The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas traditionally has not made the connection between public infrastructure investment and increased economic activity, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Senator, Michael Halkitis, believes. Speaking at a Wednesday night Economic Resiliency Forum at the College of the Bahamas (COB), Michael Halkitis said: "I think historically over the years we have not made the connection between investment in the public infrastructure and an increase in economic activity. "We do it because we need to, for instance a new dock in the Family Islands, but I don't think we have reached that point where we do these things and forecast a net benefit of economic growth. I think that's something we need to move towards." Dr Olivia Saunders, economist and associate professor at COB's School of Business, said the most important investment was in people. She added: "The infrastructure we invest in is simply entrenching the existing economic organisation of the country, which to a large extent biases the wealth generation to people who are not us. Yes, we could look for jobs, but wealth isn't in just getting a job. Many of the jobs we are getting are not high level and high paying. There are some of those, but in my mind they are insufficient. "The most important infrastructural investment is in people. When we develop the road in Nassau and bring on Baha Mar, we are just sucking people into New Providence, making our whole social infrastructure worse. Yes, we are going to get some jobs, but in terms of the sustainability of it over time in terms of our social infrastructure, I'm not sure it will cause us to be a better place. I'm not knocking them, but I'm concerned that it seems we are not moving away from that model." State minister for Finance, Zhivargo Laing, said that while significant investment had been made in education and skills training, some of the infrastructure works undertaken were "quality of life issues". Mr Laing said: "One of the things we have to do is look broadly at these issues. Some of the infrastructural developments are not a matter of economic empowerment." He used the rusty water supply issue as an example. "The extent to which water is a quality of life issue is the extent to which a government has an obligation to seek to provide that quality water to citizens, so that investment will have to be made," Mr Laing said. "The extent to which you have on this island the vast majority of your population as it now stands, it would be wonderful to get the population reduced. As it now stands, you have commercial and residential needs that have to be accommodated in improving the quality of life for the people on this island, who have had to endure the hardship of a significantly outdated and dilapidated infrastructure." Mr Laing said millions of dollars had been invested in institutions such as COB and other institutions when it came to academic and skill development.