Dear Editor,

For more than 45 years, the Free National Movement (FNM) has been the party of functional literacy in government. You may disagree philosophically with any given policy advocated by the party, but you always knew that it would be planned in a considered, rational manner, and implemented only after due diligence had been satisfied, accountability ensured and best practices put into place.

From 1992 to 2002, this responsible method was a breath of fresh air in a country that had stagnated terribly under the misconceived, reckless and haphazard approach to governance adopted by the Pindling-led administration, which gave rise to many negative unintended consequences that we still struggle with today. This is the whole point of intelligent, considered and responsible government: to minimize the possibility of unforeseen results from policies, which, though they may be well intended, end up doing far more harm than good to the body politic.

Enter current FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis and his plan for tax-free zones Over the Hill as publicly pronounced by him in various media. As a sound byte, this plan is great. Take one nanosecond to look below the surface, however, and you will see that it has no basis in objective reality whatsoever.

The plan, to the extent you can penetrate its diaphanous contours, is nothing more than a series of ill-thought-out fiscal maneuvers with little, if any, reflection given to the larger scale implications for the renewal of this historic section of the City of Nassau – no provision for urban planning; no provision for the restoration and designation of historic buildings and monuments; and, no thought given to any public/private sector partnership vehicle which might drive revitalization of the inner city.

What Minnis has done in this instance – indeed, what he always seems to do – is “dumb down” the once rational and mature approach of the FNM, indulging in all sorts of delusions and fantasies that are designed to push the buttons of the masses for political ends. In some other quarters it might be referred to as a confidence trick.

Indeed, you would have to believe in magic to accept that things will go as Minnis predicts. His plan is nothing more than political slight-of-hand, public relations sorcery and economic voodoo. Not only will it fail to meet the stated aim of empowering the less fortunate, it could lead to all sorts of trouble for our already ailing national economy to boot.

Firstly, the vast majority of people who live in these depressed areas are by definition struggling financially. Many are unemployed and some are totally destitute. Does Minnis really expect these individuals to somehow find the funds to take advantage of duty-free building materials? I can hear the echoes in the streets as mom and pop forgo food and utilities to stockpile paint, lumber, PVC pipe and windows.

When every day is a struggle to make ends meet, put food on the table, turn utilities on, find clothes to wear, as I say, housing repairs are so far out of your reach that duty exemptions mean nothing. To believe otherwise is to reveal a level of misconception about the reality of Over the Hill that is truly shocking and more than a bit frightening in an aspiring national leader. Indeed for me to trace a picture for your readers of what urban life is like in this setting I draw upon my frequent trips through this section of the City of Nassau which continue to this day.

In doing this I am struck by the fact there are still many streets, such as Hospital Lane, which stand as vestigial reminders of a tight-knit and flourishing community which no doubt existed 60, 70 years ago.

Of course the ravages of time, the neglect of successive governments, the scourge of drugs, the exodus of Bahamians to the suburbs around the island and the incursion of huge numbers of immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica and elsewhere have conspired to change the socio-economic mosaic of this area.

The well-kept streets with the busy corner stores are now the exception in an unrelenting morass of decay, poverty, drugs and social dislocation of one form or another. So, editor, will throwing out a few tax exemptions like a prescription cure this ailment ?

No, the struggling day laborers of Bain Town, Grants Town, Englerston, Farm Road, will not suddenly and miraculously transform into captains of industry, regardless of what magical incantation Minnis intends to chant over their heads. I am afraid that there is no Obeah you can work, no voodoo witchcraft you can practice to turn these dystopian streets into a kind of Pleasantville.

What will happen is that others with greater means and no scruples to speak of will thank Minnis for creating a “fiscal black hole” in the heart of New Providence and countless new opportunities for “enterprising businessmen” to cheat and swindle the public.

Still own your grandma’s house on Hay Street? Well, why not take advantage of The Minnis Square Deal to import your duty-free supplies, using them to build your new home in Lyford Cay? Why not use this new advantage and start a black market business providing construction materials at a sweet price to shady contractors? Everybody wins, right? Except of course for the Public Treasury, which will be robbed of millions of tax dollars annually.

Considering the challenges facing anyone seeking to identify clear land title in The Bahamas, and in particular in the inner city, how does Minnis plan to stop those with dubious or totally fictional ownership claims from taking advantage of his deal? How will the rightful owners be able to prove they should qualify for the exemptions?

What about the slumlords of these neighborhoods, who for years have swindled illegal immigrants and their fellow Bahamians alike, charging money for substandard, unsanitary and downright dangerous accommodations? They will win big, as their land will suddenly become extremely valuable in the eyes of developers keen to take advantage of Minnis’ lotto.

Perhaps the worst probable outcome of his harebrained scheme will be the gentrification of portions of Over the Hill. The rest of the world has long known that social “improvement” of this kind never works to the benefit of those who live in lower-income neighborhoods.

As property values and rents begin to rise, members of the community and small family owned businesses would be displaced to make way for waves of middle-class residential units, high-end shops, designer boutiques, trendy restaurants and chic nightclubs. Crack houses will give way to a Starbucks or two. At the very least you will see the westward expansion of the Palmdale and Centreville shopping complexes and the inevitable, if not ubiquitous, explosion of Chinese food stores and restaurants.

Those who live in these communities today will soon find themselves too poor to live there, too broke to shop there, not skilled enough to work there. Is this how Minnis believes he will empower struggling families – by forcing them out of their neighborhoods and into the street?

An analogous case in point, though probably not to the extreme length I foreshadow here, and close to home, is Harbour Island, the playground of the rich and famous where the homes and properties of many Bahamians have been bought up cheaply to accommodate the expansion needs of this resort island. The result has been displacement and relocation of numerous Brilanders to the mainland of Eleuthera and elsewhere in The Bahamas at great inconvenience and expense. A corollary to this is that any enterprising Brilander looking for commercial or beachfront real estate in Harbour Island will find those opportunities in theory only.

There is no question that as a country we need to address the realities of the inner city. But pulling politically beneficial white rabbits out of hats can never be the answer. That is the approach of the other side. Indeed, before approaching the issue of renewal of the inner city we need a demographic study to determine the population component of this area as there has been a significant shift of Bahamians to the suburbs, leaving the inner city largely populated by émigré Haitian and Jamaican nationals.

The proper way, the FNM way, is to carefully consider all the options including cutting-edge approaches developed abroad; prudently and realistically weigh up the pros and cons of each prospective approach; and, engage in stakeholder and public consultation before settling on a plan. Surely the key must be thoughtful redevelopment, not naked commercialization.

We need a plan. Right now all we have is a sound byte, or an idea to be charitable to Minnis. An idea without a plan is a hallucination. Minnis needs to add several valances to make it a plan, specifically a structure and a vision to become meaningful. Such a plan has to be integrated with a lateral approach on crime reduction, education and training, a regulatory matrix for an incentives regime and greater transparency in our investments milieu.

When Minnis speaks as leader he speaks for the FNM. I am an FNM. I consider the plan as conceived (and I add that there is precious little written material to promote it ) as dangerous sophistry. I am not a racist and anyone who knows my historical antecedents in Exuma would know that to be the case. However, if we are to promote these ideas we cannot be seen to prey on the emotions of the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. This is my whole point, editor. So to be as plain as I can be so that there is no misunderstanding on this critical issue, I am not against renewal of the inner city: I am against sham programs.As an FNM I believe we have to keep it real.

-Michael Scott

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