What are we getting and what were we paid for BTC?
thenassauguardian editorial
The deal is done. It is finished. The Bahamas Telecommunications Company or at least the majority of BTC, 51 percent, has been sold to Cable & Wireless Communications and The Bahamas will soon be a part of the LIME telecommunications network.
On the surface, it would appear that for dispensing with 51 percent of BTC, Bahamians could expect to receive, over time, the following features which presumably the existing Bahamian management and staff of BTC are unwilling or unable to deliver:
• expanded services for smart phones (Blackberry, iPhones) at “reasonable” prices and faster mobile services to deliver music and television to handsets;
• increase in the number of places Bahamians can go to receive phone services;
• purchase pre-connected phones at retail outlets;
• standard prices for daily cellular services and no more long distance charges for calls made locally;
• better roaming and faster broadband services;
• more connectivity for the Family Islands and more efficient services for small- and medium-sized businesses;
• easier to understand billing services and up to 36 percent reduction in costs per minute over the next three years; and
• spending on community projects including support for Junkanoo; a “center for excellence”; opportunities for Bahamians to work in the rest of the Caribbean (movement of labor has arrived); and increased services to our major economic sectors, tourism and banking.
In addition to the improved services on our existing network, CWC will reportedly pay to the government $210 million plus another $7 million in stamp duties for 51 percent of BTC.
Should we deduct from that figure the unknown amount of net cash value in excess of $15 million at the date of sale that CWC is allowed to take out of BTC?
Should we also deduct the $39 million that the government (Bahamian taxpayer) has agreed to place in the “Feeder Trust” which would presumably cover the shortfall in BTC’s existing pension plan?
It would be useful and enormously transparent if someone would let the public know the exact amount (net) that represents the proceeds of the sale of BTC.
And while you are at it, let us know how the Treasury will fare in future without the $96 million in dividends paid to it by BTC in 2009, if we are to accept a recent report published in the local press.
We would be among the first to agree that there is a need to improve the services performance of BTC but we find it difficult to accept that the above list of services cannot be provided by the Bahamian workforce.
We find it equally difficult to accept that the best way to improve services would be to sell the majority of shares to a regional carrier which, in addition to collecting two percent of total revenue for its intellectual property (despite being the majority owner) would most likely make all major decisions involving the local company in its far-away regional headquarters in the Caribbean. A regional carrier would most likely remit much-needed foreign exchange out of the country in the form of dividends and profits.
And above all, we most certainly hope that our Caribbean friends, who may hold equity (shares) in LIME are not indirectly holding shares in BTC before Bahamian residents are allowed to do so.
2/10/2011
thenassauguardian editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
I'm delighted that Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) will be out of the government's hands and looking forward to great things to come
I'm just delighted that BTC is sold
By Rick Lowe
If there is one policy I agree with the FNM on is their intention to divest the public corporations.
I am also glad that there does not appear to be any cronyism in their decision.
The comments like we're being re-colonised as a result of the big white bogeyman buying BTC or the government caused BTC to be like it is, or the union president being quoted as threatening to turn "The Bahamas into a small Egypt" and bear with us as we interrupt your phone service for example are simply out of step with the real world.
The racist comments aside, on the one hand the government is the problem with BTC, but they want the government to hold on to it. For what? So they can continue to interfere and hand string the corporation?
Now let's look at the third comment for a moment. Saying,'We'll turn country into small Egypt' is most inappropriate. The Bahamas is a parliamentary democracy and Bahamians do not wish to turn to a dictatorship for an example of how a country should be.
The fourth comment that Bahamians should bear with them as they disrupt the phone services that people rely on for emergencies or to make a living is nothing short of disrespectful to hard working, law abiding Bahamians throughout the country.
If I were able to bend the ear of those opposed to CWC/LIME buying a 51% stake in BTC, I would suggest that they re-group and start putting their resources and business plans together to enter the market as a cellular provider when the market is liberalised in three years.
Few of us want to resort to violence to achieve our ends in tis day and age, and besides didn't Sir Lynden figuratively lead us out of Egypt in 1967?
That's intended to be funny of course, but The Bahamas has come too far to be set back with that behaviour.
In the final, I'm delighted BTC will be out of governments hands and look forward to great things to come.
February 10, 2011
weblogbahamas
By Rick Lowe
If there is one policy I agree with the FNM on is their intention to divest the public corporations.
I am also glad that there does not appear to be any cronyism in their decision.
The comments like we're being re-colonised as a result of the big white bogeyman buying BTC or the government caused BTC to be like it is, or the union president being quoted as threatening to turn "The Bahamas into a small Egypt" and bear with us as we interrupt your phone service for example are simply out of step with the real world.
The racist comments aside, on the one hand the government is the problem with BTC, but they want the government to hold on to it. For what? So they can continue to interfere and hand string the corporation?
Now let's look at the third comment for a moment. Saying,'We'll turn country into small Egypt' is most inappropriate. The Bahamas is a parliamentary democracy and Bahamians do not wish to turn to a dictatorship for an example of how a country should be.
The fourth comment that Bahamians should bear with them as they disrupt the phone services that people rely on for emergencies or to make a living is nothing short of disrespectful to hard working, law abiding Bahamians throughout the country.
If I were able to bend the ear of those opposed to CWC/LIME buying a 51% stake in BTC, I would suggest that they re-group and start putting their resources and business plans together to enter the market as a cellular provider when the market is liberalised in three years.
Few of us want to resort to violence to achieve our ends in tis day and age, and besides didn't Sir Lynden figuratively lead us out of Egypt in 1967?
That's intended to be funny of course, but The Bahamas has come too far to be set back with that behaviour.
In the final, I'm delighted BTC will be out of governments hands and look forward to great things to come.
February 10, 2011
weblogbahamas
Dion Foulkes - Minister of Labour accuses BCPOU President Bernard Evans of promoting social unrest and seeking to destabilize the government and the economy of The Bahamas
Unions promoting 'social unrest'
By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE
Guardian Senior Reporter
kdl@nasguard.com
Labour minister hits out over 'small Egypt' comment
Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes has accused Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans of promoting social unrest and seeking to destabilize the government and the economy.
It came after Evans on Tuesday threatened to turn The Bahamas into a “small Egypt” as a result of the government signing a deal with Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) to purchase a majority interest in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company.
“The security of thousands of Bahamian jobs depends on political and social stability,” Foulkes said in a statement released by the Free National Movement Communication Unit.
The labor minister urged Evans to withdraw his “offensive comment and apologize to the Bahamian people.”
But Evans said yesterday, “I will do no such thing.
“What I said was those persons in Egypt who rose up against oppression, against a dictatorial type of governance, were very peaceful in the beginning when they started. It was only [in] the latter days when the armed forces and/or proponents of (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak started to [have] confrontations with those persons that it became out of hand.”
On Tuesday, as he stood on the steps of the Churchill Building, Evans warned of industrial action.
“I see now the police are putting up barricades again as if they are preparing for animals, but the will of the people is the strength of the people,” he said at the time.
“I guess if The Bahamas is ready and if the government is ready to see a small Egypt, then they are going to get it.”
Yesterday, Evans added that by nature, Bahamians are very peaceful people.
“I have always been very cordial and very peaceful, so I don’t know why the minister would want to insinuate that we are trying to wreak havoc on the community or on this nation. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Evans said.
Blasting the “small Egypt” comment, Foulkes noted that many people were killed and hundreds injured in Egypt in recent weeks.
“To urge members of the BCPOU to engage in similar behavior in The Bahamas is unbecoming of a union leader,” he said.
Evans — who has been threatening industrial unrest for weeks — went a step further on Tuesday, apologizing to the Bahamian public for the disruption in services he said will come.
2/10/2011
thenassauguardian
By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE
Guardian Senior Reporter
kdl@nasguard.com
Labour minister hits out over 'small Egypt' comment
Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes has accused Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans of promoting social unrest and seeking to destabilize the government and the economy.
It came after Evans on Tuesday threatened to turn The Bahamas into a “small Egypt” as a result of the government signing a deal with Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) to purchase a majority interest in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company.
“The security of thousands of Bahamian jobs depends on political and social stability,” Foulkes said in a statement released by the Free National Movement Communication Unit.
The labor minister urged Evans to withdraw his “offensive comment and apologize to the Bahamian people.”
But Evans said yesterday, “I will do no such thing.
“What I said was those persons in Egypt who rose up against oppression, against a dictatorial type of governance, were very peaceful in the beginning when they started. It was only [in] the latter days when the armed forces and/or proponents of (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak started to [have] confrontations with those persons that it became out of hand.”
On Tuesday, as he stood on the steps of the Churchill Building, Evans warned of industrial action.
“I see now the police are putting up barricades again as if they are preparing for animals, but the will of the people is the strength of the people,” he said at the time.
“I guess if The Bahamas is ready and if the government is ready to see a small Egypt, then they are going to get it.”
Yesterday, Evans added that by nature, Bahamians are very peaceful people.
“I have always been very cordial and very peaceful, so I don’t know why the minister would want to insinuate that we are trying to wreak havoc on the community or on this nation. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Evans said.
Blasting the “small Egypt” comment, Foulkes noted that many people were killed and hundreds injured in Egypt in recent weeks.
“To urge members of the BCPOU to engage in similar behavior in The Bahamas is unbecoming of a union leader,” he said.
Evans — who has been threatening industrial unrest for weeks — went a step further on Tuesday, apologizing to the Bahamian public for the disruption in services he said will come.
2/10/2011
thenassauguardian
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) business plan outlines 36% reduction in per-minute phone rates within three years
Lower phone rates for BTC customers
By STEWART MILLER
Guardian Business Reporter
stewart@nasguard.com
CWC business plan outlines 36% reduction in three years
BTC customers can expect to see a 36 percent reduction in per-minute phone rates within three years of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) taking control of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), but the price reductions should commence within the first year.
Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham tabled the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and CWC in the House yesterday, which outlined the commitments between the two parties.
During his communication, the prime minister disclosed key aspects of CWC’s five-year business plan, submitted by CWC as one of the requirements of the MOU. Several matters directly related to customer costs were addressed in the business plan.
“CWC’s plans will reduce the present rates significantly within the next three years, starting with the first year of operations here in The Bahamas,” Ingraham said, later adding, “It is not just about price reductions. It is also about value for money. We expect consumers and businesses in The Bahamas to be pleased with a new array of products and services that CWC will introduce — that is to say, more services for less cost.”
Around noon yesterday, ahead of the tabling of the MOU, the government and Cable and Wireless signed a share purchase agreement and shareholders agreement governing the terms of CWC’s acquisition of 51 percent of the shares of BTC for a consideration of $210 million plus $7 million stamp tax. During that signing, the prime minister said that the completion of the transaction is expected to occur around the end of March 2011. CWC would then take responsibility for the management and operation of BTC under terms defined in the shareholders agreement.
Under the CWC business plan, BTC customers within The Bahamas calling the Family Islands will no longer have to pay long distance charges when using a mobile-to-mobile connection. There will also be a simplification of billing schedules. The practice of charging different prices for cellular services based on the time of day the call is made will also be eliminated under the business plan.
CWC’s five-year plan also promises ‘reasonable prices’ for smartphones, such as the Blackberry, Android and iPhone. Customers using smartphones will also be able to take fuller advantage of features such as mobile banking, television, and other types of content delivery.
The plan also outlined a number of additional improvements, including better roaming arrangements, faster broadband, more connectivity, consolidated billing, Pay TV, and increased outlets to access BTC services. The prime minister said these would be delivered “while achieving an up to 36% reduction in the cost per minute of both prepaid and postpaid services over the next three years, before cellular competition begins.”
2/9/2011
thenassauguardian
By STEWART MILLER
Guardian Business Reporter
stewart@nasguard.com
CWC business plan outlines 36% reduction in three years
BTC customers can expect to see a 36 percent reduction in per-minute phone rates within three years of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) taking control of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), but the price reductions should commence within the first year.
Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham tabled the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and CWC in the House yesterday, which outlined the commitments between the two parties.
During his communication, the prime minister disclosed key aspects of CWC’s five-year business plan, submitted by CWC as one of the requirements of the MOU. Several matters directly related to customer costs were addressed in the business plan.
“CWC’s plans will reduce the present rates significantly within the next three years, starting with the first year of operations here in The Bahamas,” Ingraham said, later adding, “It is not just about price reductions. It is also about value for money. We expect consumers and businesses in The Bahamas to be pleased with a new array of products and services that CWC will introduce — that is to say, more services for less cost.”
Around noon yesterday, ahead of the tabling of the MOU, the government and Cable and Wireless signed a share purchase agreement and shareholders agreement governing the terms of CWC’s acquisition of 51 percent of the shares of BTC for a consideration of $210 million plus $7 million stamp tax. During that signing, the prime minister said that the completion of the transaction is expected to occur around the end of March 2011. CWC would then take responsibility for the management and operation of BTC under terms defined in the shareholders agreement.
Under the CWC business plan, BTC customers within The Bahamas calling the Family Islands will no longer have to pay long distance charges when using a mobile-to-mobile connection. There will also be a simplification of billing schedules. The practice of charging different prices for cellular services based on the time of day the call is made will also be eliminated under the business plan.
CWC’s five-year plan also promises ‘reasonable prices’ for smartphones, such as the Blackberry, Android and iPhone. Customers using smartphones will also be able to take fuller advantage of features such as mobile banking, television, and other types of content delivery.
The plan also outlined a number of additional improvements, including better roaming arrangements, faster broadband, more connectivity, consolidated billing, Pay TV, and increased outlets to access BTC services. The prime minister said these would be delivered “while achieving an up to 36% reduction in the cost per minute of both prepaid and postpaid services over the next three years, before cellular competition begins.”
2/9/2011
thenassauguardian
After Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) president Bernard Evans would have destroyed The Bahamas, what does he plan to salvage from the ruins to pass on to his children?
Union leader promises a 'small Egypt'
tribune242 editorial
YESTERDAY the Government laid on the table of the House the much anticipated agreement to sell 51 per cent of Bahamas Telecommunications Company to Cable and Wireless Communications. The transaction is still subject to parliamentary and regulatory approvals.
Opposition leader Perry Christie quickly announced that his party will not support the sale. He said the Opposition was particularly "grieved that even though the decision was made to sell, the decision was made to sell 51 per cent." To him that was "an error of judgment on the part of this government and certainly does not serve the best interests of the people of the Bahamas."
We know that Mr Christie, a lawyer, probably does not have much practical experience in the business world, but when a purchaser is so hobbled in a sale -- as is Cable & Wireless -- the vendor has to relinquish something to keep him interested in the purchase. An early snag in the negotiations was C&W's need to slash 30 per cent of BTC's 1,150 work force to put the company in a position to compete in an open market. Obviously, Mr Ingraham, fighting desperately to save BTC jobs and making it clear that his government would not tolerate any forced redundancies, had to somehow "sweeten the pie" to keep C&W at the negotiating table. Many benefits, such as very generous pensions among other perks, had to be protected for current staff.
We presume 51 per cent and the three year period of exclusivity for its cellular service had to be the bait to clinch the deal.
And yet BTC employees are screaming that government is not thinking of the Bahamian people. Maybe they have a point there. An argument can be made that in his effort to protect BTC staff, he did indeed defer many of the benefits that the Bahamian people want now for another three years. This is to protect BTC staff and give them time to decide their future.
If this had been an ordinary sale -- or even if BTC workers had become the owners of the company -- reality would have set in very quickly. They would have become business men and women overnight, and about 300 staff would have had to have been made redundant immediately for the overburdened company to survive.
We presume that 51 per cent was the price that government had to pay to protect the jobs of many ungrateful staff.
Denise Wilson, BCPOU secretary general, declared that even though some Bahamians might not understand why unions are continuing to fight the sale, "it comes down to our rights." We understand only too well why they are fighting, they are not thinking of the country, or the Bahamians who pay their salaries, their focus is solely on themselves.
As for BCPOU president Bernard Evans, despite wanting us to believe that unionists are fighting the sale for the sake of future generations, he has vowed to turn this country into a "small Egypt." Those of us who have watched television these past two weeks know exactly what that means -- destruction. And after he has destroyed the nation, what does he plan to salvage from the ruins to pass on to his children?
He talks about showing the strength of the people.
Mr Evans is fooling himself if he thinks his minority, now trying to hold the government hostage, represents the will of the majority of Bahamians.
"I want to apologise right now publicly to all of our valued customers," said Mr Evans. "Be patient with us, but needless to say that services will be affected somewhat. Be patient with us, we are fighting for a cause we believe, we know, is bigger than BTC's members and employees. We are fighting for the future of our children."
Mr Evans forgets that Bahamians have been patient will their performance for too long now. The patience of most of us has run out.
Either the Bahamas is going to forge ahead for the sake of our children, or it is going to be held back in the cesspool of inefficiency.
After Mr Evans has turned us into another Egypt and jeopardised the jobs of all Bahamians, there won't be much left for another generation.
Nor have we any patience with an unreasonable people who reject an invitation to at least sit down and have a discussion with the Prime Minister.
What should be remembered is that Prime Minister Ingraham is the elected representative of the Bahamian people, not Mr Evans or union leaders.
February 09, 2011
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
YESTERDAY the Government laid on the table of the House the much anticipated agreement to sell 51 per cent of Bahamas Telecommunications Company to Cable and Wireless Communications. The transaction is still subject to parliamentary and regulatory approvals.
Opposition leader Perry Christie quickly announced that his party will not support the sale. He said the Opposition was particularly "grieved that even though the decision was made to sell, the decision was made to sell 51 per cent." To him that was "an error of judgment on the part of this government and certainly does not serve the best interests of the people of the Bahamas."
We know that Mr Christie, a lawyer, probably does not have much practical experience in the business world, but when a purchaser is so hobbled in a sale -- as is Cable & Wireless -- the vendor has to relinquish something to keep him interested in the purchase. An early snag in the negotiations was C&W's need to slash 30 per cent of BTC's 1,150 work force to put the company in a position to compete in an open market. Obviously, Mr Ingraham, fighting desperately to save BTC jobs and making it clear that his government would not tolerate any forced redundancies, had to somehow "sweeten the pie" to keep C&W at the negotiating table. Many benefits, such as very generous pensions among other perks, had to be protected for current staff.
We presume 51 per cent and the three year period of exclusivity for its cellular service had to be the bait to clinch the deal.
And yet BTC employees are screaming that government is not thinking of the Bahamian people. Maybe they have a point there. An argument can be made that in his effort to protect BTC staff, he did indeed defer many of the benefits that the Bahamian people want now for another three years. This is to protect BTC staff and give them time to decide their future.
If this had been an ordinary sale -- or even if BTC workers had become the owners of the company -- reality would have set in very quickly. They would have become business men and women overnight, and about 300 staff would have had to have been made redundant immediately for the overburdened company to survive.
We presume that 51 per cent was the price that government had to pay to protect the jobs of many ungrateful staff.
Denise Wilson, BCPOU secretary general, declared that even though some Bahamians might not understand why unions are continuing to fight the sale, "it comes down to our rights." We understand only too well why they are fighting, they are not thinking of the country, or the Bahamians who pay their salaries, their focus is solely on themselves.
As for BCPOU president Bernard Evans, despite wanting us to believe that unionists are fighting the sale for the sake of future generations, he has vowed to turn this country into a "small Egypt." Those of us who have watched television these past two weeks know exactly what that means -- destruction. And after he has destroyed the nation, what does he plan to salvage from the ruins to pass on to his children?
He talks about showing the strength of the people.
Mr Evans is fooling himself if he thinks his minority, now trying to hold the government hostage, represents the will of the majority of Bahamians.
"I want to apologise right now publicly to all of our valued customers," said Mr Evans. "Be patient with us, but needless to say that services will be affected somewhat. Be patient with us, we are fighting for a cause we believe, we know, is bigger than BTC's members and employees. We are fighting for the future of our children."
Mr Evans forgets that Bahamians have been patient will their performance for too long now. The patience of most of us has run out.
Either the Bahamas is going to forge ahead for the sake of our children, or it is going to be held back in the cesspool of inefficiency.
After Mr Evans has turned us into another Egypt and jeopardised the jobs of all Bahamians, there won't be much left for another generation.
Nor have we any patience with an unreasonable people who reject an invitation to at least sit down and have a discussion with the Prime Minister.
What should be remembered is that Prime Minister Ingraham is the elected representative of the Bahamian people, not Mr Evans or union leaders.
February 09, 2011
tribune242 editorial
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is simply fed up with the double standard being exhibited by the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) in its dealing with BTC vis-à-vis Cable Bahamas
BTC blasts URCA 'double standards'
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday accused the industry regulator of employing "double standards" in its approach to product unbundling, telling Tribune Business it had been "perplexed" by the decision to give Cable Bahamas until 2013 to completely untie its cable TV and broadband Internet offerings.
Marlon Johnson, BTC's vice-president of sales and marketing, told Tribune Business that the state-owned incumbent wanted to ensure there was a regulatory "level playing field" between itself and BISX-listed Cable Bahamas as Significant Market Power (SMP) operators, contrasting the "sliding scale" imposed on the latter with the requirement that it instantly unbundle its own broadband Internet offering from its phone services.
As Tribune Business revealed last week, Cable Bahamas has been given until end-2013 to complete the 100 per cent separation of its cable TV and Internet products on New Providence and Grand Bahama, something Mr Johnson yesterday described as fundamentally unfair, arguing that the BISX-listed company had not complied with its SMP obligations and should not be allowed to enter other markets.
He added that the extended time period given to Cable Bahamas to 'unbundle' those services would "stifle" consumer choice and the arrival of new competition into those markets, since for two years new and existing Bahamian customers would be required to take both services - even though they may only want one.
Describing the decision by the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) as "outrageous", Mr Johnson told Tribune Business: "We have been complaining for some time. We can't understand why Cable Bahamas has been given this sliding scale going on for two years, which seems to us goes against consumer choice and competition, which is URCA's primary mandate.
"If it's good for us as an SMP player in this market, it should be applied to other SMP operators. I don't think that's unreasonable. That's why this particular decision has left us perplexed.
"If everybody plays by the same rules, BTC has no objection. We want to ensure a level playing field, and that carriers with the same SMP designation and obligations are held to the same standards."
BTC, he added, was now petitioning URCA to obtain a "better understanding" of the reasons for its decision on Cable Bahamas.
BTC's argument is that while it was immediately forced to untie its broadband DSL Internet service from its phone products, Cable Bahamas has been given much greater latitude in complying with its SMP obligations, thus leading to its charge that the latter is getting off 'lightly', while it is subject to a 'heavy-handed approach' by URCA.
Tribune Business reported on Friday that Cable Bahamas had to complete the 'unbundling' of its cable TV and Internet products at 20 per cent of its New Providence nodes, plus 10 per cent of its Grand Bahama nodes and 15 per cent of those in Abaco and Eleuthera, by end-2010. It successfully met this, enabling it to meet the SMP obligations.
Cable Bahamas has to complete unbundling at 45 per cent of New Providence nodes by end-December 2011, achieving 75 per cent by end-2012 and 100 per cent at end-December 2013.
On Grand Bahama, the 2011 target is 30 per cent, with the 2012 and 2013 thresholds 70 per cent and 100 per cent. For Eleuthera and Abaco, the job is supposed to be 50 per cent complete this year, and concluded in 2012.
Mr Johnson yesterday told Tribune Business that while Cable Bahamas was the "dominant player" in broadband Internet, for two years a significant number of Bahamians would also be forced to take its cable TV services to access this product, even though they may not want the latter. This, he added, "stifles" competition in both markets.
BTC, Mr Johnson said, had to spend significant "man hours and money" on unbundling its own products, something it accepted it had to do.
"We're perplexed and cannot understand the rationale," he told Tribune Business, adding that the situation gave BTC "pause" before it looked at expanding into other markets it was not already in.
"Our prominent concern is that there is equitable treatment based on the standards implemented by URCA itself, he told this newspaper.
In a statement, Mr Johnson said: "We find it impossible to find even a remotely digestible justification for this ruling on the part of URCA. It is wholly inconsistent with URCA's stated mandate in respect of customer choice and its precedents in respect of the treatment of companies with significant market power (SMP) within the Bahamas.
"Simply put: It is outrageous! What is happening is that Cable Bahamas has been granted an additional two years to ensure that any one of its customers can buy Internet services from that company [has] to buy cable television services .
"At the same time, the regulator some two years ago insisted that BTC separate its Internet service from basic phone service - a requirement that BTC complied with. Why the double treatment? Why must those consumers who only want Internet service be forced to buy cable television service from Cable Bahamas, while at the same time BTC is forced to provide its Internet and telephone services separate and apart. It is an egregious decision.
"While URCA accepts that Cable Bahamas maintains SMP in the provision of basic Internet service, the regulator has willingly been complicit in permitting Cable Bahamas to use this position to force its customers to buy a television service that the customer may not want.
"This is not fair to those consumers who only want to buy a single service, nor does it help develop the market place for broadcast television. Hard as we try, we cannot find a single solitary angle that would give justification to this action."
Mr Johnson added: "It is our view that the provisions in the regulatory regime suggest that BTC and the other licensed operators should have been given the opportunity to assess the impact of the generous concession granted to Cable Bahamas with respect to the untying of its broadband service from pay television while it was still in the draft stage.
"Why is it that BTC and other operators in the market did not have an opportunity to respond to these incredibly generous allowances to the dominant player in the broadband and broadcast television market?"
And Mr Johnson said: "BTC is simply fed up with this double standard being exhibited by URCA in its dealing with BTC vis-à-vis Cable Bahamas. We both have reasonably been deemed dominant players in the various segments of our market, and with that has come the Significant Market Player [SMP] designations and obligations. "And while BTC has expended significant resources to date in its efforts to comply with its SMP obligations, it seem pretty clear to us that Cable Bahamas has been given a free ride, despite the fact that they had and have fewer obligations to satisfy the regulatory when compared to BTC."
February 08, 2011
tribune242
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday accused the industry regulator of employing "double standards" in its approach to product unbundling, telling Tribune Business it had been "perplexed" by the decision to give Cable Bahamas until 2013 to completely untie its cable TV and broadband Internet offerings.
Marlon Johnson, BTC's vice-president of sales and marketing, told Tribune Business that the state-owned incumbent wanted to ensure there was a regulatory "level playing field" between itself and BISX-listed Cable Bahamas as Significant Market Power (SMP) operators, contrasting the "sliding scale" imposed on the latter with the requirement that it instantly unbundle its own broadband Internet offering from its phone services.
As Tribune Business revealed last week, Cable Bahamas has been given until end-2013 to complete the 100 per cent separation of its cable TV and Internet products on New Providence and Grand Bahama, something Mr Johnson yesterday described as fundamentally unfair, arguing that the BISX-listed company had not complied with its SMP obligations and should not be allowed to enter other markets.
He added that the extended time period given to Cable Bahamas to 'unbundle' those services would "stifle" consumer choice and the arrival of new competition into those markets, since for two years new and existing Bahamian customers would be required to take both services - even though they may only want one.
Describing the decision by the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) as "outrageous", Mr Johnson told Tribune Business: "We have been complaining for some time. We can't understand why Cable Bahamas has been given this sliding scale going on for two years, which seems to us goes against consumer choice and competition, which is URCA's primary mandate.
"If it's good for us as an SMP player in this market, it should be applied to other SMP operators. I don't think that's unreasonable. That's why this particular decision has left us perplexed.
"If everybody plays by the same rules, BTC has no objection. We want to ensure a level playing field, and that carriers with the same SMP designation and obligations are held to the same standards."
BTC, he added, was now petitioning URCA to obtain a "better understanding" of the reasons for its decision on Cable Bahamas.
BTC's argument is that while it was immediately forced to untie its broadband DSL Internet service from its phone products, Cable Bahamas has been given much greater latitude in complying with its SMP obligations, thus leading to its charge that the latter is getting off 'lightly', while it is subject to a 'heavy-handed approach' by URCA.
Tribune Business reported on Friday that Cable Bahamas had to complete the 'unbundling' of its cable TV and Internet products at 20 per cent of its New Providence nodes, plus 10 per cent of its Grand Bahama nodes and 15 per cent of those in Abaco and Eleuthera, by end-2010. It successfully met this, enabling it to meet the SMP obligations.
Cable Bahamas has to complete unbundling at 45 per cent of New Providence nodes by end-December 2011, achieving 75 per cent by end-2012 and 100 per cent at end-December 2013.
On Grand Bahama, the 2011 target is 30 per cent, with the 2012 and 2013 thresholds 70 per cent and 100 per cent. For Eleuthera and Abaco, the job is supposed to be 50 per cent complete this year, and concluded in 2012.
Mr Johnson yesterday told Tribune Business that while Cable Bahamas was the "dominant player" in broadband Internet, for two years a significant number of Bahamians would also be forced to take its cable TV services to access this product, even though they may not want the latter. This, he added, "stifles" competition in both markets.
BTC, Mr Johnson said, had to spend significant "man hours and money" on unbundling its own products, something it accepted it had to do.
"We're perplexed and cannot understand the rationale," he told Tribune Business, adding that the situation gave BTC "pause" before it looked at expanding into other markets it was not already in.
"Our prominent concern is that there is equitable treatment based on the standards implemented by URCA itself, he told this newspaper.
In a statement, Mr Johnson said: "We find it impossible to find even a remotely digestible justification for this ruling on the part of URCA. It is wholly inconsistent with URCA's stated mandate in respect of customer choice and its precedents in respect of the treatment of companies with significant market power (SMP) within the Bahamas.
"Simply put: It is outrageous! What is happening is that Cable Bahamas has been granted an additional two years to ensure that any one of its customers can buy Internet services from that company [has] to buy cable television services .
"At the same time, the regulator some two years ago insisted that BTC separate its Internet service from basic phone service - a requirement that BTC complied with. Why the double treatment? Why must those consumers who only want Internet service be forced to buy cable television service from Cable Bahamas, while at the same time BTC is forced to provide its Internet and telephone services separate and apart. It is an egregious decision.
"While URCA accepts that Cable Bahamas maintains SMP in the provision of basic Internet service, the regulator has willingly been complicit in permitting Cable Bahamas to use this position to force its customers to buy a television service that the customer may not want.
"This is not fair to those consumers who only want to buy a single service, nor does it help develop the market place for broadcast television. Hard as we try, we cannot find a single solitary angle that would give justification to this action."
Mr Johnson added: "It is our view that the provisions in the regulatory regime suggest that BTC and the other licensed operators should have been given the opportunity to assess the impact of the generous concession granted to Cable Bahamas with respect to the untying of its broadband service from pay television while it was still in the draft stage.
"Why is it that BTC and other operators in the market did not have an opportunity to respond to these incredibly generous allowances to the dominant player in the broadband and broadcast television market?"
And Mr Johnson said: "BTC is simply fed up with this double standard being exhibited by URCA in its dealing with BTC vis-à-vis Cable Bahamas. We both have reasonably been deemed dominant players in the various segments of our market, and with that has come the Significant Market Player [SMP] designations and obligations. "And while BTC has expended significant resources to date in its efforts to comply with its SMP obligations, it seem pretty clear to us that Cable Bahamas has been given a free ride, despite the fact that they had and have fewer obligations to satisfy the regulatory when compared to BTC."
February 08, 2011
tribune242
Monday, February 7, 2011
We need a new paradigm in The Bahamas to govern our relationship with Haiti and Haitians
What we resist will persist: The quiet Haitian revolution
By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net
PEOPLE say I am Haitian. They call me a Haitian sympathiser. They even question my patriotism. Their biggest mistake is they think I care either way. I have no insecurities about my identity or my affinity to Haiti.
I recall once upon a time people used to say black is beastly. Thankfully today is another day. In my time, black is beautiful and being Haitian is no shame. So call me what you may, call me what you might, my conviction will not change. Somehow through the thicket of our discontent as a nation, we need a new paradigm to govern our relationship with Haiti and Haitians.
I know most Bahamians can relate to a time as a child when all reason was replaced with rage, and the end result was a temper tantrum. Imagine that one occasion when a moment of stillness emerged after the tears subsided. In that moment, your mother, who did not budge through it all, may have spoken these words: "Finished? Can we go now?" And as if enlightened by divine favour, you began to see with new eyes. Often I wish a moment of calm like that would sweep the collective consciousness of Bahamians, so we would stop the childish hysterics and really start to solve our problems.
Let us imagine for a second that this is that moment and I am the mother. And let us assume for argument's sake that we have new eyes. This is what I would have you contemplate next.
With all the money, time and passion thrown at dealing with the "Haitian problem", have we got anywhere? Last week I contemplated that there is a better way: It requires less money, less resources and fewer headaches, but it is infinitely more difficult, but only because it requires a mental shift.
Last week I examined the Bahamas' unexplored and underdeveloped economic interest in Haiti. I reasoned that the Bahamians had concerns about a scarcity of resources, the security of our people and the sovereignty of our nation. To advance the conversation let us explore the concern about our national sovereignty.
A Tribune242 reader in response to "Time to stop prostituting Haitians", wanted to know if I was advocating the government "halt deportation, because the only thing that would do is send a green light to Haitians that the Bahamas wants them to come". The reader said Miami is a case study of what would be the result.
There are a few things that need to be said. Haitians have never needed a "green light" to come to the Bahamas. We market ourselves around the world with the message that "it's better in the Bahamas." Haitians have reasons to believe that is true. There is a greater probability of dying in Haiti before age 40 than there is in the Bahamas, according to the United Nations Human Development Report of 2005. In Haiti, 65 per cent of the population lives below the income poverty line, unlike the Bahamas with only 9 per cent.
No, I am not saying halt deportation. The Department of Immigration has a role to play, but based on the nature of the beast, it is a limited one. The past decades of raids, deportation and immigration policies have shown us how futile our single-minded strategy has been. Haitians risk the peril of death and the certainty of being marginalized for the chance of opportunity in the Bahamas. How do you really compete against that?
The Department of Immigration has a role to play, but it does not have the power to stop Haitian immigrants from leaving Haiti's shores; to prevent some of them from entering; or to stop Bahamians from exercising their will to hire Haitians, whether legally or illegally.
I am saying: Raids in the order of Thursday night's Fox Hill raid serve no useful purpose. One eyewitness told me of the raid and said they took people out of their homes and beat them for no reason. One person was left red from all the blood that covered his clothes and body. It was like they just took their pent up frustration out on a few random Haitians.
Let us be reminded, as another Tribune242 reader said: "They are not just 'Haitians' or 'foreigners', but each has a face, a name and an identity (like YOU and ME), a story to tell (like YOU and ME) and struggles, pain and heartaches to overcome (like YOU and ME). Where is our compassion for others?"
I am also saying: It is because we force Haitian immigrants into the margins of our society that we create a whole host of counter-productive and self-defeating problems: Squatter communities and marginalised youth, to name a few.
The reader feared a Miami-like situation emerging in the Bahamas, where "the language and culture of the city has been completely taken over by Cubans so much so that you are looked at funny if you can't speak Spanish." Theoretically I suppose this is a risk Bahamians may need to take, but aren't risks a part of life?
There is a universal lesson to learn from the South Florida immigrant population, comprised mainly of people of Latin American descent. South Florida is a handy card to draw to stoke fears, but its example cannot stand scrutiny. When we look at the pattern of integration in South Florida, or lack thereof, there is evidence that it does not fit the American norm or the Bahamian model.
What happened in South Florida was a convergence of several factors: extremely large immigration numbers, not even comparable to the cumulative numbers seen in the Bahamas; a highly concentrated area; the marginalization of a cultural group; and a great white flight, which is probably the most significant of all factors.
"The number of Cubans that came to South Florida, nearly a quarter million of them, were concentrated in the same area. The English speaking Americans rather than trying to assimilate them fled north and left the Cuban Americans to fill a void that was created by their moving," said Mr Leonard Archer, former Ambassador to CARICOM.
"You had really a transplanted society of people who spoke the same language, with the same culture, living in a concentrated area. As a consequence there was less impetus to change and become a part of the mainstream. They created a society in South Florida that is not the normal pattern," he said.
Clearly, Bahamians are not going anywhere, so Haitian nationals are faced with the choice of integration, marginalisation or deportation.
Over the years, South Florida immigrants coalesced around their Latin American cultural identity because of their experience of being marginalised. The act of uniting was a form of resistance and survival. To win social rights, and in some cases basic human rights, the immigrants of common culture formed an organic constituency.
Over time, they acquired political power. So now, there is a large community of Americans of Latin American descent with no insecurities about their origins or their rights. Emboldened by its ability to acquire power in defiance of the system, and left to thrive in a cultural vacuum, there was no longer any need for the community to suppress its cultural identity or assimilate.
And today, South Florida has been enriched by the presence of Latin American immigrants, despite the annoyances of language dynamics. Bahamians who deny this might just be telling a bold face lie: After all, Bahamians practically live in South Florida and other areas in the immigrant nation we call the United States.
There are over 70,000 undocumented Bahamians living in the US, according to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. Between 1989 and 2004, more than 5,000 Bahamians gained citizenship and there were 12,000 legal residents.
The lesson in all of this is: When a group's identity is the source of its oppression that group will likely bind together on the basis of that identity. The risk of our current policies, beliefs and practices is that the more we marginalise Haitian nationals, the more they can draw strength from that identity.
Marginalisation has not worked for us. One of the results has been squatter communities, like the former Mackey Yard. Bahamians allow Haitian communities to exist, but only on the peripheries. We have no problem when Haitians keep to themselves and stay out of sight. We tolerate them in our communities and hire them at will when they play the role we have designated for them. But we scorn the idea of bringing legitimacy to our sordid affair.
Another result of marginalization is the resentment it breeds and the segregation it creates. Do not be fooled: there is an entire generation of Haitian adolescents with legitimate claims to their Bahamian identity, who are smart, unassuming and legal. It is only a matter of time before they exert their power as entitled Bahamians.
It is not a violent revolution Bahamians should be looking for. The face of the revolution will be in Bahamian children with Haitian ancestry, who excel in education, who settle into the business class, the political class and acquire quiet power in an indistinguishable way.
There is already an entrenched class of fully integrated Haitian-Bahamians, who do not have to prove their Bahamian credentials. These are established and respected Bahamians who keep their Haitian heritage under wraps. But there will come a time when they will no longer have to do such a thing. Our governor general, Sir Arthur Foulkes is proof of that. What will Bahamians do when all of their neighbours take off their masks and say: "Surprise! There is Haitian blood in me too!" Bahamians might refuse to talk about integrating Haitian immigrants, but in doing so we might just be cutting off our nose to spite our face.
So what of integration? It is already happening under our very noses and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back. Bahamians would curse the day we start having members of parliament self identify as Haitian-Bahamian, or a Haitian caucus in the House of Assembly. For now, Bahamians can breathe a sigh of relief, because we are far from that, but we need not go there if we make the right choice. After all, Ron Pinder and Keod Smith, who some say have claim to Haitian ancestry, would be more inclined to sue for libel than acknowledge any possible association. The model of American society, with all of its segregated cultural and racial groups is not necessarily something we want to emulate anyway.
But if we maintain the strategy of refusing to integrate Haitian immigrants and Bahamians with Haitian ancestry into the Bahamian society and drop the general stigma attached to being Haitian, sorry to say, we will more than likely arrive at that cursed day. The odds are not in our favour; we have the law of nature working against us: what you resist will persist.
The survival of the Bahamas and the inheritance of our children does not depend, as some believe, on us "getting them out of here." Our national sovereignty is not at risk, but you can hardly reason away the belief in some that Haitians if we let them, will take over the country. Our survival depends on us growing up; on us allowing compassion, wisdom and reason to be our compass.
Let us refresh our memory with a look at some of the "evidence-based information" in the 2005 International Organisation for Migration (IOM) study, prepared by the College of the Bahamas. The in-depth study in 2005 found what some of us already knew: "Perceptions have replaced evidence-based rational debate" due to a lack of information on the Haitian community.
Estimates on the size of the Haitian population reported in the media over the years range anywhere between 15,000 and 80,000. The IOM study notes that counting illegal immigrants is notoriously difficult, so it uses corroborating data and statistical models to arrive at a population range for the Haitian community of 30-60,000.
In 2003 the US Homeland Security Department estimated there were 60,000 illegal immigrants in Bahamas. The 2000 census recorded 21,000 Haitian residents of which 28.3 per cent came from the 5-19 age group. Between 1974 and 2004, over 23,000 Haitians registered with the National Insurance Board, and in 2005 the Haitian Embassy reported 25,000 documented migrants with about three children per family.
The IOM study provides a useful analysis of population figures.
"During the period 1963 to 2000, the size of the resident Haitian community has increased from 4,170 to 21,426, which represents approximately a decennial increase of approximately 39 per cent from one census to the next," states the IMO report. There were five census counts in that time period.
If we apply a 39 per cent increase to the IOM's top estimate from its 2005 analysis, we can project a Haitian population of about 83,000 in 2010 and 116,000 in 2020. Population estimates for the Bahamas in those years are: 350,000 in 2010 and 414,000 in 2010. Based on liberal estimates then, the Haitian population in 20 years would represent 28 per cent of the total Bahamian population.
All of the figures are cumulative, so they represent the size of the Haitian community based on migration trends over the decades, not net inflows and outflows on an annual basis. In none of the available statistics is there a clear distinction made between illegal Haitian immigrants, Haitians with work permits, Haitians with permanent residence or citizenship or flow-through migrants.
There are so many gaps in available data that few reliable conclusions can be drawn. One conclusion I think it is fair to make is that hundreds of thousands of Haitians are not arriving at one time. According to Mr Archer, the Bahamas would need to be overwhelmed by those types of numbers at one time for a "takeover" to be possible, if that was the desired objective.
"The business of them coming in at a couple hundred a year, there is no possibility of a takeover. I challenge anyone to tell me any society where a take over has occurred in this fashion," said Mr Archer.
Theoretically, similar fears could be stoked over the West Indian population in England, but for the most part, "no one complains of the West Indians in England trying to take over the English society," said Mr Archer.
"The fears are unfounded. The Haitian people who are coming here are not coming to attempt to take over. They are coming to survive because they want something better for themselves. They want to become a part of the society, and their children tend to be as Bahamian as any other Bahamian child," he said.
Culturally speaking, Mr Archer asked: "Where is the influence?"
When you look at Bahamian cultural expressions - dance, music, food, religion, and politics - there have been no drastic changes from the influence of Haitian nationals. The same cannot be said about the American cultural influences. And, of course, we still maintain many of our inherited British cultural traits and some from our African heritage.
It is undeniable how American pop culture has transformed Bahamian society over the past 60 years; much of the influence has produced unfortunate results. On the other hand, one could maybe only point to some Haitian influence in cuisine and music, and that influence is certainly something for Bahamians to appreciate.
Mr Archer suggests: If Haitians in their numbers, can come into the Bahamas of near 400,000 people and "radically change that culture from within that says something about the culture." Perhaps this is what Bahamians fear. We are notoriously insecure about our budding cultural identity.
In all of this I know it is an uphill battle to chisel away the stone from the hearts and minds of Bahamians. As misinformed as we sometimes are, our resistance is not born from a lack of information. Our resistance is born of emotive reasons, like fear, prejudice, politics and hype.
Because of this, I believe it will take the concerted effort of our leaders and the might of our education system to reach our people. We have a long road ahead of us, as there is preliminary work to do in both institutions to fertilise the soil.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, this discussion will not sway the majority.
But for now, those with eyes to see, the beauty and the potential, and those with courage to say, we are proud of our Haitian connection, we must press on. With each step we are creating the new paradigm.
February 07, 2011
tribune242 Insight
By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net
PEOPLE say I am Haitian. They call me a Haitian sympathiser. They even question my patriotism. Their biggest mistake is they think I care either way. I have no insecurities about my identity or my affinity to Haiti.
I recall once upon a time people used to say black is beastly. Thankfully today is another day. In my time, black is beautiful and being Haitian is no shame. So call me what you may, call me what you might, my conviction will not change. Somehow through the thicket of our discontent as a nation, we need a new paradigm to govern our relationship with Haiti and Haitians.
I know most Bahamians can relate to a time as a child when all reason was replaced with rage, and the end result was a temper tantrum. Imagine that one occasion when a moment of stillness emerged after the tears subsided. In that moment, your mother, who did not budge through it all, may have spoken these words: "Finished? Can we go now?" And as if enlightened by divine favour, you began to see with new eyes. Often I wish a moment of calm like that would sweep the collective consciousness of Bahamians, so we would stop the childish hysterics and really start to solve our problems.
Let us imagine for a second that this is that moment and I am the mother. And let us assume for argument's sake that we have new eyes. This is what I would have you contemplate next.
With all the money, time and passion thrown at dealing with the "Haitian problem", have we got anywhere? Last week I contemplated that there is a better way: It requires less money, less resources and fewer headaches, but it is infinitely more difficult, but only because it requires a mental shift.
Last week I examined the Bahamas' unexplored and underdeveloped economic interest in Haiti. I reasoned that the Bahamians had concerns about a scarcity of resources, the security of our people and the sovereignty of our nation. To advance the conversation let us explore the concern about our national sovereignty.
A Tribune242 reader in response to "Time to stop prostituting Haitians", wanted to know if I was advocating the government "halt deportation, because the only thing that would do is send a green light to Haitians that the Bahamas wants them to come". The reader said Miami is a case study of what would be the result.
There are a few things that need to be said. Haitians have never needed a "green light" to come to the Bahamas. We market ourselves around the world with the message that "it's better in the Bahamas." Haitians have reasons to believe that is true. There is a greater probability of dying in Haiti before age 40 than there is in the Bahamas, according to the United Nations Human Development Report of 2005. In Haiti, 65 per cent of the population lives below the income poverty line, unlike the Bahamas with only 9 per cent.
No, I am not saying halt deportation. The Department of Immigration has a role to play, but based on the nature of the beast, it is a limited one. The past decades of raids, deportation and immigration policies have shown us how futile our single-minded strategy has been. Haitians risk the peril of death and the certainty of being marginalized for the chance of opportunity in the Bahamas. How do you really compete against that?
The Department of Immigration has a role to play, but it does not have the power to stop Haitian immigrants from leaving Haiti's shores; to prevent some of them from entering; or to stop Bahamians from exercising their will to hire Haitians, whether legally or illegally.
I am saying: Raids in the order of Thursday night's Fox Hill raid serve no useful purpose. One eyewitness told me of the raid and said they took people out of their homes and beat them for no reason. One person was left red from all the blood that covered his clothes and body. It was like they just took their pent up frustration out on a few random Haitians.
Let us be reminded, as another Tribune242 reader said: "They are not just 'Haitians' or 'foreigners', but each has a face, a name and an identity (like YOU and ME), a story to tell (like YOU and ME) and struggles, pain and heartaches to overcome (like YOU and ME). Where is our compassion for others?"
I am also saying: It is because we force Haitian immigrants into the margins of our society that we create a whole host of counter-productive and self-defeating problems: Squatter communities and marginalised youth, to name a few.
The reader feared a Miami-like situation emerging in the Bahamas, where "the language and culture of the city has been completely taken over by Cubans so much so that you are looked at funny if you can't speak Spanish." Theoretically I suppose this is a risk Bahamians may need to take, but aren't risks a part of life?
There is a universal lesson to learn from the South Florida immigrant population, comprised mainly of people of Latin American descent. South Florida is a handy card to draw to stoke fears, but its example cannot stand scrutiny. When we look at the pattern of integration in South Florida, or lack thereof, there is evidence that it does not fit the American norm or the Bahamian model.
What happened in South Florida was a convergence of several factors: extremely large immigration numbers, not even comparable to the cumulative numbers seen in the Bahamas; a highly concentrated area; the marginalization of a cultural group; and a great white flight, which is probably the most significant of all factors.
"The number of Cubans that came to South Florida, nearly a quarter million of them, were concentrated in the same area. The English speaking Americans rather than trying to assimilate them fled north and left the Cuban Americans to fill a void that was created by their moving," said Mr Leonard Archer, former Ambassador to CARICOM.
"You had really a transplanted society of people who spoke the same language, with the same culture, living in a concentrated area. As a consequence there was less impetus to change and become a part of the mainstream. They created a society in South Florida that is not the normal pattern," he said.
Clearly, Bahamians are not going anywhere, so Haitian nationals are faced with the choice of integration, marginalisation or deportation.
Over the years, South Florida immigrants coalesced around their Latin American cultural identity because of their experience of being marginalised. The act of uniting was a form of resistance and survival. To win social rights, and in some cases basic human rights, the immigrants of common culture formed an organic constituency.
Over time, they acquired political power. So now, there is a large community of Americans of Latin American descent with no insecurities about their origins or their rights. Emboldened by its ability to acquire power in defiance of the system, and left to thrive in a cultural vacuum, there was no longer any need for the community to suppress its cultural identity or assimilate.
And today, South Florida has been enriched by the presence of Latin American immigrants, despite the annoyances of language dynamics. Bahamians who deny this might just be telling a bold face lie: After all, Bahamians practically live in South Florida and other areas in the immigrant nation we call the United States.
There are over 70,000 undocumented Bahamians living in the US, according to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. Between 1989 and 2004, more than 5,000 Bahamians gained citizenship and there were 12,000 legal residents.
The lesson in all of this is: When a group's identity is the source of its oppression that group will likely bind together on the basis of that identity. The risk of our current policies, beliefs and practices is that the more we marginalise Haitian nationals, the more they can draw strength from that identity.
Marginalisation has not worked for us. One of the results has been squatter communities, like the former Mackey Yard. Bahamians allow Haitian communities to exist, but only on the peripheries. We have no problem when Haitians keep to themselves and stay out of sight. We tolerate them in our communities and hire them at will when they play the role we have designated for them. But we scorn the idea of bringing legitimacy to our sordid affair.
Another result of marginalization is the resentment it breeds and the segregation it creates. Do not be fooled: there is an entire generation of Haitian adolescents with legitimate claims to their Bahamian identity, who are smart, unassuming and legal. It is only a matter of time before they exert their power as entitled Bahamians.
It is not a violent revolution Bahamians should be looking for. The face of the revolution will be in Bahamian children with Haitian ancestry, who excel in education, who settle into the business class, the political class and acquire quiet power in an indistinguishable way.
There is already an entrenched class of fully integrated Haitian-Bahamians, who do not have to prove their Bahamian credentials. These are established and respected Bahamians who keep their Haitian heritage under wraps. But there will come a time when they will no longer have to do such a thing. Our governor general, Sir Arthur Foulkes is proof of that. What will Bahamians do when all of their neighbours take off their masks and say: "Surprise! There is Haitian blood in me too!" Bahamians might refuse to talk about integrating Haitian immigrants, but in doing so we might just be cutting off our nose to spite our face.
So what of integration? It is already happening under our very noses and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back. Bahamians would curse the day we start having members of parliament self identify as Haitian-Bahamian, or a Haitian caucus in the House of Assembly. For now, Bahamians can breathe a sigh of relief, because we are far from that, but we need not go there if we make the right choice. After all, Ron Pinder and Keod Smith, who some say have claim to Haitian ancestry, would be more inclined to sue for libel than acknowledge any possible association. The model of American society, with all of its segregated cultural and racial groups is not necessarily something we want to emulate anyway.
But if we maintain the strategy of refusing to integrate Haitian immigrants and Bahamians with Haitian ancestry into the Bahamian society and drop the general stigma attached to being Haitian, sorry to say, we will more than likely arrive at that cursed day. The odds are not in our favour; we have the law of nature working against us: what you resist will persist.
The survival of the Bahamas and the inheritance of our children does not depend, as some believe, on us "getting them out of here." Our national sovereignty is not at risk, but you can hardly reason away the belief in some that Haitians if we let them, will take over the country. Our survival depends on us growing up; on us allowing compassion, wisdom and reason to be our compass.
Let us refresh our memory with a look at some of the "evidence-based information" in the 2005 International Organisation for Migration (IOM) study, prepared by the College of the Bahamas. The in-depth study in 2005 found what some of us already knew: "Perceptions have replaced evidence-based rational debate" due to a lack of information on the Haitian community.
Estimates on the size of the Haitian population reported in the media over the years range anywhere between 15,000 and 80,000. The IOM study notes that counting illegal immigrants is notoriously difficult, so it uses corroborating data and statistical models to arrive at a population range for the Haitian community of 30-60,000.
In 2003 the US Homeland Security Department estimated there were 60,000 illegal immigrants in Bahamas. The 2000 census recorded 21,000 Haitian residents of which 28.3 per cent came from the 5-19 age group. Between 1974 and 2004, over 23,000 Haitians registered with the National Insurance Board, and in 2005 the Haitian Embassy reported 25,000 documented migrants with about three children per family.
The IOM study provides a useful analysis of population figures.
"During the period 1963 to 2000, the size of the resident Haitian community has increased from 4,170 to 21,426, which represents approximately a decennial increase of approximately 39 per cent from one census to the next," states the IMO report. There were five census counts in that time period.
If we apply a 39 per cent increase to the IOM's top estimate from its 2005 analysis, we can project a Haitian population of about 83,000 in 2010 and 116,000 in 2020. Population estimates for the Bahamas in those years are: 350,000 in 2010 and 414,000 in 2010. Based on liberal estimates then, the Haitian population in 20 years would represent 28 per cent of the total Bahamian population.
All of the figures are cumulative, so they represent the size of the Haitian community based on migration trends over the decades, not net inflows and outflows on an annual basis. In none of the available statistics is there a clear distinction made between illegal Haitian immigrants, Haitians with work permits, Haitians with permanent residence or citizenship or flow-through migrants.
There are so many gaps in available data that few reliable conclusions can be drawn. One conclusion I think it is fair to make is that hundreds of thousands of Haitians are not arriving at one time. According to Mr Archer, the Bahamas would need to be overwhelmed by those types of numbers at one time for a "takeover" to be possible, if that was the desired objective.
"The business of them coming in at a couple hundred a year, there is no possibility of a takeover. I challenge anyone to tell me any society where a take over has occurred in this fashion," said Mr Archer.
Theoretically, similar fears could be stoked over the West Indian population in England, but for the most part, "no one complains of the West Indians in England trying to take over the English society," said Mr Archer.
"The fears are unfounded. The Haitian people who are coming here are not coming to attempt to take over. They are coming to survive because they want something better for themselves. They want to become a part of the society, and their children tend to be as Bahamian as any other Bahamian child," he said.
Culturally speaking, Mr Archer asked: "Where is the influence?"
When you look at Bahamian cultural expressions - dance, music, food, religion, and politics - there have been no drastic changes from the influence of Haitian nationals. The same cannot be said about the American cultural influences. And, of course, we still maintain many of our inherited British cultural traits and some from our African heritage.
It is undeniable how American pop culture has transformed Bahamian society over the past 60 years; much of the influence has produced unfortunate results. On the other hand, one could maybe only point to some Haitian influence in cuisine and music, and that influence is certainly something for Bahamians to appreciate.
Mr Archer suggests: If Haitians in their numbers, can come into the Bahamas of near 400,000 people and "radically change that culture from within that says something about the culture." Perhaps this is what Bahamians fear. We are notoriously insecure about our budding cultural identity.
In all of this I know it is an uphill battle to chisel away the stone from the hearts and minds of Bahamians. As misinformed as we sometimes are, our resistance is not born from a lack of information. Our resistance is born of emotive reasons, like fear, prejudice, politics and hype.
Because of this, I believe it will take the concerted effort of our leaders and the might of our education system to reach our people. We have a long road ahead of us, as there is preliminary work to do in both institutions to fertilise the soil.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, this discussion will not sway the majority.
But for now, those with eyes to see, the beauty and the potential, and those with courage to say, we are proud of our Haitian connection, we must press on. With each step we are creating the new paradigm.
February 07, 2011
tribune242 Insight
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