The Tribune

LAST week, Fred Mitchell, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister, invited the Mayor of Atlanta to Nassau, to give government some tips on how it could follow Atlanta’s lead to get its escalating crime under control.

Some of those tips have already been initiated here, although on a smaller scale.

However, one advantage that Atlanta had, which The Bahamas no longer has, was a construction boom. As a result of this Atlanta’s employment dropped from 10.4 per cent to 6 per cent, and with it so did crime. Today, The Bahamas has no such advantage

Last week, Standard & Poor (S&P), the credit rating agency, carried out its threat to downgrade the Bahamas’ creditworthiness to just a grade above being classified as “junk”. It was also told that unless it gets its house quickly in order it will soon find itself in the “junk” category.

Government went into a sulk, looking for excuses as to what S&P should have taken into consideration when deciding its rating – the introduction of VAT being one. It was also piqued that S&P ignored the two percentage point fall in the unemployment rate for the month of May. S&P assessors aren’t dumb – and today only a handful of die-hard PLP supporters would believe government’s line about this rise in employment. We all know that it was a freak bleep on the Labour Department’s computer screen when government employed extra hands for the short-lived Carnival in May. When Carnival ended, so did the temporary employment, and so did the rise in employment.

Government doesn’t even have the 5,000 employment figure that it promised Bahamians with the opening of Baha Mar. Prime Minister Christie has declared in the dispute between Baha Mar and its Chinese investment bank and the bank’s construction company that he is on the side of Bahamians in this dispute. Now is the time for him and his government to prove it. So far, Bahamians believe that government is fully ensconced in the bosom of the Chinese in an effort to squeeze Sarkis Izmirlian out as the developer. Of course, Fred Mitchell’s warning to Mr Izmirlian that if he doesn’t guard his tongue, although he is a long-time resident of The Bahamas, his permanent residency can be revoked. And, of course, Shane Gibson’s suggestion that in future all investors should undergo psychiatric evaluation, has helped to solidify this belief about government’s position with the Chinese. After all, these two ministers are senior members of Mr Christie’s cabinet. We are yet to meet a Bahamian who believes that government is supporting Baha Mar as long as Mr Izmirlian remains the developer.

Anyway, if government is truly on the side of those who want Bahama Mar completed and opened quickly, then Bahamians want government to support the developer and have China Construction America – which refused to complete the resort — removed from the site. They then want Bahamian contractors called in to complete the job. After all, it is Bahamian jobs that they will be supporting and not the CCA’s Chinese staff, who are now fully employed with their own resort at the site of the British Colonial Hilton. CCA has been quick to tell Bahamians that they fully own the former British Colonial – now the Pointe— and as a result it will be completed on time. The inference being that if they had fully owned Baha Mar it too would have been completed on time. This proud boast was not missed by Bahamians. At the opening, they all talked too much — including the Prime Minister – thus letting many secrets out of the tightly sealed bag. This has created even more doubt about what side government is on.

If government puts its support where it should be, not only will it deliver its promised 5,000 Bahamian jobs, but with local contractors moving in with their own staff, and the possibility of having to hire more Bahamians, government might assist in giving this country the lift and confidence in the future that it so desperately needs.

Mr Kenwood Kerr, Providence Advisor’s chief executive, has described higher economic growth as the “panacea” for The Bahamas’ ills. He said a much more “business-friendly environment was required to achieve this.” In his opinion, reduced energy costs, in particular, would be a development that would be akin to “a tax cut”, which would boost the economy and help address the high unemployment and mortgage arrears rates cited by S&P.

Last week, a Hollywood producer said a “major opportunity” for promotion of The Bahamas internationally as well as the advancement of the local film industry could go down with Baha Mar.

“I have investors putting up millions of dollars for this series and they are concerned about this situation with Baha Mar,” the producer told Tribune Business. “It doesn’t create a healthy business environment. It only adds to conflict.”

And in the middle of writing this article late last night we received a call to say that a large development had recently pulled out of Abaco. It too was concerned over this country’s “business environment”. We were also told that a second development, also in Abaco, is now on very shaky ground — again because of government’s attitude.

“Everyone is watching,” our caller told us. “Imagine a developer wanting to get the protection of Chapter 11 to save his business and those of his creditors, and government blocking him!

“It’s a disgrace - we are all watching - no one wants to get bitten by such attitudes.”

The statements of both Mitchell and Gibson are not only being taken seriously, but are causing developers to have second thoughts. Some of them are looking elsewhere.

Remember while our government fiddles, Rome does not burn, but Cuba has put out the welcome mat.