tribune242 editorial
BAHAMAS Communications and Public Officers Union leader Bernard Evans might not have got his "little Egypt," or a last minute miracle to block the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless, but he has a champion in Opposition Leader Perry Christie.
Mr Christie has put Cable and Wireless on notice that should his government be returned to power, he will deliver BTC back to the Bahamian people. He has promised that the "bad deal" entered into with the Ingraham government for the sale of the Bahamas' telecommunications system will be dismantled.
"Bad deal" -- these words are echoes from the past about another deal that the PLP also threatened to dismantle should its party become the government. But, when the PLP was returned to power in 2007 and had its opportunity for the dismantling operation, the bad deal had proven such a sweet deal for the Bahamas that grinning up and currying favour by the new leaders was the order of the day -- the promised dismantling and renegotiation of the deal was forgotten. The threats made 11 years before were quickly abandoned -- it was as though they were never spoken.
On the floor of the House in 1996 then St Michael's MP Paul Adderley had threatened Sol Kerzner that if the agreement that his Sun International had with the Bahamas government were not renegotiated, when the PLP became the government it would do it for him. "The terms of this deal, so far as the Bahamas is concerned, is a bad deal," shouted Mr Adderley.
History has proven that Kerzner's Paradise Island -- the country's largest private employer -- is what has saved the Bahamas' economic bacon for the past 15 years. The Kerzners arrived when the Bahamas was flat on its back -- failing tourist industry, empty Treasury, tarnished international reputation. Bahamians will remember that in those days we were an "island for sale" laid waste by a careless government and a greedy drug cartel. A disgusted electorate voted the PLP government of 25 years out of office and put the Ingraham government in.
The PLP government had secretly tried to sell the failed hotels on the international market. The Ingraham government came to power in 1992 and the following year entered into an agreement with the Kerzners for the development of Paradise Island. Atlantis became the catalyst that revitalised the country's tourist industry, and emboldened investors to take a second look at a country that was trying under a new government to clean up its act.
It was only then that the Bahamas started to move forward.
But the empty threats coming from the PLP benches in 1996 - are being repeated today against the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless. So far it is the only bone that the PLP has found on which to chew for the 2012 election.
Fred Mitchell, a PLP senator in 1996, seemed on a mission at that time to cast doubt on the Atlantis operation - attacking everything from the Kerzners' South African roots, their hiring policies suggesting that Bahamians were being shut out of the project, to the belief that the Bahamianisation policy was being undermined. And, of course, Mr Mitchell even raised the alarm that the newly constructed bridge to Paradise was sinking. All wishful thoughts that had no base.
Dr Bernard Nottage complained at the time that the Ingraham government was giving Atlantis "improved infrastructure, roads, transportation and telecommunications facilities."
"But what are the Bahamian people getting?" he asked. The Bahamian people knew what they were getting, even though they were paying for it -- good jobs, improved infrastructure, good roads on which they travelled daily and much more. By now Dr Nottage should have the answers to his foolish questions of that era. Any improvement in infrastructure always benefits the whole country and everyone in it -- regardless of for whom it was intended.
The PLP poured scorn on the fact that Atlantis and its shareholders would earn good money. They forgot that when business flourishes so do the people. It is, therefore, good news for a country when it can report that its commercial establishments are strong. It is when they are weak that a country suffers high unemployment. To scoff at profits shows a lack of business sense, which is a serious failure in a country's leaders.
In our opinion Mr Christie's "buyer beware! cease and desist! do not proceed!" warning to Cable and Wireless is just so much political balderdash. What the future held for the Kerzner operation it also holds for the Cable & Wireless transaction. The main beneficiaries will be the Bahamas and its people.
It would be more than Mr Christie dare do with the Bahamas facing a $3.8 billion national debt to add to that debt by trying to dismantle the BTC/C&WC deal. If these are his plans it is up to the Bahamian people to make certain that his party is not returned to power.
Mr Christie, a procrastinator, who finds it difficult to make decisions at the best of times, would have nightmares over such an impossible exercise.
To Bahamians we say: Beware! This is silly season when the politicians seem to lose their mental balance -- so don't believe everything you hear in the marketplace.
April 04, 2011
tribune242 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.
