Whether the privatization of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) remains a priority for the Minnis administration, which made the pledge to do so in its 2017 Free National Movement (FNM) manifesto, has yet to be seen – but at least one economist said it will do little to solve the power company’s inescapable problems.

Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Beckles said BPL’s privatization cannot be looked at as a single solution, especially without a commitment to “do what is necessary to improve power generation”.

“It can’t just be to privatize management or any facet of it, all of this has to be driven by a single objective, power generation. If company A does not have control over planning, development and capitalizing on capital expenditure, then you’re going to get yourself in problems,” Beckles told Guardian Business.

“If you hire a management company to manage the same assets that have been troubling us for a long time, then we have not achieved anything.”

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