Bishop Ellis will clash with Christie

As of Friday, July 6, 2012

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Prime Minister Perry Christie is quoted in both leading dailies this morning as having informed Baha Mar executives that his Government wants more Bahamians engaged on the Resort’s construction project.

He went to great pains to advise that while in Opposition he and his colleagues met with Baha Mar executives and also met with the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and with the contractors association to discuss training and involvement on the project.

It appears to have slipped his mind that while in Opposition he also met in the House of Assembly and on September 8, 2010, voted in support of a Resolution which expressed the support of the House of Assembly for the Baha Mar Project inclusive of its proposed engagement of as many as 8,150 non-Bahamian construction workers during the life of the construction period with the number of work permits not exceeding 5,000 at any given time. The records of the House of Assembly indicate that the Resolution was adopted with the support of the 36 Members of the House of Assembly present, including the then Leader of the Opposition and current Prime Minister.

That same Resolution recorded the undertaking by the Baha Mar Development to create approximately 3,000 construction jobs for Bahamians during the project’s construction period and to create 7,000 new permanent jobs for Bahamians in the operation of the completed resort. It may also have slipped the Prime Minister’s mind that his predecessor in office successfully negotiated the doubling in the value of contracts to be granted by Baha Mar to Bahamian contractors from $200 million to $400 million, dramatically increasing the opportunities for additional business and job creation opportunities for Bahamian construction companies, suppliers of construction services and construction workers.

Baha Mar reports that it has to date created some 1,700 jobs for Bahamians, more than half the number of jobs which they committed to create for Bahamians during the construction period. They also advise that some 1,000 work permits have been approved for foreign construction workers, 800 of whom are Chinese nationals. These numbers are well within the numbers advised by Baha Mar and accepted by the Government and endorsed by the House of Assembly in September, 2010.

Q E THOMAS II

Nassau,

June, 2012.

concernedcitizen 12 years, 5 months ago

PM PGC IS JUST TALKING THAT NONSENSE FOR HIS MOST ARDENT SUPPORTERS AND HOPE THEY DON,T REALIZE THAT NONE OF THE PLPS GRANDIOUSE PROMISES ARE DOABLE IN A RECESSION .HE IS HOWEVER WORKING ON UNEMPLOYMENT BY EXPANDING THE GOV PAYROLL WITH CABINET MINISTERS ,MINISTERS OF STATE ,CONSULTANTS ETC ETC ,..WHEN DID BALTRON BETHELL BECOME A FINANCIAL EXPERT AND NEEDS TO BE PAID 90,000 A YEAR AS A SENIOR CONSULTANT TO THE MINS .OF FINANCE ....AND JAMES SMITH ,HE USED TO BLAB HIS ADVISE FOR FREE TO ANY MEDIA THAT WOULD PRINT HIM ,NOW WE THE BAHAMIAN TAXPAYER GET TO PAY HIM TO BE A CONSULTANT

Arob 12 years, 5 months ago

Q.E. Thomas II, It appears that Prime Minister Perry Christie is searching for the 40,000 jobs. In my humble opinion, there are at least four obstacles that should be reviewed (1) language barrier, (2) skills deficiency, (3) culture (time, gestures, voice pitch, speech speed etc.) and (4) work ethic (quality of work and a respect for deadlines).
SHADOWING Anyone who has ever undertaken training of new employees (shadowing) will know that the trainer's productivity will decrease significantly. Moreover, success will be affected by language, culture and the skill set of the trainee etc.
LESSONS LEARNED I would think that the Prime Minister's consultants would have appraised him of some of the contributing factors to the delay and quality issues of the New Providence Road Project -- Cultural differences, Bahamian work ethic, and Bahamian skills deficiency.
CONSEQUENCES Does the Prime Minister really want to interrupt Baha Mar's progress? His behaviour suggest that he is willing to interfere with the deadlines for the new hotels for 1,000 - 2,000 short-term jobs for labourers, helpers etc.? Sir, Mr. Prime Minister, are you aware that several new casinos (not Indian owned) are scheduled for the U.S. East Coast and Mid West by 2013/2014? We are in a competitive global economy. Jamaica is rebranding itself. Barbados is deciding how to expand its agricultural industry ---sugar cane OR sea island cotton. Mr. Prime Minister, we need Baha Mar project up and running as projected. Delays are unacceptable.
JOB CREATION Sir, you promised 40,000 jobs and over 5 years it is about 8,000 new jobs per annum, 667 new jobs per month. Our country needs to create new jobs not cannibalize existing projects.

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