The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE cost of electricity is one of the most vexing problems facing Bahamians, a national survey has found. 

The task force behind it wants to set up a new productivity council that would cost nearly $30m over five years.

National Productivity Task Force chairman Edison Sumner said the survey drew more than 1,000 respondents from the public and private sectors and across the Family Islands. He said an overwhelming majority said the cost of living and the cost of energy were too high.

“There was an overwhelming majority of those who participated in the poll who thought that the cost of living and the cost of energy in the country was too high, and that it needs to be adjusted for them to be able to be more comfortable with affording energy in the country,” he said.

He said workers were worried about covering their energy bills on top of rent, mortgages and other living expenses, but that energy stood out as “one of the most vexing issues” for those who took part.

Other major concerns raised in the survey included limited access to credit, difficulty raising capital to start or expand a business, and a lack of affordable housing.

Mr Sumner said many Bahamians still earn minimum wage or slightly above it, which makes high electricity bills particularly hard to bear. He said improving productivity was not only about getting more out of workers. It also meant cutting energy costs through innovation and efficiency, and creating better-paying jobs.

On a liveable wage, he declined to suggest a figure but said wages should cover basic household needs and keep pace with inflation.

“Essentially, it’s a wage that moves with inflation, so that if we are facing an inflationary rate every year, but your wage isn’t moving, then you’re actually earning less money,” he said. He said setting a liveable wage would need more research, and that the National Tripartite Council was working on it.

His comments followed the release of the task force’s final report, dated June 2026, which proposes a Bahamas National Productivity, Innovation and Competitiveness Council. The council would be an independent statutory body that coordinates national productivity efforts, advises the government, sets performance benchmarks and promotes innovation and competitiveness.

According to the task force’s strategic plan for 2026 to 2031, the council would cost an estimated $29.9m over five years. Its annual budget would rise from $4.75m in the first year to $6.95m in the fifth. Salaries and benefits would grow from $1.005m to $1.305m, and programme spending would rise from $350,000 to $1.2m. The plan sets aside $2.4m in both the first and fifth years for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the software that runs an organisation’s finances, staffing and operations. Research and analytics funding would double from $100,000 to $200,000, communications and public relations from $80,000 to $110,000, and training from $100,000 to $140,000.

The task force says the council and new productivity standards could help deliver at least 2.5 percent annual GDP growth, more high-quality, better-paying jobs and a better-skilled workforce. It also forecasts that The Bahamas will rise at least 15 places in global competitiveness rankings over the next five or more years.

“Productivity challenges in The Bahamas are driven by a systemic skills gap, heavy reliance on the service and tourism sectors, and high operational costs,” the report said.

The report found that Bahamian workers are more productive than the Caribbean average but well behind those in high-income economies. Citing Caribbean Development Bank and national accounts data, it said average output per worker in The Bahamas between 2015 and 2019 was about $56,400, compared with about $92,300 in high-income economies. Productivity growth was stagnant or negative in five of the six years leading up to 2019.

Mr Sumner said the country has no national system for measuring productivity, which makes it hard to judge how it performs. Putting one in place would let The Bahamas track itself against international standards, he said.

He pointed to traffic jams, potholed roads and poorly maintained buildings as everyday drains on productivity. He said cars damaged by holes in the road cost owners money in repairs, and suggested more people could work from home.

“Rather than having this gridlock in the street at seven, eight o’clock in the morning, 30 percent of those people can decide through their employment that I can actually work from home and be as productive as I can be at the office because the same tools that I take to work are the tools that I left home with,” he said.

The report recommends national productivity standards and benchmarks, better workforce skills, stronger infrastructure, more technological innovation and a more diverse economy. Its deliverables include draft legislation to create the council, the five-year strategic plan, an implementation roadmap and governance and operating frameworks. The recommendations draw on consultations with government, business, labour, academia and civil society.

The task force was set up in September 2025 through the Ministry of Labour and the Public Service and finished its work ahead of its eight-month deadline. In January, Mr Sumner said the aim was to have the legislation tabled in Parliament by May and the council established in July.