The Steady Decline of The Bahamian Nation - The Bahamas
Nassau, The Bahamas
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.
Mr. Adrian White M.P.
04th December,2023
By: Norman Trambulsy Jr
Mangrove Cay, Andros Island, The Bahamas
The subject of value-added tax (VAT) has stirred up quite a bit of discussion on social media and in the public sphere. In fact, the emails which I received were quite enlightening, informative and thoughtful. There were many more questions raised as a result and in this vein I propose to relate some of them today for consideration.
Has the Ministry of Finance been presented with alternatives to VAT? If so, did it do a proper evaluation of them? Will implementing VAT ensure that we improve efficiency and eliminate the potential for fraud with regard to government revenue collection? Why has the government operated with deficit spending for 18 of the past 21 years with the exceptions being 2000, 2001 and 2008? I should add that during the time I served in Parliament (2002 to 2007) this trend continued so I do accept responsibility for not speaking out and challenging my colleagues at the time on it.
To this end, we were either ill-informed or ill-prepared to understand the basic principles of running a government and derelict in our duties because we did not understand that successive governments could not go on spending binges without reaching a day of reckoning which is where we are today.
Why would the current Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr. Delisle Worrell, call VAT an anti-tourism tax and the VAT system in Barbados a mess?
Are there lessons to be learned from Barbados? Merton Moore, who headed the VAT Implementation Unit in Barbados, calls it the “Rolls-Royce of taxes; treat it with intelligence, integrity, care and respect and it is likely to reciprocate”.
Will the government be bringing the VAT experts from Barbados, which is most similar in economy, culture and population to enlighten the public on VAT?
What spending cuts have been put forward as we prepare to implement VAT?
Clearly, all and sundry are aware that the government needs additional revenue. In fact, the government needs enough revenue to eliminate the deficit spending. This figure is close to half a billion dollars.
What mechanisms are in place to collect the outstanding hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the government now by taxpayers? Does anyone truly believe VAT will solve the economic issues that the country faces? Or will implementing VAT buy time with the international agencies to appear as if we are doing something to address our growing debt and deficit spending?
VAT fraud is a major concern for European countries that are well-developed and have a history of compliance. The Bahamas has a large underground economy, thousands of illegal immigrants who live outside of the law and a history of not paying taxes, and up to $400 million in uncollected taxes. How are we going to collect VAT? Further, there is the argument that every other country that has implemented VAT has used it as a slush fund to enable more spending and borrowing. What makes the Bahamas any different given our track record for running up debt?
Successive administrations have taken the easy way out and chosen to stick their heads in the sand and hope that things get better without adhering to the best financial principles for good governance. Political expedience was more likely a driving factor in the decision making and not fiscal prudence and responsibility as our current state of affairs makes the case for this argument.
The government has been lackadaisical and complacent in collecting existing taxes. Moreover, existing elected officials are setting a bad precedent by being blatantly delinquent on their own existing taxes and financial responsibilities to government agencies and corporations. This does not bode well for setting an example in a democracy nor does it help to champion an argument in support of VAT that is palatable to a majority of Bahamians. Implementing VAT without remedying the precursor is a recipe for lawlessness in the future.
Moreover, if the government is serious about tax reform, it would implement the policies of existing tax collection methods as an immediate priority.
In exploring expenditure reduction, has there been serious consideration given to public service mutuals as currently used in the United Kingdom? Also, would energy sector reform potentially raise a large revenue stream on a recurring basis for the government? How can we afford to give public servants increases in salaries when the government is operating at a deficit? In many countries around the world, governments have reduced salaries of public servants to reduce the recurrent expenditure in an effort to close the gap.
We have an indebtedness issue in the Bahamas. Eighty percent of persons with checking accounts in The Bahamas have a balance of under $1,000. Doesn’t this factor into an unsuccessful VAT system reality? Are members of Parliament visiting their constituencies to listen to what the Bahamian people are saying about VAT? If they were, there would probably be a different legislative agenda. Will it be that the $30 to $40 million coming as proceeds of VAT are used through Social Services where a debit card will be issued to persons in need, the pre-qualifier for issuance conducted through Social Services and in a way that is susceptible to politics? If such is forecasted then we know what outcomes to expect. VAT will take at least 7.5 percent out of the economy. Is there a corresponding increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of say 10 percent to compensate? I know that’s a big dream given the facts.
The harsh reality for The Bahamas of our current state of affairs is that our national debt has climbed from $1.1 billion in 1993 to approximately $5.2 billion at June 30, 2014. In the past seven years our national debt has more than doubled from $2.5 billion in 2007 to $5.2 billion in 2014. We accept that this cannot continue.
Further, from 2007 to 2014, the GDP of The Bahamas grew by only $1 billion. This means that in the last seven years we had stagnant growth along with excessive spending. Is VAT going to fix this problem? I put it to the ordinary person that VAT alone will not be enough. Moreover, we can find an alternative revenue stream to VAT, along with radical expense reduction and a real commitment to changing our reckless fiscal ways.
The Bahamian people want to see the government succeed but recognize that this means the government needs to operate with either balanced budgets or surpluses. If the current administration is not prepared to find and implement the solutions, which in my view do not have to include VAT, then it will be at their peril and further plunge this country into an abyss of failure the likes of which can be seen in many countries in the region.
• John Carey served as a member of Parliament 2002 to 2007 and can be reached at johngfcarey@hotmail.com.
August 08, 2014
By KRYSTEL ROLLE-BROWN
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com
Bahamas Faith Ministries International President Dr. Myles Munroe yesterday suggested that Haitian President Michel Martelly’s call for Bahamians to invest in Haiti was inappropriate and pointed to a lack of leadership.
Munroe, who was a guest on the Guardian Radio show
“State of Affairs” with host Kevin Harris, said Martelly seemed to be trying to shed his responsibility on the backs of the Bahamian people.
On Tuesday, Martelly suggested that a portion of the substantial sums of money the Bahamas government spends on fighting illegal immigration should be invested in Haiti to address the problem from that end.
“The other day, I was talking to the prime minister [Perry Christie] and I heard him say he was investing about $200 million to protect the Bahamian coast to stop the boat people,” said Martelly during a meeting with Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Chipman in the Minority Room in the House of Assembly.
“...But that idea came to me, and I told him, ‘why don't
we invest some of that money, or at least bring in some Bahamian investors, down to the north of Haiti where these people live who come here?’”
Munroe said Martelly’s comments indicate a level of irresponsibility.
“Maybe it’s a pipe dream,” Munroe said. “Maybe it’s someone saying, ‘look, I’m going to give you my problems. I’m going to transfer the problems from my government to you. I’m [going to] be irresponsible by making you responsible for my responsibility’.
“I think that this is definitely a sign of absence of effective leadership or maybe lack of leadership completely.”
Munroe said Martelly should have communicated that idea to the government in private.
“My leadership in The Bahamas should have said that there are certain things you can’t say publicly,” he said.
“I’m not sure what the context of that was, but I am concerned. But I do think that we have to protect our independence and our sovereignty.
“I do think any relationship should be in our best interest, not in the interest of other people.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Chipman agreed that there should be increased Bahamian investment in Haiti.
Martelly, who was in town to sign several investment and agriculture agreements with the government, said it is in the interest of Haiti and The Bahamas that things go well in Haiti.
“Sometimes investing to protect just your country is not sufficient, because that doesn’t stop Haitians from fleeing,” Martelly told reporters and government officials later that day.
“That doesn’t stop Haitians from dying, and as leaders we have a common interest in strengthening the region.”
Munroe said Haitians should invest in their own country.
“Haiti is not a poor country 100 percent,” he noted.
“They have wealthy, wealthy Haitians there. And then of course you have areas where you have low-income areas. So I don’t want the Bahamians to think that the Haitians that they may have met here is Haiti.
“I guess my point is this — why don’t those wealthy Haitians invest in Haiti, or why don’t those wealthy Haitians invest in The Bahamas?
“Bahamians themselves are not necessarily interested in investing in their own country. So how can we expect Bahamians to invest in other countries?
Munroe said while The Bahamas should be a good neighbor, it is the Haitian government’s responsibility to build its nation.
August 01, 2014
Flip-flopping Christie flips and flops – again!
Front Porch
By Simon
In the embarrassing climb-down that is his most recent flip-flop on gambling, the prime minister desperately sought to make a virtue out of his incompetence and bungling, and that his government likely lacked the legal authority to proceed with a vote that it probably would have lost: “I am a prime minister who listens. And in listening to the still evolving public discourse on the forthcoming referendum it has become clear to me that more time is needed before the Bahamian people are called upon to vote.
“I am supported in this view by the leadership of a broad cross-section of the national community with whom I have been consulting over the past few days.”
That Perry Christie believes that voters are gullible enough to believe such balderdash speaks to his contempt for the common sense of those who see through the farce he is attempting to perpetuate in this whole numbers business. His attempt to describe his latest flip-flop as listening must be an inside joke.
There are reports of private polling to gauge whether the December 3 poll should have been postponed. One wonders whether this figured into its postponement.
Christie may have been listening, but was it mostly to narrow interests who may funnel campaign contributions to his party, as well as those who gave him stunningly poor advice?
Confusing
If he had indeed listened carefully to a broader cross-section of voices earlier rather than to the drumbeat of his puffed-up hubris and self-serving backers he would not be in this utterly confusing mess of which he is the lead author, though his Cabinet bears collective responsibility for the debacle.
Despite Christie’s involvement in public life for nearly four decades this has been one of the most disastrous performances – at the nexus of policy and politics – by any prime minister in an independent Bahamas.
Christie’s newfound listening posture is not the sign of able leadership that he pretends. Instead, by failing to adequately consult beforehand, he failed some of the most basic tests of leadership.
His so-called listening reminds one of a toddler who, after burning his finger on the stove for the umpteenth time, stops for the moment, then brags to his mom about how well he’s listening to her advice to stay away from the stove.
There is a back story to this debacle to which Christie alluded in Parliament. Rattled by Long Island MP Loretta Butler Turner in the House, Christie recited the PLP’s three election wins from the Elizabeth by-election, nearly three years ago, to that of North Abaco, as if to say, how dear you challenge me.
That his party failed to win a majority of the popular vote on May 7 – in part because of his leadership deficits and previous failures as prime minister – has not engendered in him any humility. Christie’s arrogance is surreal.
It’s the same cloud nine he has been on since May 7, indicative of his narcissistic claim of divine provenance for his prime ministership: “... But God has spoken. God has made me the prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”
Often, narcissism’s fraternal twin is megalomania, a “condition characterized by delusional fantasies of ... omnipotence”, and “by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers.”
Debacle
Christie’s web cafe debacle was conceived in hubris and megalomania, nurtured in sheer incompetence and foisted on the Bahamian people with stunning miscalculation. His cloud nine has turned to stormy weather.
Fresh off election wins, Christie miscalculated that he would rush through a vote that his party would win giving it political cover to legalize certain enterprises that might prove generous to his party in perpetuity. Talk of neutrality was always a ruse. His gambit, thus far, has backfired.
Still, Christie’s hubris was only outmatched by staggering incompetence. To refresh our memories, let’s recall this government’s comedy of errors:
The PLP’s election charter promised a referendum on a national lottery and gambling. The government flip-flopped by deciding to hold a referendum solely on web cafes, supposedly on the advice of UK consultants who apparently suggested that a national lottery was not commercially feasible, even though they have admitted to not conducting a more thorough study.
Remember also that Christie said the consultants were preparing a report, which now turns out to be just a few letters. The breakneck flip-flopping continued: Christie then advised there would be a poll instead of a referendum.
Now, in the latest whip-lashing flip-flop, we are told that the referendum is back on and will include a question on a national lottery, the very lottery that was supposedly commercially non-feasible based on a report which seemingly never existed. What a tangled web cafe weave.
So staggeringly incompetent has Christie been in this numbers affair, one wonders whether certain colleagues left him to his own devices, so that he might flail, flounder and flip-flop. The prime minister’s attempt to extricate himself from this entanglement in his most recent House communication on gambling also failed.
Butler-Turner was having none of Christie’s flip-flopping, crying shame on the whole sham, taking Christie’s nerve while taking on a government which seemed dazed as she mocked its breath-taking hypocrisy and muddled thinking.
In a weak defense, Christie boasted of his numbers in the chamber, as if he was rallying his troops in the face of the Long Island MP’s singular offensive. Curiously, despite the largest Cabinet since internal self-government in 1964, his government’s performance on the gambling issue has been a collective disaster.
Nevertheless, Christie’s leading and vociferous role in this policy and political mess has likely encouraged those within his Cabinet who would rather replace him sooner rather than later.
Bluster
Speaking of crocodile tears, as Christie did last week, an often telling sign that he is under the gun and/or on the losing side of an argument is that he becomes even more voluble and impassioned as he attempts to obfuscate certain facts with performance art, bluster, and often feigned hurt or sincerity, depending on the dramatic persona required.
He did so in the House, referring to those who are too stupid and blind to see certain facts, and those who are being “transparently opportunistic”. Given Christie’s tin-ear, blinders, wholesale incompetence, collapsed credibility, dissembling and spectacularly opportunistic flip-flopping on this issue, his was not the best choice of language.
While Christie’s performance in the House last week may not be good enough for an Academy Award, it merits a nomination for a Daytime Emmy. Unfortunately, his performance then and during the course of the current debate will not win him an award for excellence in public policy or good governance.
The very day that Christie was performing his latest flip-flop in the House, Fr. Jimmy Palacious lambasted the government’s web cafe intentions. He lamented that this government would seek to push through a poll on gambling while women are constitutionally still unequal to men.
This is the crying shame of Perry Christie’s PLP, demonstrably quicker in seeking to secure the greed of private interests rather than the public good of the mass of Bahamians, and the equality of women.
Christie’s failure of leadership is not solely one of chronic incompetence. More broadly and egregiously it is an outsized and shameful failure to keep faith with the Bahamian people and the demands of social justice. No posturing, play-acting or preening by Perry Christie can obscure this sad reality.
November 20, 2012
Bahamians have a slave mentality
By DEHAVILLAND MOSS
Crime is out of control; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. Illegal immigration is out of control; it is the master’s fault, aka the government. The economy is bad; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. The master will fix the problem. He knows best.
But what are “you” doing about it? We should know by now that the change starts with us. During the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Africans were illegally sold as slaves. Many of these Africans ended up in the Caribbean and thus were forced into a new way of life.
The indoctrination of Africans (Blacks) into mental slavery and European culture continues even today. The celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, Halloween and that “foreign is better” are just a few examples of the former in The Bahamas. We as Black Bahamians are mentally enslaved and even though we are free physically, we face some of the most dangerous times in our history. One hundred and seventy-seven years after the proclamation was read to free slaves in the British colonies, Bahamians still continue to have a slave mentality.
Slaves in The Bahamas worked on small plantations when compared to other Caribbean islands, and the treatment of Bahamian slaves was much better than their Caribbean counterparts. James Stephen, an abolitionist wrote, “the provisions and stock raised on the plantations did not provide the remuneration received by planters in other colonies, ‘but to slaves the effects were ease, plenty, health and the preservation and increase of their numbers, all in a degree, quite beyond example in any other part of the West Indies”. (Source from The Story of The Bahamas by Paul Albury, chapter 14, p126). In my view, this explains the basis of the way that we act toward our “Master” today.
Bahamian slaves accepted their master as a good person and viewed him favorably. Our Caribbean counterparts were treated more harshly than us and as a result they had a fundamental distrust of their master. Could this explain why they are more aggressive than us and the fact that our attitude is more laissez-faire?
Since 1967, in The Bahamas, the black master (government) replaced the white master (government). There was a changing of the guard, but most Bahamians have not seen the kind of progress that is to be expected. Black Bahamians in particular still do not possess the majority of the land; we still do not own a major hotel and we are still second-class citizens in our own country. We now have Black masters as our gatekeepers but they are continuing the historical trend of our demise, albeit in the same subtle nature. Yet we elect the same people over and over. When will the cerebral revolution come?
Look at the way that our country is run with little or no objection from Bahamians. The government sold BTC and there were only about 1,000 marchers on Bay Street. In fact, Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes literally squawked when asked about the effectiveness of the march for BTC. Lawyers illegally sold land owned by Arawak Homes to unsuspecting Bahamians. Due to the large scale of Bahamians who were defrauded, there should have been major campaigns initiated by Bahamians in protest of this. The government refuses to do all it can to help curb our crime and immigration problems and its policies have failed miserably, specifically over the last two decades. Additionally, government policies have caused the price of land in The Bahamas to soar so high that the average Bahamian can no longer afford to buy land (except for those in Mackey Yard); and yet Bahamians sit back and do nothing. Sadly, we still believe in the old slave adage that “Master (aka the government) knows best”.
Listening to the talk shows daily, concerns by Bahamians appear to be on the rise. They call in and seem to expect more accountability from the government representatives. This is a good thing and this type of activity on a wide scale can certainly help break this slave mentality that we continue to be suffering from. I feel proud as a Bahamian when callers suggest that the issues affecting us should be looked at for what they are worth. Forget party lines. For too long, we have been using our party biases and not looking at issues from a nationalistic point of view. We must realize that when our ancestors were enslaved, the underlying tone would have been to regain freedom for all in the British colonies and this bode well for all involved.
Bahamians by heart are not a fighting people when it comes to challenging “the master”. In fact, the only time I can say with certainty that Bahamians would come together and fight the master is when he “messes with their pay”. From the Burma Road Riot on June 1st, 1942 to the teacher’s general strike in the mid 80s, Bahamians came together in solidarity to protest wage disputes. In fact, before the Burma Road Riot, even the American workers who were earning higher wages were agitating for the Bahamian workers’ wages to be increased. Foreigners were given preferential treatment even back then. Does this sound familiar? In the case of the general teachers’ strike, the government of the day said that the Treasury was broke. Yet, after the teachers’ salary was increased, then Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling and his Cabinet increased the salary of all members of Parliament.
If the government had told BTC workers that they would be receiving pay cuts you would have seen a different outcome from the employees. Contract after contract can be given to foreign contractors without a whimper of dissatisfaction from Bahamians. Let me go on record as saying that I was utterly surprised that the present government was able to take overtime pay away from customs and immigration officers with virtually very little opposition from the Bahamas Public Service Union membership.
The recent debacle of the government in the Mackey Yard sub-division speaks again to our slave mentality. Here we are as Bahamians are just sitting back and allowing the government to do what it wants to. Let the “master” handle it is the conclusion of many Bahamians. There are Bahamians though, whose minds have bypassed this slave mentality, but these numbers are infinitesimal.
Just as the slave trade was supported by Africans themselves, who helped capture their own countryman for a few dollars, more we have replication going on in The Bahamas in 2011. Many in the remaining middle class in The Bahamas are utterly quiet as to the state of affairs because they are still getting their hefty salaries. They are still able to live their lives, buy what they want and travel when they want. In their eyes because they are not directly affected by these adverse policies, they choose to turn a blind eye. They are not speaking out and are allowing their “brothers” to be further humiliated and defrauded. In the same vain, thousands of people turned a blind eye to the slave master during the slave trade because they were thinking about self and not country.
The slave mentality in The Bahamas is alive and well and the time has come for Bahamians to open their eyes. We cannot just leave it in the hands of “the master” and hope and pray that the correct decisions will be made, and take for granted that we will always have bread to eat. Bahamians, we need to change our sorry, lethargic and lackadaisical attitude towards the myriad policy decisions that affect us. We will continue to suffer as a people in our own country if we don’t.
As Disraeli, the great English statesman said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than you think”.
Jul 20, 2011