At the National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce in The Bahamas, Khaalis Rolle attempted to pin the problem of unemployment on the private sector, citing a figure of 28,000 work permits issued to non-Bahamians when 31,000 Bahamians are out of work. But even Rolle's counterpart, Robert Farquharson, director of labor, noted that the local reluctance to accept employment opportunities in necessary but unpopular fields remains "one of the greatest weaknesses" of the Bahamian workforce.
Rather than bemoan lost employment to domestic household workers, the government should elaborate on its use of foreign work permit holders and consultants in highly technical fields. By way of intentional omission, the government fails to disclose the amount of taxpayer money spent on foreign consultants to keep Bahamians focused on the arbitrary harms of individual work permit holders.
Successive governments retard local economic expansion in high wage paying fields due to the exclusive use of foreign consultants without requiring Bahamian counterparts. This practice is most affronting to Bahamians with valuable technical skills who are denied access to government consulting jobs due to vague explanations, such as it would be a "conflict of interest".
Government policy effectively stymies the intellectual growth of its own people. It is complicit in the act of imbedding a barrier to knowledge transfer; a significant impediment to small island developing states such as The Bahamas.
This practice of foreign consultants extends across ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Environment and Housing, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, the BEST Commission and the National Insurance Board, to name a few.
At a recent public meeting concerning the Rubis gas spill, the government deferred to "its" consulting firm of Black & Veatch for a presentation of that company's findings. For National Health Insurance, the government contracted Sanigest Internacional.
Caribbean countries too often default to large multi-national companies with well-recognized names to justify costs and reinforce the false notion that foreign is better. But such a default mechanism is a double-edged sword with currency removed and technical expertise being held offshore.
As Rolle noted at the conclave, "We have a lot of work to do in this country. It's not about politics, it's a government system that has been in existence for many years, and there just needs to be a rebirth. It's not unique to any political party; it's unique to a political system that has been allowed to develop into what it is now."
Rolle's statement is correct. Bahamians who receive tertiary degrees overseas are denied access to sectors deemed too technical for the local market because of the preferential bias of government for foreign consultants.
Joint ventures allocating a minimum percentage of a government contract to Bahamian firms would be a start. Moreover, transparency through public disclosure of joint ventures and bulk contract amounts would quell to some extent crony capitalism.
Overall, the greater challenge is to expand private sector opportunities in high wage fields, such as information technology (IT), financial services, research sciences, engineering, environmental services, economics and actuarial services, to name a few. Government confidence in Bahamian firms may entice a younger generation to achieve tertiary degrees for technical positions once deemed unattainable in The Bahamas.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
