IT started off as an event widely hailed as a good thing.
The pledge conference for Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts brought together donors, organisations and the government with the goal of finding ways to generate support for the ongoing rebuilding after the deadly storm.
In this column too, we wished Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis well in his efforts to attract pledges to build upon the wealth of support the country has already received.
Indeed the outcome of it was declared to be $1.5 billion in funding and services – a sizeable sum indeed.
But then came the nitpicking. What about the near-$1bn pledge from the US-based P3 Group, offering funding upfront with repayment coming from revenue generated from completed projects? That particularly has come under fire, with widespread scepticism.
What about the list of pledges made so the public can examine them more closely?
What about this? What about that?
We can understand Dr Minnis’ frustration yesterday when he hit out at “silly, confused and uninformed statements”, some of which we would add are political point scoring.
Let us consider this – the conference has just happened, so now comes the time to go through the pledges and see which ones can benefit the nation, and which ones might have too many strings attached.
Due diligence takes time – the government can’t receive a pledge on Monday and tell you everything about the finances behind the pledge on Tuesday. In fact, failure to do due diligence has been the source of valid criticism in the past – remember Oban? – so absolutely the government should take its time to assess what has been put forward.
Even for those pledges that the government doesn’t wish to take up – the conference has been a way of opening doors to potential future sources of funding and building relationships with potential future partners.
We agree that the full list of pledges should be made available at the earliest opportunity so the public has a clear sight of what has been offered. The P3 pledge of course catches the eye because of its size – without that, the total of pledges drops to around $500m.
But let’s give the government time to examine the pledges before we jump up and down pointing our fingers and claiming the conference was a waste of time.
This was a good example of out-of-the-box thinking by the government, trying things a different way to see if it will help with the recovery. If nothing comes out of it, all we’ve wasted is time. If even half of the pledges prove useful, they will help those who need it most of all – the victims of Hurricane Dorian.
For their sake, let’s hope the pledges are successful – and that they don’t get overshadowed by politics.
Comments
birdiestrachan 4 years, 3 months ago
Silly confused and uniformed that is doc in living colours.
They made the statement. they should have waited until they had it all sorted out Then they Brag about how great they were and that is why they had 1.5 billion
ThisIsOurs 4 years, 3 months ago
"remember Oban?"
Yes we remember Oban...when the nation collectively gasped in shock on finding out that Kreuger was convicted of securities fraud...and the PM said "what's the big deal, we already knew that". Its been suggested that they knew he forged Dhunna's signature as well. Its possible...Ive always wondered why the reporter was scanning footage and zooming in on the signing... In and if itself theres nothing amiss or particularly intriguing about signing a document. ...unless...someone tipped the reporter off to what they all knew..
Do we believe they just found out about P3's offer? nope. 500m was a tremendous result..they coukd have left the 900m "loan" out of the pledges column.
DWW 4 years, 3 months ago
anytime govt holds back information or conducts activities behind closed doors, i always assume there is something nefarious at foot and usually it turns out true. if you cant conduct business in the light of day then you are involved i shady business... am i wrong?
sheeprunner12 4 years, 3 months ago
Minnis gonna keep bad-mouthing Bahamian people …….. until 2022 (He ass gone)
jus2cents 4 years, 3 months ago
The event was hosted by The Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), with the support of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Sponsorship Available packages for International and Regional Private Sector Firms. such as .... ☐ Sapphire Sponsor $300,000 and over (4 Slots Available) • Large Screen Logo Coverage During Event • Unlimited Access for Promotional Material • UN-Publicised Interview • Speaking Opportunity During the Conference • Opportunities for Brand Association with Recovery Projects • Triple-Wide Exhibit Space • 20 Invitations to the Welcome Cocktail Reception on 1/12/2020 • 20 lunch tickets for 1/13/2020
So its plain that companies and private entities want to cash-in, but why-o-why can't we start thinking out of the box and realize that there are other ways to build after a disaster.
i.e. What about televising the reconstruction process? Along the lines of a Community Reality Show i.e. a real life ‘Truman show’ meets HGTV, after all HGTV is really one big building products advertisement.
The Bahamas MOT, or any other entity like the University of the Bahamas for e.g. could take the helm and do an Eco Home Design Competition on a networked televised show, focusing on rebuilding after natural disasters, and building ‘Super Homes’ that in turn create Super Communities to protect against future catastrophic natural disasters. Manned by students and or working vacation/volunteers and funded by companies that market on HGTV Home Depot, Lowes, Kohler, Pella windows, roofing, solar, flooring, prefab house companies etc… the list is limitless! Invite media, universities, architects, designers from around the world etc. to submit ingenious Hurricane resistant housing ideas, give them time to submit an idea and maximum of 18 months to complete the home. It could even be an ongoing thing that is open to yearly submissions forever! As it is also a tourism / vacation opportunity for the foreign contestants. It could even be livestreamed and maybe in real-time on the internet (Bets could be placed?) or just sold as a series to a network or Netflix for e.g. Grand designs (Syndicated USA, NZ, UK, Australia) and Fixer Uppers Chip & Joanna Gains - just two people & they created an empire so imagine the spin off from a whole Town of people!
Why televised? Well, because disaster reconstruction is always done in a vacuum i.e. Haiti where did the money go, why is there no real time documentaries showing what was done (or not done) there? Rebuilding disaster resistant homes will be of great interest to anyone and everyone WORLDWIDE that lives in a disaster prone zones - flood, hurricane maybe even include earthquake zones too, that is millions of people.
Much better and cheaper than paying P3 to rebuild and then we owe them millions forever emptying the Bahamas national kitty.
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