The Tribune

TALK of a less combative relationship between the political parties has not lasted very long.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has pointed the finger of blame at the previous administration over COVID measures, over the Prospect Ridge housing development – and now claims that Dr Hubert Minnis would have raised VAT to 15 percent if he had been returned to office.

The premise of his claim is thin, to say the least. A report by the International Monetary Fund recommended that The Bahamas raise VAT to that level – but there seems to be no commitment anywhere that Mr Davis has shown for The Bahamas to agree to that.

A recommendation is just that, a recommendation – it doesn’t bind The Bahamas to it, and if it did, Mr Davis would be bound just as much as Dr Minnis. Just as Mr Davis says raising VAT to that level would be a “terrible decision”, so too Dr Minnis would have had a choice, and there’s no indication he would have taken the IMF up on their recommendation.

It brings to mind the dispute when Mr Davis claimed there was a $1bn hole in the finances shown in the pre-election report only for it to seen that he was measuring something different from what was required in the report.

Yesterday, Mr Davis also took the time to attack the “reckless and irresponsible behaviour” of the previous administration over the budget for the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority – returning to a topic already debated in the House. To what end? Did it move us forward in any way? Or was it just part of the blame game, to criticise his predecessors rather than get on with the business of his own government?

If you don’t like the size of the budget for the authority, Mr Davis, tell us where you’re going to cut it and get on with it. The authority has been moved into the Ministry of Works and Utilities from the Ministry of Environment, so we’ll see how his new plan works and what will or won’t be funded.

Meanwhile, Mr Davis says the government will meet all of its major objectives while not adding a single dollar to the national debt. We wish him good luck with that – and we shall await the upcoming debt management report to see how his policies will manage such a task.

Different governments have different priorities, different approaches. What one deems essential, another finds unnecessary. Changes in direction are nothing new.

But why do we have to find ourselves in this seemingly endless back and forth cycle of one blaming the other and vice versa and on it goes, a perpetual pointing of fingers, all too often without the actual evidence to back it up?

If there is a problem, bring the evidence – otherwise it’s all just noise.

Land lease

One area that did need an answer was the remarkable lease of Crown Land to Royal Caribbean for just $140,000 a year for up to 150 years.

Former Prime Minister Dr Minnis did just that yesterday – defending his decision to sign the deal, but saying that there would be “many jobs available for Bahamians” and saying that the “benefit certainly outweighs the lease of the property”. He said there would be 80 Bahamians involved in the construction stage on “excellent salaries” and 150-200 upon completion of the project earning $30-40,000 a year.

That said, he admitted that it was unusual to have a lease for so long, and was quick to suggest that Royal Caribbean would have no problem reverting to 100 years. Well, if that’s the case, why didn’t you do that in the first place, Dr Minnis?

The annual rent still seems low for a project that could well earn that sum in just a day or two of operation.

There could be a silver lining, however, in that as much as we are committed to Royal Caribbean for that length of time, so too are they committed to us.

Can Mr Davis make changes to the deal that raises the rent and cuts the length of the lease? We will see – and we look forward to the new deal being tabled for us all to see.