unions' fight against CWC represented a national threat, Turnquest said simply, "Absolutely."

This Minister either misspoke or is dreadfully misinformed.

And so today, we make the point – and here point blank – we do believe that workers and their representatives do have a right to protest any decision or proposal made by any administration in a free and sovereign Bahamas.

By necessary implication, then, we are in total disagreement with the Minister of National Security when he intimates that, the unions’ current opposition to the BTC- Cable and Wireless deal for whatever reason represents a so-called threat to either national development or security.

Claiming that he and his colleagues know what they know – and that [furthermore] they are prepared for what they [now] know, the Hon. Tommy Turnquest darkly hints and claims that, they are also quite ready for any threat.

These obscure statements apparently have something or the other to do with demands and statements made by certain union leaders and their followers who are opposed to that deal in the works that seems set to give Cable and Wireless a 51% stake in BTC.

As far as we know and understand the extent to which Bahamians have rights in this country is to the effect that, they surely do have a right to movement, expression and to sharing such with their fellows here, there and all around the world.

These people also have a right to express their [peaceful] opposition to any stance taken by any government. And clearly, when workers vote, they have a right to turf one party out and invite another in.

This is part and parcel of how things are done in a democracy.

By the same token, the government of the day has a duty to do its best within the four corners of the law; all the while knowing that whenever they are so minded, the people can elect and select others to lead them.
Yet again, this is part and parcel of how things are done in a democracy.
Here we are certain that the Hon. Minister of National Security is fully aware of these facts of life in a land where sovereignty inheres in the people.

Clearly then, the ‘rights’ whereof we speak are rights that are guaranteed in the fundamental law of the land as that law is to be found in the Constitution; itself a creation of the Bahamian people –united in service and love.

While not saying what information the RBPF and RBDF have about the unions and their plans, or how the information is being acquired, the minister intimated that both of those entities have credible information.

This report merely begs the question – show us the evidence!

Clearly then, when any Minister suggests that, unions and their leaders might for whatever reason pose a threat to the national security of the Bahamian nation, they should feel honor-bound to back up this statement with facts that are easily verifiable.

Otherwise, he should now specify and substantiate the claim he has made – or do the next best thing.

January 13, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

The love of foreigners over Bahamians by the PLP and FNM when it comes to the BTC privatization process...

Selling BTC a threat to national development
thenassauguardian editorial


National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest escalated the dispute between the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) unions and the government over the sale of the majority stake in BTC to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC), when he described the unions’ protest as a national security threat.

Turnquest, in an interview with The Nassau Guardian, went further and stated that the security forces are on alert for any eventuality regarding the dispute. The BTC unions have threatened, with the support of the national trade union movement, a general strike.

Union leaders always threaten to strike when they don’t get their way. In order to carry out a successful strike, however, a majority of the workers represented by these leaders have to support the strike call. And these workers have to be prepared for pain and loss.

There is no evidence, thus far, proving that the members of these unions are prepared to go down this rough road.

The unions have been annoying to the government, but they have not been a national security threat. In fact, the union opposition has been somewhat weak.

There were only a few hundred people at the union march on Parliament in December – that number includes the members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and other splinter parties which participated. These unions represent tens of thousands of workers.

Only a few hundred people showed up at the union-organized ‘mass rally’ at R.M. Bailey Park on Monday night.

These unions can’t even bring out a good crowd.

The minister has engaged in hyperbole. And by invoking the security forces under his command – the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force – he appears menacing.

The government and its agencies should be on alert for mass disruptions rather than some nebulous national security threat. The unions are likely to continue with small-scale disruptions.

National security threats are actions that threaten the existence of a state. Strike calls by union leaders who cannot turn out their membership do not threaten the existence of The Bahamas.

The decision to sell a major Bahamian state asset to a foreign company, however, is a threat to the national development of the country.

The policy of all Bahamian governments should be to empower Bahamians. They should especially attempt to create more entrepreneurs and to further empower those already in business.

When Bahamians own enterprises, rather than foreigners, more money stays in the country and more Bahamians are usually hired to operate the business.

Furthermore, empowering Bahamians by making Bahamians owners of BTC would allow those Bahamians to then become players in the regional telecommunications industry. Policymakers should be aiming for Bahamians to someday take over telcos across the Caribbean.

Instead, the PLP and the Free National Movement (FNM) administrations want to sell a major chunk of this major state asset to foreigners.

A privatization policy is needed in The Bahamas. It should state that bidders for state assets either be Bahamian or they should be joint venture partnerships with Bahamians.

The love of foreigners over Bahamians when it comes to the BTC privatization process is the threat Bahamians should be concerned about when it comes to the PLP and the FNM.

1/12/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International

The BTC Bad Deal with Cable & Wireless

In Adamant Opposition to a bad Deal
The Bahama Journal Editorial


There are times in life when conscience demands that we set aside petty calculation and yield to its dictates; such a time has come for this Journal as we call on the current administration to heed the voice of the Bahamian people.

This voice – as we have heard it as it echoes and resonates – demands that, all Bahamians who are patriots should rise – as if they were one man- in opposition to any deal that would deny the Bahamian people majority control of entities such as BTC.

Indeed, like so very many other Bahamians who disagree with the current administration’s on that matter which involves giving Cable and Wireless a 51% per cent stake in BTC; we do so based on our studied conclusion that this deal is not in the best interests of either BTC or the Bahamian people.

Contrariwise, we are today quite persuaded that, things would go very differently and much better for all parties concerned were the government minded to make no deal with anyone that does not leave the Bahamas and the Bahamian people in direct control of this entity.

Here we rush to assure the public that our difference with the current administration has next to nothing to do with any position that might seem to be –at least on first blush- barking up the same tree.

And so, while some who oppose the deal may be doing so because they fear some of its implications and ramifications, moving forward; we are where we are based on principle.

That principle has to do with our deeply held conviction that there are certain properties that should never be alienated to the control of any foreign entity; this based on our conclusion that tied up in these entities are values that cut to the very core of what it means to be both sovereign and self-respecting.

We are where we are on this issue based on our fervently held view that, there are properties that are so very valuable and so deeply enmeshed with this nation’s identity and security.

And clearly then, we are fulsome in our support of all those Bahamian nationalists who are not prepared to sit by and watch as BTC – as part of this nation’s patrimony – released into the hands of Cable and Wireless.

Here we hasten to add that, we are not opposed to foreign involvement in BTC or any other Bahamian owned entity; what we resent has to do with giving them the whip-hand that comes with the 51% share.

The BTC deal –as proposed and as debated throughout the length and breadth of the Bahamas – is one that has galvanized a tremendous amount of opposition.

Indeed, so loud and so resonant has the voice of the people been that today, we marvel that those who might yet make the difference have not heeded the call and plea for them to turn around and do what is right.

And as we are led to understand and appreciate what seems to be an emerging consensus, the Bahamian people are –for the most part- opposed to the deal that is set to be struck between BTC and Cable and Wireless.

Those people who oppose the deal [as currently proposed] seem to be of the view that the deal is a bad one.

We agree with them.

And not only do we agree with them, we telegraph our resolve to stand with all Bahamians who would seriously request of the current administration that, they can and should take a while before putting pen to paper on that now vexing matter involving BTC and Cable and Wireless.

But even as we are set on making this principled position known and noted, we are also aware of the fact that, the current administration seems set on its current path.

Here we also note that, no changes have been made to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government and Cable & Wireless over BTC's impending sale.

We are also hearing say that, the government is on course to finalizing a contract with C&W which is expected to be signed this month; and that, the said sale should be completed by the middle of February.

But be that as it may – whether the deal with Cable and Wireless is consummated or not – we are opposed to it in its current form.

January 12, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Labor, Politics and Majority Rule

The Bahama Journal Editorial


Another Majority Rule anniversary has come and has gone.

And so, today we reference matters germane to labor, politics and Majority Rule in the Bahamas.

And for sure – even as this one recedes into the mists that come with memories effaced; another will arrive and some other Bahamians will venture that, the General Strike of 1958 did play a massively important role in the social transformation of the Bahamas.

And so we would argue that those who now go in search of the mainspring governing action in those days might first wish to look at the leadership cadre behind the General Strike; there they would find Randol F. Fawkes [labor’s main man and champion of the so-called grass roots]; Clifford Darling, a taxi-driver [and therefore an owner in his own right of his means of production] and Lynden O. Pindling [as Parliamentary Leader of the then-nascent Progressive Liberal Party].

Fast forward to the social history available to most Bahamians and you would find that, it was the Progressive Liberal Party – with the help of a distinguished cadre of intellectuals and other political savvy men and women [with some of them like Clement Maynard, labor leaders in their own right]; that was able to command the support of the so-called “Majority”.

We would also venture that the role played by Clifford Darling and his men was the maneuver that did more than any other tactic to show the resolve of the Bahamian people not only in the specifics that had triggered the strike, but also in the broader struggle for full adult suffrage in the Bahamas.

And yet again, any fair reading of the social history of the past fifty-plus years would show that it was Pindling’s fate and that of his party to take the mantle and become the pioneers of development in a Bahamas that had entered history’s stream in a truly big way when the case of the Bahamas [that is its case for freedom] was argued before the United Nations.

This was like Black Tuesday of April 27th. 1965 uniquely Pindling’s.

As the record attests, Pindling and his Progressive Liberal Party went on to a series of victories that took them and the people they led to both so-called Majority Rule and Independence.

Evidently, they also faced some major challenges.

Highest on that list would be the damage done by the illicit trade in drugs throughout the Bahamian archipelago; the corrosive effects this trade had - and which it continues to have on social life in our country.

Notwithstanding this challenge and a host of others, there is no doubting the conclusion that the Bahamas built by Pindling endures. In this regard, it is nothing short of exemplary that the man who is today Chief and the man who would be Chief are both distinguished political alumni of the late and truly great Sir Lynden O. Pindling.

And so we would argue that if there is a legacy of 1958 that resounds even now; the resonance is to be found in the ascendancy of the Progressive Liberal Party in the years subsequent.

But even as we make these brief points concerning the General Strike of 1958, the eclipse of Fawkes and his supporters, the subsequent ascendancy of Pindling and the PLP, we also note that, despite their advances and that of the nation itself – there has always been an underclass of workers who have not benefited as much as they might have at one time or the other dreamed.

In addition, there are clearly any number of so-called ‘small’ businesses that have not been able to consolidate themselves in the all the years since the achievement of so-called Majority Rule.

This is not as surprising as it might – on first blush- appear; this because regardless of intention, no government no matter how well-intentioned, can make someone [or better still anyone] succeed in business.

And as an old saying puts it, money goes where money lies – and so it has and so will it continue.

But for sure – even as the evidence mounts that this is so, there remains a persistent cry to the effect that this or that group is being oppressed by another.

This is evidence of the highest order that the real struggle in our country and others has to do with the struggle between classes and the masses; and not that between the so-called ‘races’.

Indeed, such is the current state of political play in the Bahamas that both of this nation’s political parties now vie for the support of practically the same people; and thus the current slide towards a politics of tribalism and personal destruction.

January 11, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Majority Rule is a concept that has long been lost in the everyday Bahamian way of life

Who says the majority rules?
thenassauguardian editorial


Today is being observed as Majority Rule Day in The Bahamas.

Historically, the day represents the emergence of a local, black Bahamian government, with the responsibility of helping Bahamians govern their own affairs and their future, as The Bahamas began its trek to Independence.

Now in its 44th year, Majority Rule Day continues to be observed as a day that honors those who contributed to The Bahamas we know today. However, mention the words “Majority Rule Day” to the average Bahamian and ask them what it is about and more than 85 percent will look at you like a deer staring into headlights.

Ask the average young person (between the ages of 15-25) and more than 90 percent will think you’re speaking a foreign language.

Not enough Bahamian history is being taught. Most Bahamians don’t know their history, and for the most part, many could care less.

But that’s another story for another time.

As far as celebrating Majority Rule Day is concerned, some feel it is pointless, considering the fact that The Bahamas finds itself in a contradiction from a socio-economic point-of-view. We live in a society where the minority rules the majority.

The rich minority controls and dictates the lifestyle of the majority of the poor Bahamians. We live in a society where “the rich gets richer” and the poor remains poor.

In addition, the idea of “government for and by the people” is not based in reality.

The Bahamian Parliament, which is supposed to represent and fight for the rights of Bahamians, seemingly pass laws that burden the average Bahamian and gives more power to the wealthy among us.

Majority Rule is a concept that has long been lost in the everyday Bahamian way of life. What it stood for in the past, seems to have less relevance and meaning today.

One of the co-founders of Majority Rule Day, former Governor General Arthur D. Hanna, noted that Majority Rule Day was an uphill battle “in that we couldn’t get a level playing field.

“The government of the day (United Bahamian Party - UBP) wanted to hold on to power, therefore, they had all kinds of tricks. One was how they dealt with constituencies.”

On the surface, it seems ironic that many of today’s governments have used the same “tricks” during elections in The Bahamas, but when one considers the fact that some of our leaders of today learned from those of the past, then we can understand certain similarities.

The concept which our forefathers fought for, does not hold the same significance today. So, we celebrate a day that has somehow lost its meaning and its focus, which is the Bahamian people.

We celebrate a day where the majority does not rule, but rather where the minority rules the majority.

1/10/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog Internaional

Will the BTC protests really turn into a mass public movement, a la 1958, and in turn - into a political jackpot for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)?

The BTC protest - a political circus
By PACO NUNEZ
Tribune News Editor



After today, it will be even harder than before to keep a straight face when someone tries to tell me there's no political agenda at work in the protest against the sale of BTC.

It might have been possible to overlook the PLP cronies sprinkled throughout the union-led Rawson Square protest before Christmas, or ignore the interesting coincidence of a Trade Union Congress vice president and vocal BTC-sale opponent being chosen as a PLP candidate.

But it would have taken a far larger dose of self-delusion than I am capable of administering to miss the implications of the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) deciding that today, as it commemorates the 1958 general strike, it will also begin recruiting voters for the first time in its history.

I know this is a first, because when the press release was issued on Friday announcing that the NCTU - an umbrella organisation covering a number of unions including the two representing BTC staff - was calling for all its members to descend on the Parliamentary Registration Department at noon on Monday, it struck me as so strange that I sought an explanation.

"Why a voter registration drive?" - a seemingly simple question. It nevertheless met with such a bewildered reaction at NCTU HQ, you'd have thought I'd stumbled on a state secret.

The first person I spoke to declined to offer an answer. The second, very cagey and clearly suspicious, responded, "Because of the anniversary of general strike," as if the one followed logically on from the other.

She seemed very sure this was the reason, repeating her mantra regardless of how I tried to rephrase or qualify the question.

Eventually, she offered the slightly more helpful, "Because of Majority Rule" - which, granted, does seem a better reason to promote the spirit of representative democracy. Except that, as she admitted when asked, the NCTU had never once before, in the organisation's 16-year life, urged its members or affiliates to register as voters.

"Why now?" I asked, but she merely mumbled some blurb to the effect that since they were already planning to commemorate Majority Rule and the General Strike today, they figured, "Might as well add something else to the mix."

It has nothing to do with BTC or the PLP, she insisted.

Now, maybe I'm just a cynic, but it strikes me as highly unlikely that the choice of that specific "something else" while the labour movement is right in the middle of a busy schedule of angry town hall meetings and confrontational press statements - all directed at the government over the BTC sale and all supported by the opposition - was entirely without ulterior motives.

My opinion, I feel, is supported by the fact that the registration drive is being hitched to so emotive an issue as the celebrated General Strike, with all its connotations of taking a stand against injustice, the power of solidarity to overcome adversity and so on.

Then, there's the fact that so many unionists have already sought to tie the protests against BTC to the General Strike, some even threatening a reenactment of the event which paralysed Nassau for around three weeks.

Also, consider that the man who actually announced the voter registration drive on Friday, the NCTU's secretary general Robert Farquharson, is a big fan of the events of 1958, recently conducting a lecture series on their importance and raising the spectre of a repeat performance in 2008 when he threatened a national walkout of 45,000 union members over the BTC privatisation process.

This is the same Robert Farquharson who was lately president of the BCPOU, the union now protesting on behalf of the disgruntled BTC workers.

The same Robert Farquharson who, though vociferously opposed to the government's deal with Cable and Wireless, said nothing when the PLP revealed their earlier deal to sell the company to an unnamed group of foreigners - a decision his successor Bernard Evans distanced himself from, saying he doesn't think any foreign entity should own BTC and that he couldn't speak for Mr Farquharson's actions.

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting Mr F is taking instructions from the PLP, or trying to drive voters into their waiting arms in the hopes of some political reward. He, like the other union leaders who've declared against the deal, understand the challenge it represents to their powerful and lucrative positions, and probably feel their potential to recruit for the opposition is nothing more than a threatening stick to wave in front of the government right now.

As an old BCPOU man, the NCTU secretary general will be well aware of this potential. After all, his predecessor as president of that union is now the PLP MP for Golden Gates, Shane Gibson, who led a series of high profile, politically-loaded union protests toward the end of the FNM's first stint in power.

Shane Gibson is also one of the point men on the PLP's BTC controversy-stirring team. He and his cohorts are well aware of the possible benefits of hitching their political cart to the anti-Cable and Wireless bandwagon, and I'd be willing to bet that the seed of this new enthusiasm for "voter registration" was subtly planted in the minds of NCTU members following one of the opposition's strategy sessions.

But will it pay off? Will the BTC protests really turn into a mass public movement, a la 1958, and in turn into a political jackpot for the PLP?

My money is on 'No'.

The reason is, while both the General Strike and today's BTC squabble began as protests by a small group of workers trying to protect their own interests - in the earlier case, taxi drivers - the reaction of the public has not been the same.

Today, the people don't seem to view most BTC workers the helpless victims of ruthless economic and political overlords, but rather highly over-paid, chronically underachieving wasters who have held the rest of us hostage with their incompetence and poor service for far too long.

Consider the fact that only about 300 people showed up at the recent NCTU-TUC Rawson Square demonstration, despite the presence of a large number of labour leaders from a wide array of unions, and that the BCPOU's public town hall meeting last week was attended by only a few hundred people.

As there are 1,200 BTC employees in total, it would seem the union leaders can't even get their own members, let alone the general public, involved in the crusade.

It seems this theory will be tested tonight, as the unions plan to hold a mass anti-BTC sale rally at RM Bailey Park and have invited all members of the public to attend.

We shall see what level of support these union leaders really enjoy - that is, once the crowd estimates have been down-sized to factor in the PLP supporters likely to be bused in to make up the numbers, political rally style.

What do you think?

Email: pnunez@tribunemedia.net

January 10, 2011

Tribune242 Insight

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is becoming a dinosaur with diminished capacity

The BTC Dinosaur
by Simon

The unmistakeable symptom which demonstrated that BTC was becoming a dinosaur with diminished capacity surfaced as the bottom fell out of its long distance market almost overnight. On the way to losing its outdated status as a state monopoly, the company started exhibiting the classic stages of grief.

First, BTC stuck its head in the sand, attempting to use legal tactics and lame arguments as to why it should maintain a laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank monopoly with outrageously high rates.

Those rates continued to suck endless millions from businesses and homes despite long distance charges plummeting around the world, thanks to innovations from the internet to fibre optic cable and mobile phones. In addition to rapidly changing technologies, the economics of telecommunications was upended globally even as BTC remained in the first stages of grief: denial and anger.

BTC did attempt the next stage, bargaining. With fanfare it announced its introduction of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to The Bahamas. The announcement of ViBe was curious as the company tried to convince customers that this was a revolution in long distance service. Too little. Way too late.


STRANGLEHOLD

The revolution had already occurred as Bahamians in droves turned to various VOIP options to circumvent BTC’s stranglehold on long distance. As the revolution, which BTC came too late, quickened, the Vonage boxes were stacked high at various mail courier services which Bahamians were also turning to in avoidance of a postal system which had given a new meaning to snail mail.

Still, BTC lagged behind, late in introducing various services, with all manner of excuses. But it wasn’t simply the new services of which BTC was not yet proficient that annoyed customers. As frustrating were the things it still had not mastered after many decades in operation.

For too many, getting a new landline was the equivalent of root canal with the latter perhaps less painless and quicker. While jurisdictions around the world enjoyed landline voice mail for some time, BTC, despite supposedly having the technology, was once again late in introducing such a relatively simple feature.

It took some time for BTC to respond to the BlackBerry, despite our position as a world financial centre with many travelling here to conduct high-end business. And, despite the millions of tourists we host annually.

BTC’s time problem was at times also comical. A friend recalls dialling 917 to get the time and listening to a time off by several minutes. If you call 917 today, the long pause is a fitting example of the company’s woes. Of course, many people no longer call the time. Instead many consult portable devices especially cell phones now more ubiquitous than watches.

So, starved of overpriced long distance revenues, BTC turned to cellular services to gouge customers to fund its operations and fuel its growth. Today, The Bahamas has some of the highest cell phone rates in the world. It was not too long ago that we stopped paying for making and receiving a call on our cells.

BTC will tell us that they charge what they do in order to invest in new technology, serve a far-flung archipelago, pay decent salaries to valuable employees, while maintaining a certain level of service to customers.

TOO SMALL

And, this is precisely the Catch-22. As a stand-alone entity the company is too small and does not have the economies of scale necessary to compete with other telecoms while providing Bahamians with less expensive and improved service.

BTC is too small to provide, in a more cost-effective manner, the capital expenditure and investments needed to keep pace with advancements in areas from mobile data to broadband. Moreover, as a part of a larger network, BTC will be able to diversify its revenue streams in order to provide cheaper and better service.

One argument making the rounds is that BTC and The Bahamas can mirror Brazil, Singapore, South Korea and Australia in terms of the ability of the governments of those countries to invest in their respective telecommunications sectors. The sheer size of those countries, whether geographically or economically, makes such comparisons unconvincing.

In 2009 terms the gross domestic product of The Bahamas was around $7 billion dollars. Singapore’s was approximately $182 billion, South Korea’s was $832 billion, Australia’s was $924 billion and Brazil’s was a near $1 trillion dollars. In terms of market size and the ability of these governments to invest in telecommunications as opposed to The Bahamas, it is a matter of comparing a single apple and an orange grove.

The case for privatization is clear if The Bahamas is to prevent the lumbering dinosaur of BTC from turning into a fossilized giant. Cable and Wireless is the sort of international partner that may breathe new life into BTC, which, as a stand-alone may only survive through Bahamians endlessly paying exorbitant rates.

The heated rhetoric flowing from the proposed arrangement between BTC and Cable and Wireless has obscured many facts, some out of fear and some out of political manipulation in service of certain interests.

OVERSIGHT

The Bahamas will maintain a 49 percent stake in BTC. This will ensure critical influence in the new BTC. Further, the Government will have significant regulatory and oversight power, to help check and balance Cable and Wireless.

Moreover, Bahamians from every walk of life will be able to purchase shares in BTC as the Government eventually makes 25 percent of its shares available to individuals and groups such as union pension funds. And, within three years, Cable and Wireless will face new competitors, including any consortium of Bahamians interested in the telecoms sector.

So, in relatively short order, Bahamians will enjoy cheaper rates, better service, more communications options and broader economic empowerment through access to shares in a telecom.

Yet, those realities are being drowned out by a dying dinosaur still in denial, still angry and still bargaining, grieving for a past that is gone and a future that is unsustainable as it charges its customers outrageous prices for what others in the region and around the world pay pennies.

Over the many years, BTC has had many dedicated employees who have rendered valuable service to the company and The Bahamas. But collectively, the current company, like the dinosaurs of old, has been hit by life-altering realities in a new global telecommunications landscape forever transformed by the internet.

To provide its customers with less expensive and more reliable service, BTC must act less as an employment bureau for featherbedding cronies and constituents.

For some, the new reality is a depressing, the penultimate step in the stages of grief. Still, it appears that despite all the shouting and screaming and cries of Armageddon, most Bahamians long ago accepted the need for change. While they may be somewhat nostalgic about the old Batelco, this is less an expression of the last stage of grief, and more a celebration of a new chapter in telecommunications.

Of course, for some, acceptance will only come reluctantly and painfully. Yet even for these individuals, indeed for all Bahamians, BTC is one dinosaur from whom the country can still gain significant, though declining benefits, before it slides into possible irrelevance and a weakened state if left in its present form. If that happened we really would have something to mourn.

bahamapundit

Dr Duane Sands intends to make Ryan Pinder the shortest sitting Member of Parliament in the history of The Bahamas when he defeats him in the 2012 general election

Sands has Pinder in his election sights
By PAUL G TURNQUEST
Tribune Staff Reporter
pturnquest@tribunemedia.net



FORMER FNM candidate for the Elizabeth constituency, Dr Duane Sands, said he intends to make Ryan Pinder the shortest sitting Member of Parliament in the history of the Bahamas when he defeats him in the upcoming general election.

Criticizing the PLP's youngest and most recent addition to the House of Assembly for his "national campaigning," Dr Sands claims Mr Pinder has failed to provide any proper representation for the people of Elizabeth.

"If he is unwilling or unprepared to do that task, I would imagine that the people of Elizabeth will put him aside. It is my goal that he will set a record for the shortest tenure in the House of Assembly," Dr Sands said yesterday.

In response to Dr Sands, Mr Pinder told The Tribune yesterday he has been representing the people of Elizabeth fully and has provided a number of opportunities for them in his short time in office.

"I have defeated Dr Sands in the by-election when all the odds were against me, and I will certainly defeat him again when the general election is called," he said.

Having lost the by-election by a razor-thin margin of only three votes, Dr Sands said he has taken full responsibility for the loss. However, he assured the public he has learned from this exercise and is working tirelessly to counteract any of the perceived or learned challenges that they had.

"Ultimately, I think the message I have gotten from many people is that they want to know you care, that you are concerned, and that you will do what you can do to intercede on their behalf. So I have been doing that.

"I can tell you that today alone, I have spoken to at least five or six young people that reside separately in Elizabeth in an effort to help them access the job market. I had the good fortune of being able to congratulate a young lady who was able to secure a job, and I think that is what it is all about. It's effort directed at people," he said.

Currently, Mr Pinder is perceived by many within the PLP as having the largest new-found public appeal in the party, and as such, has shot up through the ranks of the organisation. He can often be seen at various social or political events with the "top brass" of the party in tow.

Noting this manoeuvre, Dr Sands said he thought that politics in the Bahamas had moved beyond this type of showmanship.

"There is probably a bit of a role for that, but what is your primary function? Your primary function is representation of the people that put you in the House of Assembly. If you lose sight of that prize, the people will remind you in very short order that you have taken your eye off the ball.

"I certainly believe he has taken his eye off the ball. And while that has provided me with a strategic advantage I am disappointed, because the people in Elizabeth were really counting on a different kind of politics, a different kind of representation, and I think they have been short changed once again," he said.

To his criticisms of "showmanship" Mr Pinder said politicians today must realise that not every voter will visit an MP's office and as such they should venture out to the people to meet and greet them wherever they may be.

January 08, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Another Food Crisis Looms?

The Bahama Journal Editorial


Sadly, this so-called ‘great little nation’ of ours is utterly dependent on outsiders for most of the goods it consumes, with the one saving grace that for more than half a century, it has been able – thanks to an extremely vibrant foreign sector – to find the foreign exchange needed to pay for the goods it consumes.

Those days are coming to an end.

And as they do, there is today some dawning appreciation of the fact that, change must come and that, Bahamians must – as a matter of the most urgent priority – produce more of the food they consume.

Here we can also note that, the current administration is on record with a suggestion that, they have what it takes to get the agriculture question right in a Bahamas that now is so utterly dependent on others; and in a Bahamas where the cost of living by the day increases.

Here take note that, "BAIC Executive chairman Edison Key said the government has given the green light to make agriculture a success in The Bahamas."

Key’s proclamation is to the effect that he and the administration he happens to serve has a plan. As he puts it, "We want to turn that land over to persons who are serious about farming and food production. Our aim is to turn Andros into the breadbasket of The Bahamas."

What a wonderful dream!

But for sure, and as we have previously opined, a persistent call continues to be made to the effect that, more Bahamians should step forward and take possession of farm land that could be made available to them.

Evidently, as far as calls are concerned, this one is as good as any; and clearly, this is all well and good. Regrettably, however, if call is not matched by commensurate response – the call is left unrequited.

In addition, we note and reiterate our view that, this dream of a vibrant agricultural industry in The Bahamas cannot ever be translated into reality if commensurate public policy effort is not designed to find and attract suitably qualified farm labor to The Bahamas.

This we should resolve to do as soon as possible; and surely, therefore, those who command authority at the state level should take the lead in both educating themselves and the public at large concerning the clear benefits such a move could bring to this nation and to the wider region.

Information reaching us suggests that a food crisis reminiscent of one that took place in 2008 might well be in the offing; with implications and ramifications for countries such as the Bahamas that import most of the food, fuel and technology they consume.

The information we are getting comes our way from the United Nations. And in this regard, we can also report that we are relying on an analysis that has been written by William Neuman who reports for the New York Times.

In a recent [January 5, 2011] report, Neuman - writing for The New York Times – indicates that, “…World food prices continued to rise sharply in December, bringing them close to the crisis levels that provoked shortages and riots in poor countries three years ago, according to newly released United Nations data…”

Neuman continues by noting that, “Prices are expected to remain high this year, prompting concern that the world may be approaching another crisis, although economists cautioned that many factors, like adequate stockpiles of key grains, could prevent a serious problem…”

Here the resemblance to times past is unmistakable.

Yet again, as Neuman reminds us: “…At that time, high petroleum prices, growing world demand for food and poor harvests in some areas combined to sharply push up food prices in poorer importing countries. That led to shortages and sometimes deadly riots in several countries, including Egypt, Haiti, Somalia and Cameroon…”

A similar dynamic is also at work in the United States where food prices are also on the rise; with clear implications for the Bahamas and the wider region.

As Neuman explains: “…Joseph Glauber, the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, said that rising world commodity prices could be expected to have their greatest impact in this country on meat and dairy prices because they can push up the price of livestock feed.

“As feed prices go up, farmers often cut the size of herds, meaning less meat ultimately reaches the market. Beef, pork and dairy prices rose faster last year than overall food prices and are expected to continue that trend this year…”

The implications for us are therefore as clear as day: we must be up and doing in our efforts to produce more food and in the longer term; we must be up and doing as regards reforming the law so that the Bahamas can become more receptive and more appreciative of the role that labor can play in helping build a more self-reliant Bahamas.

January 7, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Echoes of a General Strike

The Bahama Journal Editorial




For better or worse, there are lessons that always come with the struggle for power; whether this battle has to do with who gets to determine how money is spent in a household, in an organization anywhere civil society, in a firm or at the state level.

Even more simply, politics is about who gets what, when, where and how; in addition, it is also about the definition of that party or individual whose will must be obeyed.

In other words, then, as in our own fledgling democracy; the question today arises concerning whether the governing party should, would or could yield to demands currently being made by some of this nation’s union leadership.

Among the instruments they say they have is that one that allows them to withdraw their labor and that of their membership in the event that the governing party does not yield to their demands.

We seriously doubt that, they have this level of support.

In addition, the fact remains that, this is just not the way things are done in today’s Bahamas.

Indeed, while unions and their membership do have the right to protest any policy they see fit; and even though they do have the right to take the government to court, they do not have any real right to hold any government hostage.

And for sure, it is a fact that the governing party has a mandate to lead and that –as such – they are called upon to lead. They also have promises to be kept.

Clearly, then, no right-thinking government should ever put itself in a position where it must endlessly consult with everyone; or for that matter, anyone else other than those given a similar mandate by the people.

This comes as a direct result of the free vote and expression of the people in free and fair elections.

Thereafter, the government leads and its Loyal Opposition opposes; with one party having its sway and the other its say.

We dare say that, anything else is a clear invitation to both foolishness and anarchy.

While we do believe all of what we are saying; we hasten to add that, no government worth its salt would ever so paint itself into a corner by alienating the masses of people who identify themselves as workers.

But by the same token, union leadership must always be mindful that while they are called to lead, this call must always be tempered by what is in the very best interests of their followers.

What makes this situation so very important is the fact that workers are voters. This means that whenever they wish, they can bring a government to grief and despair. These workers who are also voters know as well as anyone else that the choices they make can determine whether one side wins or the other loses.

This means that when workers become restive enough, their approval of this or that politician matters greatly.

Compounding the matter in the Bahamian case is the fact that the Bahamian labor force is compact, well organized, knows and feels its power.

Politicians who wish to be re-elected cannot ignore these people and their demands.

No politician worth his salt would ever dare express contempt or disdain for those voters who are workers.

We make this obvious point as we try to make sense of what seems increased restiveness on the part of very many public sector workers.

On occasion, their main gripe seems to concern money. At other times, workers and their representatives seem to be preoccupied with matters germane to respect.

In addition, there are times like the ones in which we live where some union leaders seem to have reached that point where – like politicians in their guise as law-makers – they would pontificate on matters germane to policy.

Here they are embarked –as it were – on a journey without maps; and here we are reminded that, history does not repeat itself.

We make this point as we reflect on some of what is today being said about how today’s political climate is seemingly reminiscent of that era in the late 1950’s when there was both call and response to the idea of a General Strike.

That great call was made by Randol F. Fawkes, Clifford Darling and Lynden O. Pindling.

Out of this great struggle has come a modern Bahamas where the rights of workers are enshrined in the law.

This we do in free and fair elections.

All else is anathema.

In the final analysis, then, law-making and policy should be left where the Constitution places them – squarely and fully in the hands of this nation’s parliamentarians.

That is why we boast so much about the longevity of parliamentary democracy in the Bahamas.

January 06, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

The trade union leadership in The Bahamas is in shambles

By Dennis Dames


It was sometime in December 2010 that I saw the big-time union-woman Ms. Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson on television hinting with a vengeance about the possibly of a general strike or massive demonstrations as a result of the government’s decision to sell the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to one Cable and Wireless. She ended with the words: We coming.

Then, some days later– I saw her again on the screen; but this time, she was like a ship without wind for its sails. It looked like she and her band of irresolute union leaders were not sure after all about the next course of action that they would take.

We coming had turned to: We don’t know if we are coming or going.

Big booboo Ms. Isaacs-Dotson!

You played with fire and you got burned. I think that you have presented your cards recklessly on this issue; and it is my perception that the union leadership in The Bahamas is in shambles as a consequence.

Then, I saw the BTC union leader on the news like he was crying. He threatened to sue someone who would insist on essentially telling lies on them. It was like he was timid rather than confident. It really did not reflect favorably on their cause; whatever it is that they are trying to articulate.

Then, there is Mr. Carroll – the Managers’ union man of BTC. He simply looks lost in all of this union lunacy that we must endure – hopefully for not too much longer. Every-time I see Mr. Carroll in the newspapers – he looks out-of-place or in space.

What are these people really dealing with? Fighting boredom perhaps or are they simply being misguided by political con-men who are out to springboard solidly to the 2012 general election?

Bahamas Blog International

From Austerity to Prosperity

The Bahama Journal Editorial



While we have no way of precisely forecasting the future, we are fairly certain that – in the absence of a decisive break with business as usual - things are set to get even harder for a broad swath of our people.

This is so not only because we are so dependent on external forces and sources for most of the jobs that provide good incomes; but also because of the fact that in times past, we just did not produce enough and neither did we have - as a people – any real desire to do more.

Instead, we spent as if there was no tomorrow; and we borrowed as if happy days would last for as long as we might have wished.

Today, we know that these were mere illusions; in and of themselves evidence of a dependency that left us vulnerable and open to shock after shock – some of them external and others terrifyingly internal.

And so today – and therefore to the nub of today’s argument – we note that, we must – if we are to weather the storms ahead, work harder, produce more and in so many other words, we have to give value for money.

Evidently, the fact of the matter in today’s hard-pressed Bahamas is to the effect that, Bahamians are slowly but surely coming to the realization that they will be obliged to work harder, study more, get more training and otherwise become more competitive if they hope to make it.

Here we note how Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham some time ago framed the issue at hand. In this regard, the nation’s chief admonished, "We must never lose sight of the reality that as the world’s economy shrinks, competition increases…”

And so, we can decide to match the competition, out-distance it or fall behind. Put simply, we are in a fight that will determine whether we get out from under our troubles and woes or if we are to fail utterly.

Simply put, if we are to find our own unique road to success, we must demand far more of ourselves and a great deal more of our leaders.

This is surely the way to go if we are to negotiate our way past austerity road; that path that invariably precedes the broad vistas that come with prosperity.

Here we would posit that, the time is nigh for the Bahamian people to realize that the world in which they live, work and where they might prosper, remains one that rewards productivity and creativity.

And for sure, while foreign directed projects like Baha Mar are obviously appreciated, Bahamians must do more for themselves.

Here they are called upon to do so by working harder, remaining sober, becoming more diligent and otherwise, giving appropriate value for money received.

While much of this is easier said than done and while some others might dither and others dawdle, clearly things are currently going from bad to worse.

We need merely refer to some of the grief some small employers are obliged to experience as they try to keep their businesses afloat.

Utility costs are high; so is the price of labor.

There is little to no commensurate value coming the employer’s way – this due to the fact that labor is expensive, often incompetent and just as often, simply unavailable.

This and more information just like this serves to underscore the urgency in the moment for all hands to be put to work if things are going to be kept together.

They must become more productive.

Clearly then, it is this question of productivity that cuts to the heart of that matter which turns on whether the Bahamas has what it takes to compete in the region and in the wider world.

Sadly, the answer must be in the negative.

This neatly explains how it now arises where in certain large enterprises, workers are being routinely ‘thrown overboard’ in efforts to help staunch this or that firm’s money-hemorrhage; thus the emergence here of late of that rising ocean of unemployed and underemployed Bahamians.

And so we would respectfully suggest that –if only at this juncture - we just do not have what it takes to compete with nations that have vast numbers of disciplined workers – men and women who work well and hard – and who do have what it takes to create value.

Here discipline is the key.

When and where workers are disciplined, well-educated and properly trained they become a nation’s most valuable resource.

Contrariwise, when and where they are neglected or denied education and training, they become social parasites; this in turn, exposes them to lives of misery and want.

And so, as night follows day, we must – if we are to survive in this brave new world – work smarter, produce more value and otherwise demonstrate that we can compete in that global economy where the mantra remains, compete or perish.

December 05, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

The Bahamas' ever-expanding national debt: "the biggest threat" to the Bahamian economy's recovery and medium to-long-term prospects...

'Biggest threat' from $4.1bn national debt
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor



The ever-expanding national debt, which hit $4.139 billion at end-September 2010 after growing by 12.5 per cent or $460.5 million over the previous 12 months, represents "the biggest threat" to the Bahamian economy's recovery and medium to-long-term prospects, a former finance minister warned yesterday.

James Smith, minister of state for finance in the former Christie government between 2002-2007, said that while the Bahamas' national finances were "nowhere near crisis" point yet, the "worrisome" aspect was the "aggressive" and "accelerated rate" at which the national debt and its ratio to gross domestic product (GDP) was increasing.

Arguing that the Bahamas urgently needed to regain its fiscal headroom to cope with further unexpected future shocks to its economy, Mr Smith said the main concern was the trajectory at which the national debt and debt-to-GDP ratio were rising, especially since the revenues to service them were still falling.

Commenting on the most recent national debt figures, published by the Central Bank in its 2010 third quarter economic review, Mr Smith said: "The increase is getting a little aggressive. Any time you have this continuing trend, and it's an upward trend, that's the concern, because it comes at a time when there is no increase in revenue, so the debt service element is growing at full steam.

"With less revenue coming in, and the cost of financing the debt going up, a greater part of Government expenditure has to be dedicated to debt servicing." As a result, the sums available for the Government to spend on essential services, such as health, education and national security, would be less.

Concern:

"There ought to be some concern about the rate of increase in the debt, because it's very difficult once you step over that slope to come back," the former finance minister added. "I don't think we're anywhere near crisis; it's the trend that's the worrisome part."

The Bahamas' national debt grew by 12.5 per cent or $460.5 million over the 12 months to September 30, 2010, and by 4.4 per cent or $173.3 million during that third quarter, aided by a $100 million domestic government bond issue.

While many small island economies had managed to withstand the global recession with higher debt-to-GDP ratios than the Bahamas, a number had been forced to head for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restructure their debt. And they, like the Bahamas, did not have a hard currency to back their debt, being forced to borrow in foreign currency.

The Central Bank report also highlighted another concern, namely that public sector foreign currency debt stood at $1.324 billion as at September 30, 2010, with 59.3 per cent directly attributed to the central government. And, according to Tribune Business calculations, foreign currency accounts for 32 per cent - almost one-third - of the total national debt.

"That's also worrisome," Mr Smith responded, when informed by Tribune Business about the level of foreign currency debt. "What is happening is that we're seeing a build-up in foreign currency reserves, which is good, but that has been produced by the Government's foreign currency borrowing and the IMF subvention [special drawing rights]."

The real issue for the Bahamas could come "somewhere down the road" when the Government's foreign currency bond issue matured, requiring a multi-million dollar principal repayment, likely to be in the region of $200-$300 million, to be made to the investors.

While the Government's existing foreign currency bonds all had medium and long-term maturities, if the foreign reserves were not boosted by inflows from tourism and foreign direct investment, the principal repayments would represent a substantial drawdown on these reserves - currently standing at $875 million.

Ultimately, this could result in "more and more foreign currency being used for debt reduction, as opposed to bolstering the economy" through import spending and such like, Mr Smith said, adding: "We have to be careful about the foreign currency portion of the debt.

"Right now it looks good on the monetary side because the reserves have increased, but that's not come from tourism or foreign direct investment - it's come from the proceeds of debt.

Rates:

"Again, down the road, in maybe another two or three years' time, when you look at this in a global context where interest rates have been held down by quantitative easing, the rate on our foreign currency borrowing could rise because it's tied to LIBOR.

"This debt servicing component of the Budget could rise even further still."

Describing the national debt and its growth rate as "the biggest threat" to the Bahamas' medium and long-term economic growth and stability, Mr Smith told Tribune Business: "We are rapidly using up the headroom in the event we do have problems down the road, and for us it's external events that put us out."

Pointing to the 'short, sharp shock' to the Bahamian economy caused by the travel hiatus following the September 11 terror attacks, which plunged this nation into a temporary recession, Mr Smith added that with the likes of Europe and US also carrying major debt burdens, the Bahamas would have to compete for "the same pool" of financing, something that could see it crowded out or forced to pay higher interest rates on its debt.

"We're not out of the woods yet. We need to continue to get the headroom in the event of a short-term crisis," Mr Smith said. He urged the Government to conduct a careful, proper analysis of the fiscal picture to ensure the Bahamas enjoyed a soft landing.

And the former finance minister warned that while the Government "may have it under control internally", the growing national debt and falling revenues would be interpreted as a bad sign by the international community. Indeed, the rising level of government debt saw interest payments during the first quarter of the 2010-2011 Budget year to $44 million, a growth of $12.2 million or 5.29 per cent.

The direct debt charge on the Government grew by 5.3 per cent or $181.4 million over the 2010 third quarter, and by 10.6 per cent or $342.6 million in the 12 months to September 30, 2010. Bahamian dollar obligations accounted for 78.1 per cent of this direct charge.

December 31, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International