Lingering frustrations

Mon, Apr 13th 2015, 01:33 AM

While he has opted to stay in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Perry Christie after contemplating his resignation earlier this year, South and Central Eleuthera MP Damian Gomez still worries that his constituency is a "dying" community that has long grown tired of waiting on the government to stimulate its economy.

"The difficulty is that promising without delivering on promises creates the atmosphere of distrust and despair that quite frankly has gripped our community for far too long," said Gomez, who estimated that unemployment in communities in his constituency could be as high as 70 to 80 percent.

"I have been very frank with my constituents. I have addressed issues which were personal to them in terms of what they need to do to improve themselves and to prepare themselves for opportunities."

Last December, Gomez wrote the prime minister advising that "many constituents are disenchanted by the failure to address critical capital works projects which may have stimulated the economy of Central and South Eleuthera and alleviated unemployment and poverty".

In an interview with National Review on Friday, Gomez said when he makes the rounds in his constituency, he notices that more and more people can no longer be found, a signal that they have left for other islands, mainly the capital, in search of better opportunities. He said most of the adults who have remained in Eleuthera can be found in their homes at any hour of the day because they have no jobs to go to.

Gomez said the recent announcement that Scotiabank is closing two branches in Eleuthera is "potentially catastrophic".

"Unless we find an alternative banking arrangement, the communities, particularly in the south, will have no commercial bank at which to do banking business and this deterioration in the economy is hardly the medicine that South Eleuthera has been looking for," Gomez said.

"I know that Mr. Samiento's group is poised to begin its construction of the Four Seasons hotel and the government is to commence this budget year the hospital in Palmetto Point, but the decision of Scotiabank is a negative which needs to be addressed.

"And I'm not sure how the government is going to respond, although I would bet that we would lean on Bank of The Bahamas to pick up the slack."

Gomez added, "This serves as a clarion call for urgent economic activity and the quicker we respond to this with the type of infrastructure that's needed the quicker we would resolve the issues of a declining population in South Eleuthera and the restoration of the economy.

"It's now at an all-time low."

On January 5, National Review revealed that Gomez, the minister of state for legal affairs, wrote Christie on December 24, 2014, suggesting that his constituents would not have a good Christmas. A week later, we revealed that Gomez was considering leaving the Cabinet. We noted at the time that there was widespread disaffection toward Christie and the government in many other constituencies. We pointed out that many people were not feeling good about things, Christie's oft expressed optimism notwithstanding.

Today, nearly three months later, many people are still not feeling good about things. While Gomez has decided to stay in the Cabinet and continue his push for improvements in his constituency, he is clearly frustrated by the slowness to deliver. Of course, the prime minister's optimism about the state of the economy extends well beyond Eleuthera. Christie has projected that 8,000 new jobs will be added to the economy by the end of the year.

"The figures from a recent survey released by the Department of Statistics indicate that overall unemployment was 15.7 percent near the close of 2014 and that urban unemployment peaked at almost 19 percent," he said at the Bahamas Economic Outlook forum on February 3, 2015.

"My government is committed to bringing these numbers down, by continuing to stimulate private sector investments.
"The seeds for many of these jobs have already been sown in projects in various stages of development in New Providence, Eleuthera, Andros, Abaco, Bimini, Exuma, San Salvador, Cat Island, Grand Bahama and in other areas."
Days earlier at the Bahamas Business Outlook forum, Christie acknowledged that tourism remained sluggish in Eleuthera and several other islands, but he said there was positive growth in arrivals in most Family Islands last year.

"Sadly, recessionary conditions continue to be evident in Cat Island, Eleuthera and Andros, all of which continued to experience negative growth in visitor arrivals (in 2014)," Christie said.

"However, I am pleased to report that we are progressing on touristic-related development proposals which should be finalized in the coming months and which will significantly impact these islands."

At the Eleuthera Business Outlook a year ago, the prime minister said there was much that was being done "to ensure significant growth in Eleuthera". At the time, he said tourism was on the "upswing" in Eleuthera. He also said last year that the Cotton Bay development in South Eleuthera was "set to change the face of tourism in that part of the island significantly", and the government was "well advanced in our negotiations with the Samiento and Four Seasons interests for a Four Seasons branded luxury resort" in South Eleuthera.

Partnerships
Christie said the government was continuing to work to make Eleuthera a first choice destination for tourists, both foreign and domestic.

"While the government will necessarily play a pivotal role going forward, there is no question that dedicated efforts must also be deployed by the private sector to further the development of Eleuthera's economy and community," Christie said.

Asked on Friday whether he thinks the Progressive Liberal Party "over promised" in Eleuthera, Gomez responded: "My view is that we could have delivered on more of the promises by engaging in a more aggressive way public-private partnerships which would not have impacted adversely on the fiscal outlook of the country.

"Much of what I have been advocating can be achieved through public-private partnerships and even now it isn't too late to begin that process. I think that, that is the only way that the government can afford to address the sheer size of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas."

The MP added that it is not always politics that slows down action in constituencies. He lamented the civil service bureaucracy "which takes almost forever to make up its mind on minute decisions".

"In real terms, businesses don't have that time to sit around waiting for answers," Gomez said. "We need to be far more responsive, far more productive, both at an administrative civil servant level as well as at a political level."

Referring to the impact bureaucracy has on decision-making and getting things done, he added, "Quite frankly, from where I sit, we are lucky that things are not worse than they are."

At the Eleuthera Business Outlook last April, Christie pointed to successful public-private partnerships.

"With the help from the government, public-private partnerships and significant investments from both Bahamians and foreigners, this island is on a course headed for major economic growth," he declared. "For this growth we require the cooperation of the entire Eleutheran community to stay the course."

But the wait has apparently been gruelling for many constituents. The frustrations of many Eleuthera residents that are being channeled through their MP are also reflected on the national stage. While Christie continues to express great enthusiasm about the projects coming on-stream, that feeling does not appear to be widely shared.

Yes, there is of course Baha Mar, which we hope will finally open in May. Most of our eggs are in that basket. That project's success will be important for the much-needed economic stimulation to finally materialize. But if Christie cannot convince MPs like Damian Gomez of a real need to be hopeful he is in even more trouble than we thought.

Clearly, the time for talk and promises has long passed.

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