The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A leading businessman has expressed confidence that the US government’s controversial Investment Climate report will deter few investors from coming to the Bahamas, adding that it was “not the first low standard work” coming from the Nassau Embassy.

Franklyn Wilson, the Arawak Homes chairman, acknowledged that criticisms about a lack of transparency and “undue government interference” were “never good”, but said it was unlikely to determine whether investors placed money in the Bahamas.

Blasting the US State Department’s report for making “unsubstantiated” claims that it failed to back with hard evidence, Mr Wilson supported former finance minister James Smith’s position that the document had failed to meet the necessary standard.

Effectively delivering a ‘people in glass houses should not throw stones’ message, Mr Wilson said problems of government interference in public procurement contracts and investment decisions - both at the state and federal level - were far worse in the US than the Bahamas. He added that the US State Department’s concerns regarding this nation were “a joke” in comparison.

And, in what threatens to further fuel the diplomatic rift created by the report and its fallout, Mr Wilson said this was not the first sub-standard report produced by the US Embassy in Nassau.

He told Tribune Business that a previous report, which he described as “unfair and unprofessional”, had been directly responsible for preventing Dr Ellison Rahming’s appointment as ambassador to the US. (See story on Page)

“I read James Smith’s comments, and his point was that he expected higher standards from a government agency,” Mr Wilson told Tribune Business. “One would expect higher standards.

“But I would wish to remind all who have an interest in this matter that this is not the first time the US has done things like this that reflect low standards.”

The Sunshine Holdings chairman then went into great detail about what he alleged prevented Dr Rahming’s appointment as US ambassador, while acknowledging there was nothing to suggest a similar process impacted the report on the Bahamas’ Investment Climate.

Asked about the report’s likely impact on the Bahamas’ ability to attract foreign direct investment, Mr Wilson replied: “It’s never good. No one wants to hear about these things when going to a country.

“But I don’t know how many investors read these things to determine whether they come to the Bahamas or not. My suspicion is not many do. Yet even if one does, particularly in this Internet age, it’s unfair for the Bahamas.”

Pressed on whether individual investors were likely to be deterred, Mr Wilson added: “I don’t think so, no. I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so. I don’t believe large numbers of investors read these reports to determine whether they go to this country or not.

“No one wants to see the Bahamas, particularly in the age of the Internet, having to defend itself against these charges. Especially when they are not substantiated. How do you do a report like this and don’t substantiate it? How do you do a report like this and expect it to be taken seriously?”

Sources close to the US Embassy, though, have expressed surprise to Tribune Business that the Investment Climate report had aroused such controversy in the Bahamas.

They, as this newspaper has said, indicated that there was nothing new included in the report, as the challenges and concerns surrounding public procurement/government contracts have been known for decades. Not to mention the doling out of contracts to party supporters.

As for the line that “the Embassy has received several complaints from US companies alleging a lack of transparency and undue government interference with bidding and procurement processes”, Tribune Business understands that this was based on information contained in its dossiers and files.

But, in the absence of specifics and details, it is easy for the complaints to be brushed away as ‘sour grapes’ by Bahamian government ministers and officials.

Mr Wilson, meanwhile, said the Investment Climate report paled against what he alleged happened in the US.

“If Bahamians knew what happened in America, this is a joke,” he told Tribune Business. “I can tell you that a former US Ambassador to the Bahamas told me things which I told him I could not imagine a Prime Minister of the Bahamas, any Prime Minister of the Bahamas, doing for anyone.

“Unless a former Ambassador of the US lied to me, and I can’t imagine how he would have lied to me, I am telling you what I heard the president of the US did to advance the interests of a particular citizen. I told the Ambassador I could not imagine any Prime Minister of the Bahamas doing anything like that.”

Mr Wilson, too, did not provide names or specifics. He added that it was “understandable that the Government’s opponents will make a meal out of” the US State Department’s report, but reiterated that Mr Smith’s position was the preferred view.