The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I HAVE lived in the Bahamas for more than 40 years and when I read your headline today (June 13), I felt as if I was back in the 1970's.

Work Permits - At that point Pindling was trying to adjust the work force after Independence and brought in the five-year rule where an expatriate was given a five-year term to teach a Bahamian to do their job.

At that time, I did feel Pindling was right in his thinking, it built up a middle class and, of course, it did not mean that all expatriates left as some jobs required more than five years training.

Pindling did think, but Shane Gibson most certainly did not.

First of all, if he scrutinizes every work permit, gardeners, maids and so on there will be an almighty backlog.

Many Bahamians employ expatriate gardeners and maids so there will be a lot of unhappy people.

And to single out BTC with he claims 40 work permits, most of whom as the company points out are employed by suppliers, is ludicrous and vindictive.

Why cannot politicians start thinking about the country "Believe in the Bahamas" was the PLP slogan I believe and stop this asinine, childish approach to government where everything is promised before an election then it can't be done because the previous government did such and such.

All Shane Gibson is saying in my opinion is that "they" are peeved that BTC can no longer be manipulated by the government.

I would rather see BTC owned by anyone rather than the government who are the most inefficient administrators of any business - witness BahamasAir, Water and Sewage and so on.

But as telecommunications is the powerhouse that keeps business running and people employed I think it is better if Shane Gibson and his cohorts keep their sticky fingers out of BTC.

"They" might also think of letting the Immigration Department run the work permit system efficiently, give them the guidelines and not interfere in the day-to-day organisation.

PATRICK THOMSON

Nassau,

June 2012.