The government is offering a variety of social and monetary assistance to the 71 workers laid off this week by Hutchison Whampoa in Grand Bahama, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development said.  "To assist these individuals, various government agencies, inclusive of the Department of Labour, the Department of Social Services and the National Insurance Board will offer similar services as has been done in the past with other displaced workers," the statement said.

"These services will include social assistance, registration for the Unemployment Benefit and the Employment Skills Data Bank. Counseling services, both financial and spiritual, will also be provided by other social partners."  The statement added that the services will be available early in the new year.  The 71 employees in Freeport were mainly middle management personnel and a few line staff, according to reports.

The dismissals come as the Grand Bahamian economy continues to suffer.  Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing told The Nassau Guardian on Thursday that the lay-offs will present further challenges to the economy.  "It continues to reflect on the challenges that exist in our national economic situation, but also in the global economic situation, and so all of us have to continue to be very vigilant," Laing said.

But the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) took a different view.  Earlier this week, a party spokesman accused the Ingraham administration of having a "lackadaisical" attitude toward Grand Bahama's economy.  "Rather than being actively engaged with the major stakeholders in Grand Bahama to protect Bahamian jobs the FNM (Free National Movement) has been busy in Nassau lining the pockets of its special interest benefactors," said Julian Russell, the PLP's candidate for Eight Mile Rock.

"With five elected members of Parliament and two appointed cabinet ministers responsible for representing the affairs and interests of Grand Bahama, it is unconscionable and disgraceful that the FNM government has stood idly by as Grand Bahama descends into an economic abyss and hopelessness among our people grows daily."  But Laing said the government has sought on every occasion to do all it can to bring economic stability to The Bahamas, including Grand Bahama, through a variety of investment promotional tours and economic initiatives.

Pointing to the high crime rate in 2011, the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) is encouraging Bahamians to bring in the new year in a church.  "We appeal to all Bahamians to end this year and begin the new year in a culture of thanksgiving, prayers and intercessions. To do anything else opens the doors for a new year far worse than this dying one," the BCC said in a statement yesterday.

With just one day left in the year, the country has recorded a record-setting 127 murders - far surpassing the previous record of 94 murders which was set last year.  But murder was not the only category of crime that increased.  Police recorded an increase in nearly all categories of violent crimes this year.  Statistics show that during the period January 1 to October 11, 2011, cases of attempted murder, rape, attempted rape, armed robbery, robbery, and attempted robbery all increased.

However, some crimes such as unlawful sexual intercourse and manslaughter decreased, according to the latest statistics.  The BCC called on Bahamians everywhere to remember that the depth of the country's social and moral problems all need divine intervention.  "We need to turn back to God. This past year has been marred with tragedies, disaster and mourning on every street and we should end the old and begin the new year in the church of our choice," the BCC statement said.

"The call by some businesses to bring in the new year in a bar room is tragic. Many of the country's 127 murders this year took place in bars."  The country has recorded the fourth murder record in five years.  The BCC said the "tragedy of modernity has always been to leave God out".  "If ever there was a time to make intercessions, it is now," it added.

2011 wasn't just another year.  Powerful politicians went to jail, joblessness hardened into recession, and many of our assumptions about the status quo froze to death.  Some of us were inclined to laugh, but found dark sorrow everywhere our teardrops fell.

2011 was a powerful reproach for some of the world's most ruthless dictators.  From whispers to daylight, the worthy causes of global protesters prevailed.  Where once emerging economies were looked upon with suspicion, European and American dominance of financial markets dwindled.  Bad things happened to good companies, due to poor practices by executives, unwise decisions by board members, and self-serving ties between public officials and wealthy elites.

Circles
We didn't place into perspective, the chaotic gyrations of the global village.  Neither did we rely on regional values to reinforce our identity, nor reposition ourselves.  It was our reluctance to embrace local intelligence that moved CARICOM from bleak orchards to ruined gardens.
We like crony circles.  We dislike public-serving ideals.

Reflect! The Caribbean Court of Justice could not expand its acceptance radius.  In the politics in which our success rate is formed, economic unification eavesdropped on national elections and discovered that they were parodies of changing cooks or keeping old menus.  Our leaders appeared less able to provide hands-on social and financial answers.  Non-communicable diseases escalated.  Natural disasters were not as brutal.  Observe!  Violent crimes shook the foundations of our streets and homes. With tearful eyes, we watched peace sink into the sea.  At the regional and sub-regional levels, speech-eloquence flourished.

While traveling between islands inspired hostile hospitality, labor unions pushed governments and corporations to bargaining turbulence.  Our colleges and universities granted degrees.  They did not generate work-related research or expanded quality of life opportunities for Caribbeaners.

If you think you understand the Caribbean mindscape, you don't understand island people.  We congratulated ourselves for sitting on big committees in high places.  Good!  But we delivered nothing to better the region.  Pay attention!  Our desire for national growth did not get along with our capacity to overcome micro-thinking.  Instead, we thundered mighty promises only to drift further apart.

At the end of 2011, we were still satisfied with square mileage fantasies - a phenomenon caught in the vagueness of sovereign versus colonial politics.  To escape circles and climb ladders, an underlying question persistently arises: What is the quality assurance test to ensure that the Caribbean goes beyond Twitter talk about regional development?

Ladders
An action-packed vision of self-sufficiency that starts with an appetite for 75 percent food independence should be the Caribbean's chief activity.  Nothing should prevent us from creating cost-containing technologies to reduce our dependency on refined, imported foods.
To climb ladders is to hear vast discoveries screaming for our attention.

Missing is a deep deductive passion for experimental investigation of our immediate surroundings. There is too much sun, wind, water and sand in our midst, not to devise penny cheap transportation and build strong infrastructure.  Taking advantage of our advantages will make us cut the edge.

Rather than hurricanes being a source of terror, perhaps our scientific adventures could turn them into a platform of renewable energy.  Ever wonder if there is hidden energy to be harnessed from this yearly ritual of howling winds?  If not, what else could we extract from stormy rains?

Suppose we constantly challenge our intuitions.  We could find healing elements in banana roots and coconut bark.  We could grind them with lime juice and sea shells.  Upsetting concoction?  But perhaps we might uncover combined intelligence that may cure prostate and breast cancers, high blood pressure and diabetes.  Are we curious enough to find out?  If our genius is freed from photocopying anxieties, it will bring extraordinary success.  But if it's stifled, it will suffer from self-doubt and baptize everything foreign.

CARICOM could generate a blueprint for thinking globally with all sorts of local connections and sub-regional tradeoffs.  We must take a pragmatic approach to economic growth, and a coordinated view of regional diplomacy.  But we'll have to set higher leadership criteria.  Empathy and responsibility mixed with competence and justice are necessary traits.  Passion, courage, and commitment to regionalism are needed too.

Our growth opportunities require new networks of interdependent alliances to increase gains in investments and stability.  We could melt the right economic and social resources to collaborate with Brazil, Russia, India and China.  We could further bolster important partnerships with Asia, and gel our interests with U.S. policies for our betterment.

To do this, we the people must provide our leaders with advisory and implementation support in areas of urgent need.  We must customize solutions with local cultures and global standards, while rewarding and punishing leadership behavior based primarily on moral principle and operational performance.

I agree with Paul Romer's concept of "nonrival goods".  It highlights the power of information and ideas to expand our material world.  He observed that:
"...Every generation has underestimated the potential for finding new recipes and ideas.  We consistently fail to grasp how many ideas remain to be discovered.  The difficulty is the same one we have with compounding.  Possibilities do not add up.  They multiply."

Pressed for application, our prosperity will multiply at the edge of innovation.  I urge us to see lights.  Let's hide the wrinkled wisdom of those adorned with old age deep inside our children.  It is then that the powerhouses of today -- our young people - will be mentored into greatness.  Release them to the wonders of possibilities.

2012 will operate in whole.  If you sow magnificence, you'll reap amazement.  Upon a contagious Caribbean dream with focus is imprinted the seal of joyful accomplishments.  Perhaps CARICOM could reproduce men and women of honor, resplendent with durable characters and spiritual values.  This is the essence of regional development.

Drink deep of this truth, and live it!

Dr. Isaac Newton is an international leadership and change management consultant and political adviser who specializes in government and business relations, and sustainable development projects.  Dr Newton works extensively in West Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, and is a graduate of Oakwood College, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia.

Printed with the permission of caribbeannewsnow.com

POLICE QUESTION MEN IN CONNECTION WITH RECENT MURDER

New Providence Island, Bahamas - Police are questioning three (3)
men ages, 25, 24 and 18 years, in connection with arecent murder.

The
incident reportedly occurred shortly before 1:00 pm on Friday 30th
December, 2011.Initial police reports indicate that the deceased was
walking on Fire Trail Road when hewas approached by a Honda Accord
occupied by three (3) men.It is reported that two (2) men, one of whom
was armed with a handgun, exited thevehicle and fired gunshots which
resulted in the 27 year old receiving a gunshot injuryto the head. EMS
personnel responded and pronounced the victim dead.Active police
investigations continue.

POLICE REQUEST PUBLIC HELP IN LOCATING ARMED ROBBERY SUSPECTS...