The Tribune

IN 1984, a PLP party supporter made it quite clear what he expected of his party once his vote helped it gain the government.

Junior Rolle, appearing before the 1983-84 Commission of Inquiry into the illegal use of the Bahamas to transship drugs to the United States, expressed his whole-hearted support for political patronage.

“In fact,” reported the Commission on Rolle’s appearance before them, “he was adamant in his view that membership in a political party only made sense when it provided financial or material benefit. In his opinion membership in their ruling party (PLP) gave him and other PLP members entitlement to financial and other considerations.”

This attitude within political parties has not only helped destroy the Bahamas, but has crippled politicians who have embraced the concept.

In a moment outside the House of Assembly last week, in answer to reporters’ questions about the climbing unemployment figures, Mr Christie was not only worried about unemployment, but he unburdened another problem — “jobs for the boys”.

Although reluctant — unlike Deputy Prime Minister “Brave” Davis, who campaigning in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, in the 2012 election had declared: “Vote PLP. Vote for a PLP government that is ready to create 10,000 immediate new jobs for young Bahamians” — Mr Christie was prepared to accept the gloom of reality. When the PLP became the government in 2012, 14.7 per cent of Bahamians were unemployed. By November last year, under the PLP government, the unemployment figure was 15.7 per cent.

Mr Christie admitted that he was aware that there was disappointment in his government. He was also aware that there were those who felt let down because he had not “fixed them up”. Never mind that he was unable to “fix up” all Bahamians — he was not allowed to forget that “the boys” came first. As a former PLP politician — Philip Bethel of Eleuthera – was famously quoted as saying from a political platform many years ago: “God gave this country to the PLP.” We don’t know if the PLP ever let God into their conspiracy, but many dim-witted Bahamians bought into the myth.

“These are people who are political operatives who haven’t gotten what they thought they deserved,” Mr Christie elaborated to a reporter last Thursday. In other words, these were the Junior Rolles of the Bahamas. They belonged to the “boys club”, who not only wanted special favours for themselves, but expected to be the doorkeepers to the club, responsible for vetting those who wanted admission to the “cookie jar”.

Mr Christie said he was doing all that he could to help his “operatives”.

If our politics were examined in depth, Bahamians would understand why our debt is near the $5.5 billion mark, why our civil service is bloated and inefficient, and from being the number one tourist destination, we have now priced ourselves out of the market. VAT is in, efficiency and hard work are out.

The fire at BAMSI — an unfortunate expense for the Bahamian people— needs thorough investigation. Bahamians, who are now burdened with VAT to pay the piper, are entitled to know who holds the many contracts for the construction of BAMSI. They should also be informed about those who – not themselves contractors – have had to subcontract a qualified contractor to do the job. No wonder BAMSI has turned into such a costly enterprise. It is claimed that the estimated $120,000 damage to the Bahamas and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) at Andros last Thursday was the work of an angry worker who had not been paid. The Bahamian people have every right to know all the details of these contracts. After all, it is their money that has gone up in flames.

We can’t pass this attitude off as belonging solely to the PLP. It was a burden the former prime minister Hubert Ingraham was expected to carry – it made him unpopular with some of his supporters because he rewarded only ability for a job. He refused to move a qualified person from a position to make way for a less qualified only for the sake of party politics.

We recall our first encounter with the expectations of political supporters. After 25 years of the Pindling regime’s maladministration, and the hard work and sacrifice of many Bahamians to dismiss them, eventually the end came in 1992. The welcome relief from the Pindling government’s tyranny was beyond words.

However, early on the morning after the election of Hubert Ingraham as prime minister, the door to The Tribune’s newsroom was thrown open, and two jubilant ZNS newsmen burst in, laughing, dancing and shouting in ecstasy. The tyranny was now over and they would take over the operation of ZNS. They were fervent FNMs, but they were punching way above their abilities, or depth of knowledge. Never mind this minor set back, like Junior Rolle, “a political party only made sense when it provided financial or material benefit”. They were what Mr Christie last week described as “political operatives”. They had worked for the party, and, as far as they were concerned, they had secured the station’s two senior posts as their reward.

At that moment, we felt that the 25 years of sacrifice at The Tribune had been in vain. We felt like packing our bags and walking out.

But, fortunately, the Bahamas had Hubert Ingraham as the captain of the ship. He had appointed a strong board to manage ZNS. The board had decided that the two who had appeared in our office, did not qualify for their posts and should be dismissed. It is understood that FNM supporters objected — after all these were two of “the boys” who had worked hard in the campaign and had to be rewarded.

Under the civil service rules, it would be difficult to fire them, and so Mr Ingraham had them transferred. This is the basic problem with the civil service. Misfits are being recycled throughout the service.

There are first class employees in the service. On the other hand, there are many who are not qualified for their jobs. However, the taxpayer has to support them because the politician needs their vote on election day. As a result the qualified civil servant finds it difficult to get a pay raise because the political hangers on have to be accommodated.

We have always held that the civil service rule book should be rewritten and sound business practices established. As Sean McWeeney, a former PLP attorney general, said many years ago: “The civil service is a large tree that needs pruning”.

Many of his own party supporters objected to Mr Ingraham because when his government came to power wherever he found a competent civil servant in place, regardless of his politics, he remained. He refused to remove an officer just to accommodate a less qualified FNM “political operative”.

And until Bahamian politicians learn that to succeed, the Bahamas has to be operated like an efficient business, it will continue to drift downstream to its own destruction.

If Bahamians were wise enough to know what side their bread was buttered on, they would demand excellence of their politicians and their civil service. If they had done this years ago, today they probably would not be wiping away their tears over VAT.