Saving Land and Jobs for Future Bahamians

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

It is all about balance, and the PLP Government seems incapable of getting it right. In the last election PLP campaigners and their allies relied heavily on the accusation that the FNM was selling the country to foreigners.

They were particularly strident in their criticism of the FNM for the concessions given to Kerzner International to get the multi-billion dollar Atlantis development on Paradise Island started so as to rescue the very sick economy the PLP had left behind. Some of them went so far as to use the South Africa race card against the Kerzners.

These days, PLP politicians positively gush when they mention Kerzner and Atlantis because they now realize what trouble this country would have been in without this world class development.

Last week Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said what Bahamians who had not been taken in by the PLP propaganda already knew:

“Sol Kerzner, whether we like it or not, you can criticize him all you want, but the truth of the matter is that Kerzner has helped us revitalize the tourism industry.”

The PLP has gone from one extreme to the other. Now they are hell-bent on giving Bahamian land to foreigners as fast as they can, and in parcels of hundreds and even thousands of acres, most of it not for tourism but for residential purposes. And they brag about this being their new model of development!

Naturally, the gleeful foreigners are lining up, while the getting is good, to grab as much Bahamian land (public and private) and concessions as they can. Some of them are advertising Bahamian home sites internationally for as much as a million dollars each.

One of this new breed of “investors” candidly announced recently that the first phase of his development will be financed by “pre-sales” of Bahamian lots.

Many Bahamians are beginning to wonder what will be left for them when this great land rush is over, and what will be the status of their children and grandchildren in this plantation model of PLP development.

The Baha Mar people, the beneficiaries of the scandalous Cable Beach land deal which netted them a big hotel and hundreds of acres of prime land previously owned by the Bahamian people, are reportedly back asking for more concessions.

Baha Mar had previously dazzled the PLP Government with only an artist’s rendition of a proposed $1.2 billion development. Then, without any evidence that the first $1.2 billion was beginning to flow, much less already in the ground, there was the triumphant announcement that “the investment” was being doubled.

PLP eyes must have glazed over. So, according to The Nassau Guardian, these clever foreigners have gone back to see if they can get the government to double the concessions already given them. But as FNM Deputy Leader Brent Symonette put it, “I do not see what has been produced on the ground to warrant it.”

There must be some truth to it, though, because Baltron Bethel, the government’s chief negotiator admitted that they have been in negotiations for months. Dr. Bethel wisely referred to proportionate concessions rather than double concessions.

It is bad enough talking about doubling concessions; it is unthinkable that these negotiations could include talk of giving away more public land to Baha Mar. But who knows? No one can blame the foreigners for trying to get as much as they can from such a generous government before the next election.

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The PLP Government is so beguiled by this idea of letting the foreigners have their way with us that even a discussion of what may or may not be in the interest of The Bahamas and the Bahamian people makes them nervous.

Last week The Tribune quoted Mr. Wilchcombe:

“When I listened to some of what I’ve been hearing, I wondered, is that the message you want to send to a community of investors, that you want the government to dictate the course of their leadership?”

What was it that had so disturbed the Minister of Tourism? It was a town meeting in Freeport where a panel of prominent and qualified Bahamians had discussed the way that city is being governed, its impact on the rest of the country, its present direction and its future.

The discussion, which was broadcast live, was in reaction to an upheaval in the Grand Bahama Port Authority that resulted in the sacking of the three top Bahamian executives in the Port, the appointment of a foreign licensee as chairman and the resignation of two prominent Bahamians from the board of directors.

One would have thought that any democratic government, especially one that has so often touted the importance of consultation, would have been more than happy for a public discussion led by such qualified Bahamians and would have been listening intently to what they had to say.

But apparently Mr. Christie and his colleagues have taken the position that whatever the shareholders in the Port decide to do is up to them and has little to do with the Government.

Mr. Wilchcombe said as much back in July when he was quoted by The Journal:

“Why should I be getting in the business of what the Port Authority is doing now? … They will make changes; they’re a private company; they can make changes. At the end of the day let’s hope they have a plan that’s going to benefit not only Freeport but the entire island of Grand Bahama.”

What an extraordinary thing for a Minister of the Government to say! After all, the Port Authority is a great deal more than just another private company.

It is an entity that shares in the governing of the nation’s second city, that affects the interests of thousands of Bahamian licensees and workers in Freeport and the lives of many more Bahamians living in Grand Bahama and throughout the country.
But the PLP Government does not take much of an interest in this, nor in the fate of the three highly-qualified Bahamians who used to work at the Port. Perhaps they are too busy trying to get rid of a troublesome foreign editor working for a privately-owned newspaper while hypocritically pretending to look after the jobs of Bahamians.

Mr. Wilchcombe asks whether he should be preparing Bahamians to be ready for when the opportunity presents itself and then to be able to present an authoritative argument that Bahamians are prepared.

But the opportunity has presented itself and many Bahamians are prepared, even if he does not think that the Bahamian executives who were dismissed by the shareholders have yet achieved the standards to enable him to make an authoritative argument for them.

Mr. Wilchcombe was even more revealing when he recalled a conversation he had with the late Edward St. George. He said he had asked Mr. St. George why Grand Bahamians could not play a role as members of the board.

When Mr. St. George asked him to name one, “it created a problem for me, tell you the truth.” The people of Grand Bahama and Bimini and the rest of the Bahamas will no doubt remember that when they go to the polls to vote in the next election.

They will be thinking about how important it is to save some Bahamian land and some top jobs in The Bahamas for future generations of Bahamians, Bahamians who will not be content to live on a plantation where settlers own all the best land and foreigners get all the best jobs.

Comments

[Chickcharney]

Well said Sir.
Mr Wilchcombe wishes to over simplify a very convoluted Agreement, complicated even in its original draft implementation and amendments. We have now departed so far from the original intent and plan that it now becomes a question of "where from here" as a witch hunt will only perpetuate the depression of the economy in freeport as teams of lawyers and investigators try to unravel the proverbial "bowl of spagetti" an action that could take the remaining 50 years of the agreement to understand and correct or redefine. Unfortunately most who would profess knowledge simply have their own agendas, and have not done the research. The panelists at the recent town meeting are no exception.
Town meetings are in practice vent sessions for licensees to detail wrong doings real or imagined done to them by the lords of the principality.
To butcher Churchills words
"Never before in the annals of human misadventure has so little been known by so many wilst so few profited"
One good effect however is the drippings of fact that are leaking out in respect of the past doings and slight of hand parlour tricks that have quite possibly defrauded a significant number of Bahamian people of our potential at the very least.
This will I believe become an election issue for Grand Bahamians yet both political parties will cringe in fear of evidence of complicity.

[Prosperous Future with prudency]

Mr Foulkes,

Why is it you at every juncture you take take aim at what you deem the current government's has caused the failure, are you an impartial journalist/commentator or a prime supporter of the FNM, can you speak affirmatively about the progress of the Bahamas overall, I as an outsider see this amazing socioeconomic 34 year evolutionary advancement of a tiny populus scattered about as many specs of dust in the ocean. I observe bickering amongst intellects, bickering between the greed driven individuals and special interest goups, I feel the angst of young Bahamians with no oppotunity after receiving higher education, then left with the resolve to aspire their goals in other Nations where advancement exists. Where is your positive influence? People will gain far more respect for you by espousing less venomous attacks and utilizing your intelligence for constructive purposes. The Bahamas is a young Nation that needs all the bright parties of their Country to rise up and input helpful, and insightful ideas. The FNM is no better than the PLP and vice versa. New Boss same as the old Boss. You can point to all the bad both Political Parties have done, simply by the wealth of the people ending up in individual politician's pockets. Don't just use your journalistic abilities, knowledge and wit in such a partial manner laying Blame and spewing discontentment as though the current government caused all the problems. More that one previous governmental administration contributed. I recognize that style commentary does not lend it self in provoking people to react. Point out what you believe is not the proper path, and direct people the down the path you believe should be taken. Criticism in a constructive manner is fine, although with no alternative resoulution, the criticism fails.