Dear Editor,
Some have opined that the gold rush administration (PLP), led by Perry Christie, has failed the people of The Bahamas. I beg to differ. I confess that I have many problems with the lackadaisical leadership style of the PM but, on balance, the PLP has performed as best as it was able to in the particular circumstances which it met in place in May 2012.
The FNM, then led by Hubert Ingraham, increased the national debt to unmanageable proportions. He and his ill-fated administration spent money like a drunken sailor. In essence, they jacked us right up, big time. The most callous item was the massive overrun on the so-called road improvement scheme to the extent of $100 million.
Millions more were wasted on pie in the sky projects and so-called job creation schemes which really only benefited FNM cronies. Contracts were awarded to the party faithful while Nero (Ingraham) was fiddling.
Schools and public buildings were badly neglected and were allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Indeed, many of our courts were literally falling apart while Ingraham was seeing ghosts and dead people all over the place. Unions were striking or withdrawing their labor. The uniformed branches were unhappy and crime was soaring. Major foreign and Bahamian investors were put in play while being turned around like literal fools.
The PLP made too many electoral promises. Yes, one is able to understand the necessity of the big hype during electoral campaigns, but the 2012 event was the biggest one yet. Never again should any political party attempt to bamboozle the good people of this country in such a fashion. This, obviously, is the last lap around the arena for many in the gold rush administration. New leadership is just around the corner.
The gold rush administration must and will, I submit, get its footing within the next few months. May I be bold enough to suggest ways and means by which it will do so? Number one, crime is not out of control, despite the alarming incidences and purported statistics. We have the best commissioner of police in place. Ellison Greenslade sometimes comes across as a showboat but that is precisely what we need to lead a modern and savvy police force.
A majority of the alleged homicides are been perpetuated by and upon so-called gang members. Yes, a handful may involve domestic disputes, but by and large, alleged criminals are retaliating on fellow alleged criminals. Eventually, they will kill themselves off and statistics will automatically go down. This might appear to be a cruel assessment but it is a true one. Eventually men and women will understand the necessity of conflict resolution and counseling.
The PLP is not good at public relations, and the party is in urgent need of a press spokesperson. The PM is not doing the party any good by constantly admitting that he knows nothing about numerous issues or that no one told him about them in a timely manner. He is coming to look and sound like a man who lives in another galaxy. Other ministers are just as bad, if not worse.
The minister of housing and the environment is not suited for his portfolio. Garbage collection is horrible on New Providence and the island is looking like the dump that it has become. Not one home has been built since his appointment and the much touted survey on alleged shantytowns is nowhere in sight. The minister of foreign affairs and immigration is now a man unto himself.
Despite these seemingly inept office holders, the PLP will succeed because of a few visionary and hardworking ministers in the administration. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Brave Davis was instrumental in securing the electoral success of the PLP. Some say that I am a spear carrier for Brave. Others say that I want something from him. No. I want nothing from him except what is good for Bahamians.
Brave has a master plan for the nation and, God willing, it will be implemented with the cooperation and assistance of his colleagues within the gold rush administration in short order. The bogus promise to create 10,000 jobs was just that, a bogus promise. The PLP is able to assist the private sector in generating a minimum of 2,000 jobs per year by immediately reducing the costs of utilities, even if we have to subsidize them. The same economic incentives which are being handed out like candies to foreign investors must be granted to Bahamians.
Let us allow the privatization of Bahamasair. Sell off 60 percent to a consortium of Bahamian and foreign investors and let the government retain 30 percent, the other 10 percent could be sold to the Bahamian public. What is the point of toting this albatross any further?
No additional new infrastructure work should be carried out in New Providence for the next year. The private sector should be encouraged to invest in job generating enterprises by public/private sector projects. For instance, we are badly in need of adequate and affordable medical facilities in the south, west and eastern areas of New Providence.
Invite Doctors Hospital and/or a group of investors to build state-of-the-art medical facilities in those locations and allow them to bring in all equipment and building supplies (where they are not available locally) duty free. While they are at this, a pre-paid medical national plan should be conceptualized and implemented. Allow a private company to offer such a plan say at $25 per month per individual so that when there is need to access medical treatment it would be available at a low cost.
The gold rush administration must also take the bull by the horn and immediately before the summer recess of Parliament bring legislation to regulate and tax the so-called web shops and numbers houses. I have already opined on this issue, but allow me to lay it out again.
This industry generates in excess of $400 million per year. If it were regulated, the gold rush administration could easily tax at a minimum of 40 percent per year. That translates into $160 million per year. Each operator or those who would wish to become operators should be charged $5 million per year for a license. It is commonly agreed that there are at least five major web shops. If so, that translates into an additional $25 million per year for a grand total of $185 million per year.
This money could be used to pay down the national debt and to upgrade The College of The Bahamas to university level and to drastically reduce or even eliminate student fees and charges. The Grand Bahama campus could also then be modernized and expanded. The agriculture and fisheries component of the college could then be introduced over in Andros and Eleuthera right now, eliminating long-winded talk.
The floating power plant proposed by clients of Senator John Bostwick must be carefully looked at and, I submit, approved. Electrical costs are simply too high for the average individual and business firm. If his clients want to put up the money, at little cost to us, let them do so. If it works out, fine. If it fails, what have we lost? Nothing.
Crown land should also be freed up on the major islands and sold to Bahamians at cost, once the infrastructure is in. Where possible the gold rush administration could grant 100-acre tracts to Bahamian developers who would then put in the infrastructure and sell developed lots to Bahamian clients for $30,000 or less with financing by the Bahamas Development Bank.
The gold rush administration must also reverse the traffic flow on Market Street and Baillou Hill Road. Those two streets are the lifeblood arteries of the inner city. Yes, it will take a few million dollars to re-visit this but sell road bonds to institutional and ordinary investors. By the way, are there any audited financial statements for the Road Traffic Department? How much money is collected by that vital government department and where does it go?
The much talked about national training institute is nowhere in sight. Baha Mar and Atlantis are both bemoaning the fact that they are unable to find qualified Bahamians to fill the most mundane positions. Atlantis says that on any given day it has vacancies in the hundreds. Baha Mar says that it will need 3,000 employees to 4,000 employees once it opens next year, God willing. What organization, governmental or otherwise, is now providing training for potential employees? Not a single one. This must come on stream immediately.
The gold rush administration has a golden opportunity to succeed but it must become more proactive and demonstrate visionary traits. It must also revamp and enhance its public relations efforts. The elected and appointed representatives must become more available, if only twice per month. Bahamians like to feel their representatives as opposed to having to run them down.
Lastly, come clean on the issue of the availability of government jobs. There are precious few available and they should only go to the most qualified. Bahamians may act the part of the fool on occasion, but they are able to understand. Stop promising pie in the sky and let us deal with the real issues on the ground.
Yes, as the gold rush administration approaches its first anniversary, it is my contention that it will succeed despite the bad first year, by its own making, in office. Brave and his inner sanctum, with consultative advice from Christie, will make the difference.
To God then, in all things, be the glory.
- Ortland H. Bodie Jr.

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