The Tribune

By Malcolm Strachan

WHEN Michael Halkitis took office as Minister for Economic Affairs in the new government, there were two things on his mind. The first was to stabilize the country’s finances with a national debt of $10.356 bn at the end of June and a deficit of $951.3m.

The second priority he announced was to improve the “ease of doing business”. The Bahamas ranks poorly for that – the World Bank currently lists our nation as 119th in the world for the ease of doing business.

Breaking that down, we are 94th when it comes to starting a business, 77th when dealing with construction permits, 81st for getting electricity. Then we take a plunge – 181st for registering property, 152nd for getting credit, 161st for trading across borders. We are also 88th for protecting minority investors, 50th for paying taxes, 82nd for enforcing contracts and 71st for resolving insolvency.

For a country that so often reaches out to foreign investors, that’s not a pretty picture to paint.

For Mr Halkitis, he said one of the problems the private sector always complains about was the time it takes to get permits and approvals, saying there needs to be a “holistic approach”.

This sounds positive – until you see the unholy mess surrounding the arrival of the Christmas Carnival this year.

How on Earth does it get to the stage of the carnival being set up before the operators even know whether or not it can go ahead?

Think about what needs to be done to organise such an event. The equipment has to be packed, loaded and shipped to The Bahamas. Customs has to handle its arrival. The workers at the carnival have to be either hired locally or come into the country on work permits. Those permits need to be applied for, paid for and approved. The equipment needs to be released from Customs, loaded onto trucks and carried to the site. The site itself needs to be rented and approved. That’s before even one wrench has been turned or screw tightened on any of the rides.

In the past week, we saw the rides going up. Parents driving their children past the sight will have pointed to it as their children gasped and asked “Can we go?”

Set aside for a moment – not that they are unimportant – the concerns about COVID-19 and an event aimed at children too young to be vaccinated yet. That is also part of the preparation process that should have been considered before the carnival arrived, not a late decision to be made when everything is already on site.

Press Secretary Clint Watson blamed the situation on the carnival not having the official approval from the Ministry of Health, saying: “We say these are the approvals that are required, you can go and get approvals from various things. Included in that was, of course, the health protocol that will be required from the Ministry of Health. I think that was the final approval they were waiting on. It’s not a matter of ‘we’re here and we’re hoping that this happens’. The agreement that is made every year is that you come into the country, you make your request to come in, we tell you the approvals that will be necessary… but at the end of the day all of the approvals have to be in place.”

Let’s think about that in terms of ease of doing business. Seemingly, from that, for a company looking to come into the country and operate, they would be required to get a number of different approvals, without any apparent attempt for the bodies giving those approvals to be linked up.

Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis picked the hole in that when he said that under his administration: “The procedure under us was that an application to the Ministry of Finance would subsequently be referred to the Ministry of Health. Health would then send their opinion to my office, whether approval or not. That was then taken to Cabinet. Cabinet was informed and then we would approve it and I would come forward as the spokesman for Cabinet, but all agencies were involved. We want to know where the initial application went to? Who is in charge of finance? The Prime Minister.”

Carnival organiser Joseph Alberts recently said Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis gave permission for the event – but Mr Watson said that was “absolute nonsense”, saying Mr Davis “has never spoken about this issue, neither has he been involved in this issue… The Prime Minister does not approve carnivals coming into the country”.

Why shouldn’t the Prime Minister do that? Of course, it’s entertainment, but it’s also a business. It also raises revenue in terms of fees, taxes and so on. And in the middle of a pandemic, it’s a large event where people might gather. Why would the Prime Minister not be interested in having a say on that?

And with all the people driving past the carnival as it set up on their way to the Prime Minister’s office, no one thought to mention that it didn’t have all the permits?

How can you encourage investors or businesses to come to The Bahamas if you can’t ensure there’s a transparent process of obtaining permits that don’t end up with your enterprise set up the day before it is due to open only to be denied approval at the last minute?

Dr Minnis tried to paint this as an issue where Mr Davis and Health Minister Dr Michael Darville were at odds and contradicting each other – and there may be something in that, but it really speaks to the larger problem of being able to give straight answers for those who wish to invest.

Dr Minnis isn’t able to boast of the best record there either – just witness the mess over Crown Land promises on Paradise Island and the dispute between Royal Caribbean and neighbouring entrepreneur Toby Smith.

There is nothing that companies need more when it comes to the ease of doing business than predictability. There should be no need to navigate a complicated mess of different departments, or seeking approvals from this politician, that politician and that Customs officer. Why can’t our government sort all of those things out behind the scenes when an operator approaches and then deliver a single yes, or a single no.

Certainly it should never reach the stage where everything is assembled the night before opening and still no one knows if it is approved or not.

If there was a functioning Freedom of Information Act in this country, requests would be being made for the government to publish all of the communications in relation to the approval or rejection of the carnival this year. As it is, we call on the government to do that anyway.

Let’s see just how difficult it is to do business in The Bahamas.