The Bahamas is a major smuggling zone for people and narcotics to the United States from South America and the Caribbean... However, there are usually no prosecutions for human smuggling for some reason

Changing how we respond to human smuggling

thenassauguardian editorial

At least 11 people are dead as a result of a suspected human smuggling operation gone wrong off Abaco a few weeks ago.  Authorities fear 10 other passengers, who remain unaccounted form the vessel ‘Cosy Time’, are dead.

Twenty-eight passengers were reportedly onboard the vessel and seven people survived.  The victims are all thought to be of Haitian descent.

National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage has told the House of Assembly that one of the survivors, a man of Bahamian-Haitian descent, said he boarded the boat because his mother insisted he go to the United States on the vessel.

“The gentleman further stated that he believed each person paid a total of $5,000 a head for the journey,” Dr. Nottage said.

The Bahamas is a major smuggling zone for people and narcotics to the United States from South America and the Caribbean.  However, there are usually no prosecutions for human smuggling for some reason.

Most of the people smuggled here are Haitians and many die trying to escape the poorest country in the hemisphere.

Thus far one person has been charged in connection with the deaths in Abaco.  Several others have been taken in to custody for questioning.  The man who has been charged is innocent until proven guilty in a court.  We make no comment on his guilt or innocence, but we commend the government for this time investigating this matter seriously and seeking to bring before the court those it suspects responsible so that a jury could decide their fates.

One of the ways to slow human smuggling is to aggressively prosecute those involved.  When migrants are killed in human smuggling operations those who organized the operations and those who command the vessels are criminally responsible for those deaths.  Manslaughter charges should be leveled against smugglers who survive these tragic occurrences.

If we do not get tough with this heinous crime it will continue and more desperate people will lose their lives seeking better lives away from their economically challenged homelands.

The witness told police one of the boat’s engines kept cutting off, which slowed it down.

“He reported that the seas were very rough and the vessel began to take on water,” Dr. Nottage said.

“The vessel eventually capsized and everyone began to scramble to save their lives.  He reported that he did his best to save other persons, but the sea was too rough, so he had to save his own life.”

We must not just view this situation as tragic.  The Bahamas should use it as an opportunity to change how we deal with human smugglers.  They prey on the desperation of poor people.

Jun 25, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

...as a society we should not put our confidence in the legalization of gambling for Bahamians ... we should rather rely on our abilities, discipline and hard work ...and appropriate public policy to improve our circumstance

Put not your confidence in gambling

By Phillip P. Sands

The Progressive Liberal Party’s pledge to conduct a referendum on aspects of gambling is the right thing to do in light of the sustained public debate on the issue.  Political parties should refrain from politicizing this matter as occurred in the 2002 referendum.  Civil society and individuals should lead the debate.

I oppose the government endorsing gambling by Bahamians in The Bahamas not because of any religious piety on my part, but due to my increasingly strong conviction that the arguments advanced by those in support of gambling are faulty, misguided and short-sighted.

Three main arguments are advanced to support allowing Bahamians to gamble in The Bahamas namely: constitutional discrimination; unenforceable laws; and enhancement of state revenues.   However, each of these arguments is fundamentally flawed and/or lacking sufficient objective evidence to support claims made.

Constitutional discrimination

It is clear that casino gambling in The Bahamas is discriminatory, but this does not violate the constitution.  The principal purpose of the constitution is to outline the fundamental rights and responsibilities of the country’s residents.  Bahamians cannot gamble and tourists can, but tourists are unable to engage many of the constitutional rights and responsibilities (like voting and employment rights) reserved for residents.  So, the constitution is discriminatory, but this does not make it self-violating and neither under the letter or spirit of the constitution can gambling be considered a right or responsibility.  Even if this were a constitutional matter, the right action to take would be to have the tourists conform to the current standard set for Bahamians and not vice versa.

Unenforceable laws

There is little doubt that it has been virtually impossible for law enforcement agencies to “break” gambling activities among Bahamians in The Bahamas.  However, a similar fate befalls the police in their attempts to stamp out strip clubs, the drug and firearms trades and prostitution.  Therefore, does this mean that the current inability of the police to tackle these problems should lead to their acceptance?

Using the premise that difficult to enforce laws should be abandoned, why not decriminalize the marijuana trade?  It also involves a large proportion of the population and, despite the high public expenditure devoted to its eradication, many of its users are never caught.  Of those who are imprisoned, thousands of dollars are spent to warehouse them in an overcrowded prison environment which, many argue, does little to rehabilitate and more to create hardened criminals of its inmates.

Families also pay a tremendous monetary and emotional price during and after the incarceration of their sons and fathers who often struggle to re-integrate into society, including the labor market, as they are saddled with a criminal record and the stigma of having been to prison.  Because of this, ex-cons seemingly are never able to repay their debts to society – some just for smoking a marijuana cigarette.  Yet, as a society, we have decided rightly that marijuana is contraband and its use is not permitted.  So, if we hold firm on this, why should our position be any different in relation to illegal gambling?  Decisions like this should be taken on principle, not on a whim.

Finally, if it is impossible to control web shops now that gambling for Bahamians is illegal, why do some of us think that the government would be able to regulate (including collecting all taxes due) these establishments which have become skilled at circumventing and defying laws, rules and regulations?

Enhanced state revenues

According to the May 24, 2012 edition of The Tribune, a national lottery could generate $190 million.  This money, unlike that gained from casino gambling, is money already in the local economy.  Yes, there will be some multiplier effects, but not anything more than if the money were used on some other forms of recreation (e.g., going to the movies and the bowling alley).

While prime minister, Hubert Ingraham projected the government collecting $30-40 million in taxes, which would represent about two percent of government expenditure, currently at $1.8 billion per year.  But, for the sake of argument, let’s be generous and project that the government would receive 40 percent of the $190 million.  This would total $76 million, or about four percent of the current government expenditure.

With average annual household income equaling $30,318 in 2008, a significant portion of household income would have to be devoted to gambling as reflected below in the chart.

According to the Bahamas Living Conditions Survey Report, the average Bahamian household spent 12.6 percent of its income in 2001 on personal care, clothing, footwear and entertainment collectively.  So, if 70 percent of Bahamian households participated in gambling, they would need to spend two-thirds of the money that they should be spending on these items ($2,592.17) on gambling alone.

Since lotteries, like any business, advertise and try to convince and entice people to buy their product, if the government facilitates Bahamians gambling, it would become party to encouraging its citizens in irresponsible behavior.  When families make poor money management decisions and neglect their responsibilities (i.e., housing, utilities, etc.) then the government too will be partially at fault – all for a mere four percent of its income.

The nature of the game

Moreover, gambling is a zero sum game and for every winner, there must be losers.  In fact, for every winner there are many losers.  If one spends $1 and wins $600 playing the numbers, I estimate that at least another 999 people must lose (assuming they spent $1 each).  State-sponsored gambling is a tax.  We already have an unjust regressive taxation regime which disproportionately burdens the poor.  What Bahamians should really be calling on their government to do is to restructure the system of taxation where the upper middle and wealthy classes “man-up”, embrace “the Buffet Rule” and take on a greater share of the tax burden.

Yes, many Bahamians currently gamble and there is a loud call for its legalization.  However, under scrutiny the justifications offered for the legalization of gambling are fatally flawed.  It may be true that currently there is little that the state can do to stamp out the illegal gambling which takes place in the country; and even if the majority of citizens voted against it, thousands of Bahamians will continue to gamble in The Bahamas.

So, the real issue is not whether or not our laws vis-à-vis gambling are discriminatory or that the government cannot enforce its current prohibition related to Bahamians gambling, or even that the proceeds from gambling can supplement government revenue.   The real issue is whether or not the society and government, without strong justification, should endorse gambling, which is likely to create other more fundamental policy and moral dilemmas and problems.

I say as a society we should not put our confidence in the legalization of gambling for Bahamians, but rather we should rely on our abilities, discipline and hard work and appropriate public policy to improve our circumstance.

Jun 22, 2012

thenassauguardian

caribbean Blog International

Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) co-chairman - Charles Klonaris says: ...The cost of borrowing in the Bahamas is a major deterrent to persons looking to start up developments or small business

Dnp Co-Chairman: Country's High Interest Rates Major Deterrent For New Businesses




By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE cost of borrowing in the Bahamas is a major deterrent to persons looking to start up developments or small business according to the Downtown Nassau Partnership's (DNP) co-chairman Charles Klonaris.

He told Tribune Business yesterday that the country's high interest rates were contrary to trends in some of the world's largest economies.

Speaking with Tribune Business following a forum hosted by The Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) on local business incentives, Mr Klonaris said: "To do developments or to get into business in the Bahamas is expensive so we welcome legislation like the Revitilisation Act. Borrowing costs and energy costs are two big issues that need to be addressed. To get into the retail business is expensive. The borrowing costs are high. You are talking a minimum of seven per cent or higher."

Mr Klonaris added: "When you look around at what's happening in Europe and the United States, money is very inexpensive and that's purposely done to encourage someone to get into business. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. I don't know the reason why it is so expensive. It seems contrary to what is taking place world wide, that we still have these high interest rates when in the rest of the world money is practically free."

Mr Klonaris referred to the cost of electricity that persons interested in starting a development or business have to grapple with. "The cost of electricity is very high. This not only applies to the business person but also to the consumer. By the time he pays his electricity cost, food and gas, he doesn't have a disposable income. There is nothing left for him to go out and shop with. We are in some very serious and very difficult times and these are some of the issues the country needs to look into."

Mr Klonaris also suggested yesterday that tax exemptions provided under the City of Nassau Revitilisation Act start once the developer receives their certificate of occupancy. Mr Klonaris said: "If you are doing a major development it can go on for a long time. A small development could be a year, two years or five years. According to the Act you are exempt on bringing in materials as well as they give you a five year real property tax exemption but that starts once you make the application. To make the application you sit with your architect, sit with the contractor and fill out all the materials you are going to bring in and give it to the Ministry of Finance. It starts then even before construction starts and I'm suggesting that it should start once you receive the certificate of occupancy and I think it fair for everybody."

June 22, 2012

Tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

....the Bahamian government's failure to prosecute a single human trafficking case – has led the Bahamas to be classified as a “Tier 2 Watch List” on the State Department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report for the second year in a row

Us Alert On Trafficking



By DANA SMITH

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

THE alleged lack of “freedom of movement” for Chinese workers is an indication that human trafficking may be taking place at a large-scale construction site in the Bahamas, according to a new report from the US State Department.

This, among other factors – including the government failure to prosecute a single human trafficking case – has led the Bahamas to be classified as a “Tier 2 Watch List” on the State Department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report for the second year in a row.

“Media outlets have reported that Chinese workers in a large-scale Chinese construction project in The Bahamas do not have freedom of movement – a human trafficking indicator,” the report said.

It does not specify what “large-scale Chinese construction project” it is referring to, but the Thomas A Robinson national stadium, the Baha Mar resort, the Chinese Embassy, and various road projects in the family islands could all be described as large-scale construction projects with employed Chinese workers.

When reached for comment, Baha Mar senior vice president of administration and external affairs, Robert Sands firmly stated that the US could not be referring to their project.

“It doesn’t apply to us because our persons have freedom of movement,” Mr Sands said, before pointing out: “Baha Mar is not the only construction project going on in The Bahamas where Chinese workers are employed.”

Representatives for the Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment up to press time.

The State Department’s report continued to describe the Bahamas as “a destination, source, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking”.

“Undocumented migrants, particularly the estimated 30,000 Haitians who largely arrive in The Bahamas voluntarily, are vulnerable to forced labour, especially in domestic servitude and in the agriculture sector,” it read. “Experts also have raised concerns that some workers from Jamaica could be vulnerable to involuntary servitude.”

Groups “especially vulnerable” to sex trafficking in the Bahamas include foreign citizens in prostitution and “local children engaging in sex with men” for basics such as food, transportation, or material goods, the State Department stated.

“The Government of The Bahamas does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so,” the report said. “Despite these efforts – most notably the establishment of a high-level interagency committee and continued statements of commitment to address human trafficking – the government has not identified or assisted any victims of trafficking or initiated any forced labour or sex trafficking prosecutions; therefore, The Bahamas is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year.”

However, the State Department did name a “positive development” as the government’s March announcement of the establishment of a “working level interagency task force” set to handle “specific allegations of human trafficking and a protocol to guide officials in handling trafficking cases.”

The State Department also praised the government for holding a trafficking awareness event in March.

The entire Trafficking in Persons Report can be read online at the State Department’s official website – www.state.gov.

June 20, 2012

Tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson - Director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre says: ... Convicted sex offenders, and pedophiles in particular, will likely reoffend once released ...if not subjected to targeted treatment while incarcerated

Call for treatment of sex offenders

By Royston Jones Jr.
Guardian Staff Reporter
royston@nasguard.com

Convicted sex offenders, and pedophiles in particular, will likely reoffend once released if not subjected to targeted treatment while incarcerated, said Director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson yesterday.

She told The Nassau Guardian that the Crisis Centre has been calling for such a program to be implemented for years, and it needs “to be taken seriously”.

According to Dean-Patterson, sex offenders are highly likely to pursue deviant behavior if the arousal connection is not changed, despite having served long sentences.

“We need to break through that connection so that they are no longer aroused by seeing a littler boy or girl in a swimsuit,” Dean-Patterson said. “Our mental health and prison agencies have to come to together to put a system in place.

“If someone goes to jail for five years, or even 10 years for sexual assault he is still highly, highly likely to do so again.”

However, she admitted that research shows that many perpetrators benefit from this kind of treatment, but some do not.

Dean-Patterson said the low conviction rate in sexual offense and domestic violence cases contributes to offenders thinking they can rape, molest and batter without consequence.

Dean-Patterson added that in order for the Crisis Center to expand its services and become more involved in aiding victims of abuse, its annual $30,000 government grant needs to be increased to around $200,000.

This would facilitate more permanent administrators and advocates, as the non-profit organization relies upon volunteers, she said.

Jun 20, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Rev. Fr. Sebastian Campbell - Chairman of the National Heroes Committee says: ...parliamentarians are “lazy” in the naming of national heroes in The Bahamas throughout the years

Campbell: Parliament “lazy” in naming nat’l heroes

Travis Cartwright-Carroll
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com

Chairman of the National Heroes Committee Rev. Fr. Sebastian Campbell blasted parliamentarians for being “lazy” in the naming of national heroes in The Bahamas throughout the years.

Campbell spoke at a state-recognized funeral for Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) co-founder William ‘Bill’ Cartwright at St. Gregory’s Anglican Church on Carmichael Road yesterday.

Campbell said he met with the Cabinet last week to discuss the funeral and proposed that Cartwright be referred to as the “honorable William Wilton Jose Cartwright, national hero”.

“Some around the table almost had my head,” he said.  “I was told that only Parliament could give such a designation. I told them under my breath ‘that’s nonsense’.

“On the January 10, 2007, the National Heroes Committee designated William ‘Bill’ Cartwright as honorable for life on behalf of the Bahamian people who are the true sovereign of any country.

“Parliament of The Bahamas has been extremely lazy in this regard. To date only one person, I believe, the late Sir Milo B. Butler, has been declared a national hero by Parliament.

“We wait patiently for people of the stature of ‘Bill’ Cartwright to die then we flirt with the term national hero of the first order. This is our national character on which we seem not to be ashamed.”

Campbell noted that people of “lesser pedigree” than Cartwright overshadow him in accolades.

“Those who sacrificed nothing, gave up nothing, now have roadways and superstructures named in their honor,” Campbell said.

He continued: “And many of today’s players in the political platform know nothing about William ‘Bill’ Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson and [Sir] H.M. Taylor. No wonder tributes paid in recent days to Cartwright lack so much substance.”

The men founded the PLP in 1953.

Cartwright died at 89.

He spent the last two years of his life in an old folks home, before being taken to hospital in the days before his death.

Cartwright, a native of Long Island, represented Cat Island in Parliament for seven of the 20 years he devoted to public life.

PLP Deputy Leader Philip Brave Davis said at Cartwright’s memorial on Friday that The Bahamas failed Cartwright.

At the funeral yesterday, Prime Minister Perry Christie agreed with Campbell that Cartwright deserves special recognition.

Christie said the government would allow The College of The Bahamas to begin immediately to record the history of the country to “fill in the gaps that have been left by those who have offered their own experiences”.

“We have an obligation as a country to do something about this deficit that the Rev Fr. spoke about, and quickly,” Christie said.

“To the family...I have indicated as the leader of the PLP on the one hand that I would move to ensure the upliftment of the names of those who are a part of the original visionaries and [their] name in the annals of our party, so that henceforth we will no longer have to guess, but will be properly lifted and institutionalized.

“So from a party perspective the history will be complete.”

Jun 19, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

The Bahamas nears " the ranks of 'Third World' nations via the rapid rise in the national debt... ...with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report warning that our nation's 57.6 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio has passed the threshold at which it will act as "a drag" on its economic growth

Debt 'Pushing Bahamas' Deeper Into Third World


By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

THE Bahamas has "pushed ourselves further into" the ranks of 'Third World' nations via the rapid rise in the national debt, with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report warning this nation's 57.6 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio has passed the threshold at which it will act as "a drag" on its economic growth.

James Smith, a former Central Bank governor and now-Ministry of Finance consultant, told Tribune Business that the Bahamas had "dug ourselves a hole" with a national debt projected to hit $4.613 billion by end-June 2012, adding that its fiscal woes were begin to resemble "more and more" those of its many troubled Caribbean neighbours.

As he acknowledged that it would be "very difficult" to get the Bahamas' fiscal deficit and national debt back on to a sustainable trajectory, Mr Smith's comments were given further credence by an IMF paper, published on Friday, which showed this nation's debt-to-GDP ratio was now likely to 'drag down' its economic growth.

The paper, Threshold Effects of Sovereign Debt: Evidence from the Caribbean, analysed the Bahamas and 12 other regional nations, and found that above a 55-56 per cent debt-to-GDP level, any further increase in that ratio would impede economic growth.

The Bahamas, which is projected to have a total debt-to-GDP ratio of 57.6 per cent by month's end, according to government statistics, has already breached that barrier.

"The main finding is that there exists a threshold debt to GDP (GDP) ratio of 55-56 per cent," the four authors of the IMF paper found. "Moreover, the debt dynamics begin changing well before this threshold is reached.

"Specifically, at debt levels lower than 30 per cent of GDP, increases in the debt-to-GDP ratio are associated with faster economic growth. However, as debt rises beyond 30 per cent, the effects on economic growth diminish rapidly.

"And, at debt levels reaching 55-56 per cent of GDP, the growth impacts switch from positive to negative. Thus, beyond this threshold, the debt becomes a drag on growth."

Tackling the rapid rate of increase in the Bahamas' fiscal deficit, projected to hit a record $550 million under the GFS measurement during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, and the national debt could arguably be the Christie administration's greatest challenge over the next five years.

But, beyond some revenue enhancement measures largely left in place by the former Ingraham administration, pledges of tax reform and efforts to get the private sector going, it has yet to lay out a clear strategy for containing the fiscal deficit and national debt.

"The trend is still very worrisome," Mr Smith conceded, "because it's very difficult once you've let the horse out of the barn. It's very difficult to get it back".

He argued that the projected $550 million fiscal deficit for 2012-2013 was largely "a catch up from all the expenditure that has taken place", meaning it has resulted from extra debt servicing and spending commitments made by the former Ingraham administration.

"You couldn't even roll it back," Mr Smith added. "If you stopped everything, it would be more costly and would put a brake on what little growth there is.

"There's going to be no quick turnaround, as the world economy is still sluggish. By and large we have dug a hole for ourselves."

The former finance minister and Central Bank governor told Tribune Business that it was "a fair assessment" to argue that the Bahamas' fiscal predicament was due more to spending increases, particularly on the Government's recurrent or fixed costs, as opposed to the revenue side of the equation.

"In the last year or so we seemingly outspent the fall off in revenues, and from a policy perspective we should have been holding back when we realised we were not emerging from recession, at least not at the pace the US was," Mr Smith said.

A report by the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC), released on Friday, blamed the Bahamas' 2010-2011 nominal fiscal deficit of 4.7 per cent on spending increases that outstripped a 10 per cent rise in revenues to a sum equivalent to 17.7 per cent of GDP.

"The improved revenue was offset by a substantial nominal rise in expenditure to 22.9 per cent of GDP," the ECLAC report noted.

"Current expenditure reflected a sharp increase in payments for goods and services, and higher debt interest payments as government borrowing mounted. Growth in capital expenditure more than doubled with major investments in road infrastructure and in the airport expansion project."

Mr Smith, meanwhile, told Tribune Business that the Bahamas effectively needed an 'out of the box' game changer, something not associated with its traditional industries, to reverse the decline.

"We need some kind of external something we didn't plan for to get us quickly out of this," he added. "The things that we can predict, nothing seems to give us the sufficient impetus that we need in the short-medium term.

"We're beginning to look more and more like the rest of the Caribbean," Mr Smith told Tribune Business, referring to the likes of Barbados, Jamaica and St Lucia, all with debt-to-GDP ratios of around - or above - 100 per cent.

"We've been trying to pull ourselves so hard out of the Third World, but seem to have pushed ourselves further in. It's really going to take a combined effort - the labour has got to become more productive, the investment support machinery has got to be more efficient. We've simply got to work a lot harder as a country. It's not business as usual."

The bulk of Bahamian GDP was derived from tourist spending, but Mr Smith questioned whether US visitors - who still account for over 80 per cent of stopovers - would return to pre-recession spending levels even if there was recovery at home.

"We don't have the level of tourist expenditure needed to support increased GDP growth," he added. "To the extent that we are using subsidies to the tourism sector in terms of assisting the hotel industry, the likes of Companion Fly Free, we are actually getting less spending per tourist dollar, as we are actually paying to get them here. We're not getting the same bang for the buck."

The authors of the IMF paper urged the Bahamas and others above the 55 per cent debt-to-GDP mark to "adopt policies that do not impede growth" by setting the ratio on a downward trend.

Acknowledging that it was difficult for the Caribbean to embark on fiscal consolidation, given the recession's hangover and high unemployment levels, the IMF paper urged governments to combine with the private sector to "present more innovative ideas, and rehash some of the current policies for the region:".

The authors, for instance, called for "greater progress" in sectors such as information technology and renewable energy.

June 18, 2012

Tribune242

Caribbean Blog International