The Tribune

FOR THE first time Bahamians have been told the truth. No matter what they have heard over the years —particularly in the past five years under a PLP government— their Emperor is bare. Yes, dear reader, like the foolish Emperor in the delightful Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, our Emperor is stark naked. And it took the FNM –like the little boy in the fairy tale – to awaken the people to the fact that they had been lied to. Indeed their emperor was not decked out in fancy clothes, but was parading in his vanity with not a stitch of clothing on - like our Public Treasury, he was naked.

And now the FNM are being berated by members of the PLP for telling the truth. If only they had kept their mouths shut, Moody’s rating agency might not have been alerted to the fact that the defeated PLP government had left the Bahamas in a dire financial crisis, so bad in fact that the FNM will have to borrow $722 million, mainly to pay inherited bills.

As late as August last year former PLP Minister of State Michael Halkitis said his government anticipated that Baha Mar would be open this year in time for Moody’s August visit and reassessment.

“If all goes well,” he said, “and it’s open and people are contributing to the economy. I’m sure Moody’s would be able to look at that. So hopefully we have seen an end of these sorts of downgrades. That is our hope.”

Since the arrival of the FNM government, Bahamians have a more transparent view of the facts, and Mr Halkitis’ hope seems just that – a vain hope.

Unfortunately, with the recent announcement by Baha Mar that it is failing to meet another opening deadline - for the want of deck chairs —there will be nothing with which to blind-side Moody’s this time. Although, a section of Baha Mar is meant to be open —“open” as interpreted by the PLP — everyone who goes to Baha Mar to have “a look around” can find no guests. However, on its next visit Moody’s might be so impressed that for once they are being told the whole truth, and if the FNM can present them with a solid plan to pull the country back from the dangerous precipice, then Moody’s might be willing to give us a reprieve to enable government to start an upward movement towards fiscal recovery – after all the FNM only inherited this confusion about two months ago.

Even PLP chairman Bradley Roberts is unable to grasp the problem. With the typical PLP approach that entertainment for the people comes before serious business, Mr Roberts is berating the FNM for taking an official delegation to the CARICOM meeting in Grenada, where they will be introduced to their Caribbean counterparts with whom they will be engaged over the next five years, rather than spending more money on Independence celebrations. The PLP could never get their priorities right — big parties always seem to move into first place over serious business.

However, after this delegation to CARICOM, we expect such delegations to be reduced to a minimum in the future. Bahamians are no longer going to tolerate another globe-trotting Fred Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell has taken issue with the Minnis administration for publicly blaming the Christie government for handing over a Treasury so financially troubled that it would attract Moody’s attention for early review of the country’s Baa3 credit rating for a downgrade. After all Standard & Poor’s Christmas gift to the Bahamas in December was a downgrade to “junk” status. This reflected the country’s worsening economic and fiscal condition. Moody’s on the other hand — obviously convinced that the opening of the much heralded Baha Mar would turn the economy around — was obviously satisfied to take a wait-and-see position.

However, once the FNM won the government on May 10, saw government’s financials — which are still being examined —and decided to tell the Bahamian people the truth, politicians like Fred Mitchell took fright.

“In our parliamentary debates, the leader of the opposition, our MPs and senators tried to warn the FNM, stop talking down this economy,” said Mr Mitchell. “We thought it reckless to borrow nearly a billion in their first week in office. We said the only reason for the less than promised fiscal performance was Hurricane Matthew. Moody’s affirms that fact.”

If Moody’s affirmed that fact alone, they were certainly gullible, there were too many missed calls and failures by the PLP government before the devastation of Matthew. Matthew was just the last straw and even the aftermath of that was ineptly managed by the former government.

During the budget debate, Exuma MP and opposition finance spokesman Chester Cooper attacked Mr Turnquest’s budget presentation for sending the wrong message to investors and the rating agencies with talk of $722 million in new borrowing — most of it to pay off unpaid bills.

“Mismanagement and corruption by the PLP figured nowhere in what Moody’s had to say. Those were FNM propaganda lines. Now look what you've done,” complained Mr Mitchell as he tried to lay the missteps of his government at the feet of the FNM.

But the Bahamian people have advanced from the days of Pindling when they were lulled into a comfortable sleep of “don’t worry, be happy” leave it all to “Papa.”

They are no longer prepared to continue blindly, leaving it all in the hands of “Papa.”

Obviously by their own admission, the PLP have for years been painting a rosy economic picture in the House of Assembly — now it would seem it was mainly to keep the credit rating agencies at bay. The new government has arrived and decided to tell Bahamians the whole truth. The future will be no grand party. To return this country to economic stability, there will have to be much belt tightening, hard work and— above all— a unified people with a common goal.

It was a question of continuing the lies to the Bahamian people to keep the credit agencies at bay – or face the truth and prepare for the fall-out. To continue the lies, leading Bahamians to believe that there would be a comfortable future with nothing to worry about would have spelt doom for our country.

We shall be far better off for a Moody’s representative to come, reassess the situation, be told the full truth, be shown a sensible plan for rebuilding and ask for a grace period to stabilise our country – to achieve this the full understanding and cooperation of the Bahamian people will be necessary.