The Tribune

AT SOME time or other one has heard the proverb — “necessity is the mother of invention”. It is said that the proverb harks back to the days of Plato, but in fact the concept can be traced to the early days of creation. Even Noah knew when the floods came that the animals had to enter the Ark two by two so that when dry land returned, his family and the animals could leave the ark and propagate the earth.

When people – no matter how humble – are determined to do something, they will find a way to do it.

And this is what will happen if this government fails to come up with a sensible immigration policy that will encourage the growth of businesses and attract investors, thus creating more job opportunities for Bahamians. Government has to lead the way in helping young people understand that nothing in life — not even a job— is guaranteed them just because they are Bahamian.

It was the late Sir Lynden Pindling who encouraged young Bahamians to seize the “opportunities” provided by his cabinet to “become a millionaire”. At that time, to be a millionaire was the only hallmark of success. There seemed to be no honour for the decent, hardworking citizen. Bahamians, anxious to make the fast buck, seized the “opportunities” and learned fast. The Bahamas of the seventies and eighties rode high on the waves of the narco-dollar. It was not long before this country — a “nation for sale” – had become a pariah among the nations of the world.

However, Sir Lynden lived long enough to realise his “millionaire” error. In 1990, at a PLP convention, he was man enough to admit it, but the damage had already been done. Sir Lynden told his listeners that too many young men avoid work like the plague because parents often required too little work of them.

“We told them that they were too good to be gardeners,” he said. “Too good to be sanitation men, too good to work with their hands…

“But,” he said, “I didn’t know then what I know now, that any work breeds character. Too many young men lack character today, too many too often shirk responsibility because they have never been held accountable for their actions at home, in school or in society. Therein may lie the heart of the problem.”

Rescuing the young Bahamian man from his “deep descent into the abyss of drugs, crime, idleness and despair,” said Sir Lynden, is the greatest tragedy facing the Bahamian society.

This is the legacy left us by Sir Lynden because he himself did not understand God’s words to man: “By the sweat of your brow you shall till the earth.”

Now Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell has warned that within a year government will stop issuing work permits for maids, housekeepers and labourers.

When faced with the same dilemma during the Pindling era, the late Dr Cleveland Eneas asked: “So who is going to clean my car to free me to practice my profession and take care of my patients?” Dr Eneas was a dentist, and a very good one at that.

It was Sir Lynden who saddled us with a generation who believed it was beneath them to dirty their hands — dismissing a labourer’s job as “Haitian work”.

And so Bahamians were forced to hire Haitians who were not too proud to dirty their hands while the boss went to his office.

And now we ask Mr Mitchell: Who is going to do all of these jobs when those willing to do them are ordered out of the country within the next year?

As a society, we have to deal first with the Pindling legacy before we can throw this country into economic turmoil with over strict immigration rules.

We recall the 25 years of the Pindling administration — they were hellish years of unfairness and discrimination. They were the years when The Tribune’s immigration file – so we were told at the time – was kept on the Minister’s desk to make certain that no work permit requests were approved, not even temporary ones. All we got from that desk were sarcastic letters, which the poor director — who was The Tribune’s good friend — always started with the words: “I am directed to inform you…” By this means, he distanced himself from the distasteful message.

The object was to try to force The Tribune to close its doors. We had other plans. We closed three departments, and replaced staff with machines – obviously designed in the days of necessity to enable businesses to operate without the pressure of unions.

Mr Mitchell should know that no business will willingly close its doors, nor will the owners hire Sir Lynden’s young men who shirk responsibility and feel that a certain type of work was created for Haitians.

Before Mr Mitchell’s strict immigration policy can be implemented, government will have to provide the qualified staff to replace those whose work permits are to be cancelled.

If government persists in the policy enunciated by Mr Mitchell, foreign investors will certainly flee, and local business persons will trim their sails to fit their cloth.

In the end. to paraphrase the words of the good book: The last days will be worse than the first.