Is History of Government Neglect Repeating Itself in the Bahamas?

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

“Prime Minister, the country is going straight to hell, and I am not aware that anybody is doing anything about it.”

That was an opening statement by a perceptive and worried PLP Cabinet Minister as the party’s parliamentarians huddled in a garret at the Stokes Thompson Cabana on South Beach in November 1970.

For months the Minister had been muttering much the same to anyone who would listen. This time he directed his complaint directly at Prime Minister Lynden Pindling in a conclave convened by Anthony Roberts.

In the country many were still in a state of euphoria following the change in January 1967 and the massive consolidation of PLP power in 1968. The economy was doing fine, there was high employment and some positive changes were taking place.

The negative impact of certain actions by the new government were yet to be felt by the general public but some insiders saw the squalls gathering and knew that the ship of state was in for heavy weather.

The ruling party was having internal difficulties as a dissident movement was growing, but most people did not understand why. Mr. Roberts (later Father Roberts) called the conclave in an effort to make peace.

But it was significant that the perceptive Minister’s opening statement was about country, not party. He knew that what was happening in the party was a result of certain decisions that would affect the country adversely and seriously.

The public was aware of the dispute between the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the government but not much concerned since most people agreed that changes had to be made in Freeport. But the insiders were worried about the manner in which that process was being managed and especially about the unilateral amendment of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

There were also disturbing aspects of Benguet Consolidated Corporation’s purchase of Port Authority stock and the wild fluctuation of the company’s traded stock in the face of conflicting announcements about the transaction. Some people made a lot of money.

Sir Lynden first announced approval of the transaction then later denied that his government had approved. The Tribune published on its front page the original announcement of approval complete with the official letterhead, much to the embarrassment of the government.

Then there was the collapse of the arrangement between the government and a consortium led by the Swire group for the takeover and upgrading of Bahamas Airways. International routes that were granted exclusively to the new Bahamas Airways were later and without notice also given to Bahamas World Transport, an airline that was yet to fly.

These and other events severely damaged investor confidence and took their toll on the economy. But not even the outspoken Minister could have guessed what was still in store; hell was just around the corner.

As the tourism infrastructure decayed and the government launched into its ill-fated nationalization of the hotel industry, the legitimate economy declined. By the late 70s and into the 80s The Bahamas was awash in money from the trafficking of illegal drugs.

As the country teetered on the brink of disaster, the PLP government seemed impotent. A Commission of Inquiry later confirmed what everybody already knew: drug money had corrupted the nation from top to bottom; Bahamian values and traditions were under attack as never before and, it is desperately to be hoped, never will be again.

Many of the problems we face today have their origins in that awful period. Teenagers had pockets full of hundred dollar bills and money literally fell from the sky, thanks to the Columbian gangsters who stopped at nothing in their campaign to buy a nation, with the help of Bahamians in high places who were willing to sell.

Not only were our values irreparably skewed; that era spawned a kind of criminality that had not been seen in these islands since Woodes Rogers routed the pirates back in the 18th century.

At its height, drug wars and brutal killings became the order of the day and many young and promising lives were prostituted, degraded and destroyed. It was hell indeed.

The serious business of restoring our good name in the world and rebuilding the legitimate economy did not start in earnest until a new government was elected in 1992.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his colleagues were spectacularly successful. The PLP government and the country are still enjoying the benefits of the economic foundation that was reconstructed during the FNM’s 10 years in office

The recovery -- as it relates to our attitudes towards work, the ordering of our priorities and the value of our traditions -- has been slow and painful and will require many more years of hard work on the part of government and the entire society.

Now, the country seems once again to be at a crossroads and there is a feeling of deep unease and anxiety all over, from Grand Bahama and Bimini to Inagua and Mayaguana, and within the ranks of the governing party as well.

Once again there seems to be a serious deficit of leadership in the political directorate. As in the cocaine era, the leaders of today’s PLP government seem to be creating problems instead of facing challenges.

Although the threat posed by drug traffickers has not evaporated, the challenges facing us today do not come from the Columbian cocaine cowboys who want to fly their flag over, and do business from, The Bahamas.

Nevertheless, today’s unaddressed challenges will most certainly come back to haunt us in the future just as the neglect and complicity of the drug era affect us today. It is no use sticking one’s head in the sand; no amount of bravado and pretending that things will work out will suffice. Things will not work out; we have to work them out.

Prime Minister Perry Christie is a decent man but he is utterly incapable of imposing even a modicum of discipline on his Cabinet. The overall result has been scandal after scandal and crisis after crisis being either ignored altogether or inadequately addressed.

Even more worrisome has been the lack of direction. The government is apparently willing to agree to any and all development proposals and Mr. Christie seems ever ready to sign heads of agreement with foreign developers, even if they are not exactly sure what they want to do.

This government and this Prime Minister are so anxious to sign agreements that they are more than willing to give away thousands of acres of Bahamian land to developers who are clever enough to exploit the government’s weakness.

Mr. Christie and his colleagues gave the developers of Baha Mar a big hotel and land in Cable Beach when the developers had nothing but an artist’s impression of what the development could look like. The drawings were enough to launch Mr. Christie into flights of fancy.

Then, having acquired for less than $50 million our hotel and hundreds of acres of prime land, they went shopping for two years to find partners. And our Prime Minister hails that as a wonderful achievement!

The new PLP model of economic development is resulting in the alienation of thousands of acres of Bahamian land for residential development and sale to foreigners, and coastal land is highly desired, of course. Some of these projects are already doing irreparable damage to our environment as developers are allowed to fill in our wetlands.

The communities they create will bring few high end jobs and business opportunities for Bahamians, and they will contribute little to local economies. But they will make it difficult for many Bahamians to own land. All this will cause resentment and devastating social and political upheaval in the future. More hell.

Comments

[william simmons]

you have spoken the truth, without sensationalism or scare mongering, simple truth,the country is on the wrong path. I dont understand why the government cannot understand what it is doing, my only speculation is that the development proposals come with finiacial incentives to 'grease the wheels' of the approval process, what shocked me most was the sudden concern of the prime minister over labour shortage,the development plans will clearly require labour which haiti will no doubt supply, but the current problems of integration of immigrants are already known, new 'Mudds' and 'pigeon Peas'will spring up throughout this archipelago and with rising land prices bahamians may be forced into similar shanty towns.what is all of this for, people are more stressed than ever,crime spiralling, the environment in crisis,The School leavers seem to be more ignorant than the 'old' people. Them goverment ministers just like the sound of big numbers!nobody ever told Christie them 'all that glitters is not gold'eh? these shiny proposals, are not gold, they are poison,robbing us of our right to own our countries number one industry, robbing us of acess to our beaches, robbing our children of land poisoning our reefs killin the fish that have fed us since william sayles and the advestures landed in eleuthera. smaller projects could have been planned in the family islands projects we can cope with, sustaiable projects that dont drown our communities and ruin our environment,oh and hey, god forbid Bahamian owned projects and they talkin bout 'Bahamianisation policy'. why wont they listen to us, so many people are crying out about whats happening! why wont they listen! it makes me so angry. in Harbour island where i am from, the young people, often complain how our ancestors 'sold all the land for bread' i.e. for pittance and now it seems the government has adopted the same strategy.What i have read about 1967, the PLP, Sir Lynden and the plans they had, the peacful transition to democracy and equality it was inspiring and beautiful. The reality today is digusting, the disrespect politicians show us when they come to the island is obscene.they think that we are stupid,if you tell us your gonna round up all the haitians, and send price control to the grocery store, we'll beleive you,then nothing happens and worse we'll think that would solve the problems when they are so much deeper.Please you could send every haitian back to Haiti and we'd still be in a this mess, and untill haiti's internal problems are on the mend they will continue to come to our shores in the thousands. ill tell those ministers them, Roberts, Alfred gray and the rest of yinna with your shiny watches and glittering smiles ONE thing...fix the water system so all Brilanders can have acess to running,clean, potable water. And when there is a shortage, please please out of common decancy do not make it premissable, that the anchor project condo resort, runs three hose pipes into their swimming pool, while people, have to tote water to bathe and flush their nanny, and no taps work in the school lavatory meaning children cant wash thier hands, a recipe for sickness.Stop pretending that this is progress, its a lie and a deception.