"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
- Edward M. Kennedy
One of the greatest challenges facing The Bahamas in the 21st century continues be the economic empowerment of our citizens. Therefore, this week, we would like to Consider This... has the time now come for us to take economic empowerment more seriously?
Believing in Bahamians
In the years ahead, we must demonstrate greater confidence in ourselves. For too long, we have developed a crisis of confidence in our own ability to address our national concerns.
Instead, we have demonstrated a passionate love affair for things foreign, often to the exclusion of an appreciation for Bahamian talent and expertise. This has been frequently demonstrated by politicians from all sides of the political divide, often resulting in the engagement of and priorities given to foreign consultants and investors where the same talent and intellectual acumen resides locally.
A classic example of this is the recent engagement of foreign consultants to advise the government on the cost of the national health insurance program when there are adequate and qualified local professionals who can accomplish the same task. Another example was recently observed in the public debate on value-added tax, where Bahamians proffered the same recommendations of the tax consultants from New Zealand and elsewhere.
It was only after those consultants presented their recommendations that the government finally accepted many of the same recommendations as those offered by Bahamians months earlier.
Hopefully, as we progress, the political directorate and the Bahamian public will more fully appreciate that there are qualified Bahamians who are in some instances better educated than the same foreigners who often provide their findings based on interviews that they conduct with Bahamian professionals.
From political to economic empowerment
Political empowerment is only one half of the equation for total participation by our citizens in the Bahamian economy. The other half of the equation is economic empowerment which has eluded too many for decades. While some persons have been able to create personal wealth for themselves, there are many factors that militate against promoting a cadre of entrepreneurs who would wish to realize their dreams of business ownership.
Our banking system and access to working capital, and political red tape and government bureaucracy have greatly contributed to the frustration experienced by many would-be entrepreneurs. A concerted assessment must be made regarding the barriers to entry for Bahamian entrepreneurs and methods should be found to remove those barriers.
Crown land
The government of the Bahamas has many tools in its arsenal with which to affect public policy and economic emancipation. One of the most powerful and significant, especially in this 21st century, is Crown Land. There are millions of acres of land owned by the Crown and the use and the role that Crown Land will undoubtedly play in the next and most definitive phase of economic empowerment of Bahamians will be pivotal to the long-term sustainability of The Bahamas for Bahamians.
Because the ownership of land is essential to the creation of wealth, we must enable Bahamians to make better use of commonage land or generation property, the title to which is often not adequately documented, as well as Crown Land to empower Bahamians to use these assets to raise capital in order to start businesses. Successive governments have "gifted" Crown Land to foreign investors.
We should be prepared to do the same for Bahamians who have viable business plans but lack the necessary capital to realize their dreams of business ownership, without which economic empowerment will remain a distant dream.
It would be a travesty for any Bahamian government to use Crown Land wantonly because it is one of our most vital natural resources, and must be so recognized and deployed in a manner that will benefit the greatest number of our citizens for the long-term.
Crown Land is a sacred trust that is held for future generations of Bahamians and its efficient and effective administration is elemental to economic empowerment for Bahamians yet unborn. Therefore, unless candidates or political parties seeking electoral support can clearly articulate, define and defend their plans for this national treasure, neither that individual nor his political party should obtain support at the polls. Legacy
Properly formulated and adeptly executed, Prime Minister Christie's legacy could entail an administration whose primary objective is one of Bahamian economic empowerment. It is now time for the establishment of an economic culture that is inclusive and beneficial to all who call The Bahamas home and who wish to build our nation for generations yet unborn.
Conclusion
The long march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas was a sustained struggle that started with Pompey and culminated with Pindling. In 1973, the Colony of the Bahama Islands joined the community of nations and became the independent Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
The sustained struggle that marked the way to a majority-ruled, independent nation still continues, as Bahamians now engage in a journey towards the economic empowerment and freedom that Pindling identified as the final struggle in the centuries-long voyage from enslavement to full freedom for generations to come.
As we seek to fulfill the final phase of emancipation and become economically empowered, realizing at long last the dreams of those enslaved ancestors to truly become free and independent men and women, responsible and accountable for our own destinies, and limited only by our own imagination, we must demand from those who desire to sit in seats of power, the freedom to develop new and previously uncharted areas of the economy.
We must look beyond the previous paradigms of expatriate "plantation plutocracy", eradicating the archaic models that have shackled us for too long, and become owners of those industries that will transport us to a more secure future.
And ultimately, we must look to the land, the very thing that drew those early settlers and our enslaved ancestors to these islands, and, just as they regarded it as their pathway to a stable life for their families, we must consider the use of our Crown Land as one of the foundations of the economically empowered and emancipated future it is now time for us to create.
Finally and fully, we must take possession of those elements that originally enslaved us and transform them into the instruments of our economic emancipation. This is the only way that we will ensure that, as the late Senator Kennedy suggested: "the dream shall never die."
o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis and Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

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