|
A CDR perspective
Traditionally, in
Bahamian politics, the winner takes all. This is true
for virtually everything including awarding of
government contracts, promotions in the public
service, invitations to national events and awarding
of civil honours.
Another good
example of this is "the Carnival."
Initially, the Carnival was brought to the country by
the PLP as one of its fund raising activities. Shortly
after 1992, when the FNM became the government, they
seized the carnival for themselves by refusing to give
the PLP permission to bring one in or to use the
government owned Sports Centre to hold it. With
absolutely no shame, they then made the Carnival their
major annual fundraiser. As soon as the PLP regained
the government, they took their things back! Today,
the carnival is back at the Q.E.S.C. and the PLP is
once again large and in charge!
It leaves persons
who love their country to wonder what the PLP means
when it calls its political platform "Our
Plan." Is it truly a plan for us-- we the people
of the Bahamas, or is it for PLPs only? Is this
"winner take all" mentality, so clearly
shared by both the PLP and the FNM the predominant
political culture? Are they simply interested in
providing opportunities for themselves, as is
occurring with the Korean fishing boat fiasco, or are
they interested in promoting the development of all
Bahamians?
Responsible
government is about serving the national interest.
Government regardless of the Party in charge must be
committed to the further development of the entire
country for all the people regardless of political
affiliation. After all, recent events have shown that
no party can win the government without the support of
persons who usually support their opponents!
The country needs
leadership and the country needs vision. Good
governance happens where there is good leadership and
when there is a shared vision. The biggest issue
facing the Bahamas today in political circles, in
religious circles, in secular circles, in business
circles, in organised labour is the lack of selfless
committed, dedicated leadership. Leadership does exist
to be sure, but there is too little of it to meet our
current needs and too much of it is visionless. We
can, many of us, give good ideas and, some of us, can
even put country before self but all of us cannot lead
and too many of us have no vision.
People need a
context in which to live -- not only to work. More
than anything else Bahamians need development, which
is sustainable. Sustainable development means
sustainable livelihoods. The elements of sustainable
development and sustainable livelihoods are material,
socio-political, environmental and cultural.
Sustainable development must be planned.
Too often where the
government hits the material element with some success
it is not sustainable because it is not sufficiently
planned and comprehensive. One good example of this is
the Emerald Bay project in Exuma. Everyone is
justifiably lauding the opening of the Four Seasons
hotel and the Washington Post has already listed Exuma
as one of the leading destinations for 2004, something
we are all happy about. However, those of us who have
a vision for our Bahamas know that there are
formidable obstacles to empowerment for Bahamians in
Exuma. There is inadequate housing for those who have
gone to Exuma to work; there are insufficient
classrooms for their small children; there are
inadequate medical facilities; the roads will be
unable to accommodate the growing number of vehicles;
crime is threatening to spiral out of control, and
most importantly there is very little Bahamian
involvement in direct spinoffs of the development.
These are all still controlled by the investors!
Another example of
this kind of visionless strategy is the Bimini Bay
development of Geraldo Capo, PLP enemy number one on
Bimini prior to the 2002 general elections. Capo,
whose unfinished and under financed development
literally destroyed acres and acres of mangroves and
marine life, now appears to be the poster boy of PLP
Family Island development strategies and it is
rumoured that he is even being considered for the
appropriation of more of our precious land!
Sustainable
development and sustainable livelihoods are grounded
in the principle of Participation - a broad base of
people involved in defining and developing alternative
strategies that meet the material needs of Bahamians
in ways that enhance human dignity and the capacity of
our natural resource base to sustain future
generations. (Does either Party care about future
generations of Bahamians?) Participation calls for new
relationships among those who govern, the private
sector, organized labour and NGOs and civil society
and must reflect our diversity.
Sustainable
development must build another principle, that of
self-reliance. There is a constant dogma being visited
upon Bahamians, that the only way we can survive is
through foreign investment. We are in no way opposed
to foreign investment in the Bahamas and we recognise
clearly the role such investment has played in
creating the quality of life that Bahamians enjoy.
However, this persistence in development by invitation
will not, cannot, build self-reliance. The foreign
investor can provide jobs but this, by itself, is not
a sustainable route to development. It does not
strengthen local structures and capabilities. It does
not support self-reliance at the individual level
especially in disadvantaged groups of Bahamians. It
does not provide them with the access to capital and
credit so necessary to development. It does not build
self-reliance.
A third principle
necessary for sustainable development is equity.
Inequity has increased and is increasing dangerously
in the society. Why do you think it is that even after
elections, party supporters of the governing party
complain about their government not doing enough for
them? What really happens, ironically, is that
governments simply have not managed, not led, not
monitored sufficiently what is going on and whoever
has the strength and influence simply corner and
control the national assets and resources while others
- including the party supporters - are left angry,
dissatisfied and without hope.
The principle of
cooperation is also lacking for the very reason that
its counterpart, competition, is low. We need to
exercise our competitive advantage as a country
especially in tourism but of course we first have to
accept that as a small country we have much to gain
from cooperating with our neighbours. Until we do that
we will continue to lose market share and lose the
benefit of our competitive advantages. Additionally,
the public and private sectors must start behaving
like smart partners instead of adversaries. Everyone
knows that the current impasse between the BHEA and
the BHCAWU must be solved and in a way that enables
the Bahamas to maintain its competitive advantage in
tourism and Bahamians to maintain their quality of
life -- we all know that. Why it is then that these
parties, with all the resources at their commands,
cannot come to a mutually acceptable agreement after
fifteen months and without all the damaging acrimony
and without the intervention of the
"interventionist" government?
If Bahamians are to
be the catalysts for sustainable development in this
archipelago, we must begin by recognizing the stake
that we each of us hold in our society and the part
that we can play in its transformation. Young people
yearn for transformation, yet they are becoming
increasingly cynical, which is sad. They feel
alienated, many of them, as is exhibited by the
increasingly bizarre antisocial and criminal behaviour
of the marginalized, and the disaffection of those who
have received the benefit of a good education and
training, and who have many of the skills the country
needs, yet have opted to move away from the Bahamas
rather than face the challenges of living here.
Leadership has a
responsibility to help them recognise the stake they
hold in their country. These young people, who are
entirely less passionate and more objective about the
Bahamas than their parents, cannot be expected to see
this automatically just because they were born here
and have Bahamian birth certificates and passports. It
will take leadership to show them that even though we
do not all have the same stake we each have a stake.
Interplay between
the economy and the welfare of society is central to
sustainable development. The economy wants healthy and
well-trained labour so the society must provide people
with good education, training and health including
good gender socialization. The society must deal with
matters like income disparities.
The economy also
wants everybody in the labour force. This means that
the society has to deal with the welfare of children
much more than it does - more day care, nutritious
school meals, more elderly care and medical care; more
working mothers and more employable young men.
The economy also
wants peace in the labour market, which translates at
the welfare level to mean more capacities to
facilitate consensus building between capital and
labour. What we are experiencing of industrial
conflicts is just the tip of the iceberg. More will
come because we are in the time once again when the
old wars between labour and capital are taking centre
stage. We had some lessons in early 90s, which
foretold this, but we avoided learning them
Ultimately, the
economy needs to grow constantly and generate profits,
which means that the job of the state or society must
be to redistribute wealth for the common good.
Taxation reform is one of the means of equitable
redistribution of wealth but that is not automatic.
Efficiency has to be the backbone of that task.
To achieve all
these objectives we must plan. "Our Plan"
must be a National Development Plan created, not in a
partisan faction to win an election, but a realistic
doable plan created with the participation of the
entire society, and having the commitment of all
political parties, at least in its generality. Without
such we will continue to roll from pillow to post
putting out fires, depending on others without ever
truly developing either our people or our country in a
sustainable fashion. Most importantly however, we need
a new Bahamian, one who understands the necessity of
self-reliance, and self confidence and who prepares to
compete and to win based on knowledge, skills and
superior performance.
Posted: Monday
January 12, 2004
|
