The Tribune

TO the soon-to-be-announced victors:

Today, the Bahamas goes to the polls to choose you. Whether in the end they select an administration dominated by fresh faces or familiar, you will come to office with a brand new mandate, based on promises made during campaign season.

Some politicians put forward good ideas, others made unrealistic pledges, and a few said things that were downright silly.

The time has now come for the Bahamian people to decide which is which, and who is most capable of delivering on their better notions.

But as journalists, we thought we'd introduce our own wish list - issues we feel should top the agenda for the next government of the Bahamas.

By PACO NUNEZ

Tribune News Editor

Freedom of information

Promising to take action in the run-up to the 2007 election, the FNM did pass a Freedom of Information Act by the end of their term, but didn't get around to establishing the regulations necessary for its enactment.

While undoubtedly a step forward, the Bill placed before Parliament left a lot to be desired. Fans of openness and transparency in government will point to a number of weaknesses in the legislation as it stands, but the crux is that the government retains ultimate control over which documents and records are made public; the minister's decision is final and unquestioned.

In practice, therefore, unscrupulous governments can still insulate themselves from allegations of corruption or incompetence, much as they do now. Perhaps a few small fish will fry, but the big fish will continue to cruise along without a care.

The new government should move to enact the FOI immediately, then bring amendments creating an appeal process that allows applicants to take their case to the courts.

Only then will the citizens of the Bahamas be truly empowered to take part in their democracy and hold their elected officials accountable.

Political corruption

Having said this, not all forms of corruption leave a paper trail. One such example is vote buying, which has long been a staple of elections in the Bahamas.

Aside from making a mockery of the democratic process, electoral fraud is at the root of a number of other problems we face.

How, for example, do we convince the young that crime doesn't pay, when it quite obviously it does - once every five years, like clockwork.

And why is anyone surprised that government departments remain bloated with excess staff - and mostly lazy, corrupt simpletons at that - when willingness to sell one's vote remains the only real job requirement?

In inviting international observers to monitor this election, the Ingraham administration made a good start in reversing this trend. But the fraud doesn't just happen on election day and the new government should take steps to discourage vote buying all year round.

A few months ago, the PLP and DNA cried foul over claims of a "special police unit", allegedly set up to investigate the methods of the FNM's rivals ahead of the election.

At the time, Insight wrote: ". . . even if the FNM manages to gain some slight political advantage in the short term, this would be a small price to pay in the long run. If we are ever to have a proper democracy in this country, someone will have to empower the police to investigate political venality."

If such a unit does indeed exist, the new government should support it; if it doesn't they should establish one, and ensure its officers have the independence to investigate and expose any and all shady political manoeuvres, regardless of who is involved.

Public education

Every year, the Bahamas spends around $200 million on public education - invariably the heftiest item on the country's annual budget.

Yet, aside from a few bright spots, the government school system has remained an embarrassing failure. The average national grade for graduating high school students remains a D.

But even this is misleading, as the calculation includes private schools - take them away and public education is turning out students worth around an F+.

We simply cannot go on like this. The vast majority of children and young people are educated by the state; to an increasingly greater extent as private tuition continues to rise.

Each year, thousands of functionally illiterate 18 year olds are unleashed upon society, and the resultant impact on crime levels and the quality of our workforce is only to be expected.

There are many reasons for this scenario, but internal corruption and ineffective teaching methods top the list. The new government must make tackling these problems a top priority.

The Ingraham administration began a quiet, comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Education. The new government should see that this is completed and publish the results for all to see.

And for those education officials exposed for nefarious deeds, no transfer to another department, but prosecution to the fullest extent of the law must be the policy. For those found to be lazy and incompetent, no retraining; it's the door.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, the new government must find a new approach to public education.

The excuse for failure, particularly with inner city students, has been that domestic circumstances often damage their chances of success before they ever set foot in a classroom.

Yet a number of new and very successful models have emerged in other countries specifically for educating urban youth from difficult backgrounds. The new government must have the courage to explore these, choose which is best for the Bahamas and, if necessary, ask for some outside help when it comes to implementation.

A polite warning

The requests on my list do not feature prominently in any of the parties' manifestos, as they are not considered "vote getters" - issues that are emotive for the average Bahamian.

Some, if implemented, could actually make it even harder for you to get re-elected in five years time.

Be that as it may, our mandate as journalists is to agitate for a healthier, more just, more civilised Bahamas. It is therefore only fair to warn you: any government that operates in its own interest at the expense of the Bahamian public will not enjoy gentle treatment from The Tribune.

If recent history is anything to go by, it could be a rough five years.

Any of you who doubt this should ask Neville Wisdom, who we caught red-handed trying to withhold important public records. Or ask Shane Gibson about being forced to resign after starring on The Tribune's most famous front page ever.

In fact, ask the PLP as an organisation. The party has admitted The Tribune was one of the major reasons why its 2007 re-election bid failed.

While you're at it, for the sake of fairness, you should also ask Earl Deveaux about his luxury helicopter ride, and Branville McCartney about his refusal to release a report on the Detention Centre while he was Immigration Minister.

By Noelle Nicolls

Tribune Features Editor

Leadership

Throughout the election campaign, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has been stumping on the matter of leadership. Day in and day out he schools us on the matter, speaking about the importance of leadership and the requirements of effective leadership.

"Leadership requires courage. Very often, leadership means making difficult choices, sometimes unpopular choices. Leadership requires smart and hard work, a solid work ethic and a good team." These are the core elements of leadership, according to Mr Ingraham.

I do not deny Mr Ingraham's list of leadership qualities, but I do believe there is another aspect to leadership, a highly under-rated and under-utilised dimension that Bahamians leaders (in politics and all areas of public and private life) fail to appreciate and utilise towards the public good.

That is the power of leadership in framing public discourse, influencing perception and behaviour, and shaping culture. Many of our challenges as a nation, indeed the world, require cultural shifts. To direct the change our leaders need to start thinking, speaking and acting differently. Our leaders are too unimaginative in their thinking, careless with their tongues and irresponsible with their actions.

It is not okay for our leaders to display the level of boorishness we see in the House of Assembly and then condemn the man on the street for a lack of civility. For too long we have turned a blind eye to the deplorable example set by our leaders while crying shame on the underclass of society for not shaping up and steering right.

As the general election comes to an end, it is my wish that whosoever forms the next government, whether in the governing majority or minority, that they should bring a fresh manner of thought, speech and action to some of our country's biggest challenges.

Tourism

The Bahamas needs a fundamental shift in its approach to tourism. Our current model exists on the following basis: We are because the tourists are.

That we exist only to service a tourism economy is no existence at all. This upside down model can never truly serve the interests of Bahamians. In fact, for too long we have allowed it to stifle our development as a people.

Our leaders will deny this kind of existence, and tell you pretty slogans like service is not servitude, but saying it ain't so does not make it so. Our leaders need to start being honest with themselves and the Bahamian people.

As long as the primary concern for the development of the Bahamas and the Bahamian people is the comfort and pleasure of a tourist, we will never have true sovereignty as a nation.

We invest far more in the Ministry of Tourism than the Department of Culture, when it is our very culture that should be the basis of what we offer as a tourism product, not the caricature of ourselves that we have been marketing for decades.

The MOT functions as though it is the Ministry of Culture, when it is not and should never be so. The Bahamas needs an investment in its own self-development, to deepen the articulation of its own identity.

We will never, ever, have an authentic tourism product unless we seriously invest in that.

None of our leaders talk about these things. Shifting the conversation is critical to shifting the culture, and shifting the culture is central to actualizing the lofty campaign promise of true ownership for Bahamians in the tourism sector.

On Immigration and Haitians (could also apply for Jamaicans or any black immigrants).

The Bahamas is approximately 530 miles north of Haiti and 187 miles south of Florida. These facts of geography mean illegal immigration will forever be with the Bahamas.

We could do the unthinkable and sink Haitian sloops on sight, and drown their nationals (disgustingly, some Bahamians might think that okay. It is rumoured to have happened before), and that would not stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the Bahamas. Why do our leaders keep competing for the best plan to stop "the illegals"? There is no such plan.

I wish to see our leaders use much more of their time and talent towards thinking, speaking and putting in action more useful strategies for resolving the tensions in society between Haitians and Bahamians.

The following are my top five: integrate Bahamians with Haitian ancestry into the society; protect the rights of Haitian migrant workers so they no longer have to live in the shadows on the fringes of society; show our humanity by protecting the rights of illegal immigrants housed at the Detention Centre; actively encourage business investment in Haiti and with Haitians, including encouraging the private sector to establish formal migrant worker programmes; encourage education exchanges between Haiti and the Bahamas, akin to Cuba.

For many Bahamians, "the Haitian problem" is the bane of their existence. However, approaching the issue with only passion, anger, resentment, frustration and an iron fist has produced no effective or sustainable solution, and will never create the best conditions for decision making.

We need to build more tolerance, respect, understanding, and compassion as a nation, and arm ourselves with more information and insight to truly establish some form of resolution. Can our leaders help to create this cultural shift?

On Immigration and Foreigners

In Bahamian parlance, an illegal immigrant (even immigrant, for that matter) is synonymous with a Haitian, and a Haitian is synonymous with an illegal. Unfortunately, this means little is spoken about the other "immigration problem."

Apparently, in political speak, the immigrants who fall under this category are referred to as foreigners. It is a well known fact, there are many "foreigners" in the Bahamas who are occupying top paying professional service jobs that Bahamians could never hope to get.

Why? Because we do not truly value the development of our human capital in the Bahamas. We pay lip service to the idea with one side of our mouths, while doing virtually nothing short of hiring Bahamians to develop the human resource capacity of the Bahamian worker.

Even where Bahamians may be qualified for a job, in our business culture we don't take risks on Bahamians, whether in the public or private sector. It is a culture we have nurtured and come to accept although deep down it is lamented.

What can and should our leaders do? Help to change the culture. Create incentives for businesses to invest in professional development training for their professional staff; increase the resources of the department responsible for overseeing the apprentice system required when foreign work permits are granted; establish partnerships with foreign governments so Bahamians can easily access temporary work programmes and exchanges.

Stop telling our children they are better than the rest of the world without making them actually work to acquire the level of insight and skill that could actually make them better; raise the professional standard and stop making our students believe a degree and a little enthusiasm makes them the best person for the job; encourage students to travel the world and work abroad to gain experience and exposure, and then encourage them to return home; recognize talent when it presents itself and nurture it; stop the "bad mind" and invest in Bahamians.

Traditionally, how has our human resource capacity increased? Foreigners have come in on work permits and become naturalized by virtue of marriage, or length of stay.

It is not acceptable for us to blame "the foreigners", after all they are only seeking to advance themselves professionally and financially, and having contributed their skills and talent, why should we frown when they fall in love with the Bahamas or a Bahamian, but is that what we had in mind when we established Bahamianisation as a vision? Is that what we had in mind when we said invest in Bahamians?

It is not acceptable for governments to tell private companies who to hire. But governments should not reinforce or accept a culture that does not truly build the capacity of its people. We won't change the culture by making scapegoats out of the foreigners. We won't change the culture by digging our heads in the sand.

Our Women's Rights

The prime minister said leadership requires one to make difficult, even unpopular choices at times. He claims to be good at doing that.

Well leadership also requires one to open one's mouth on unpopular issues, even when speaking the truth may place one at odds with the powerful forces of intolerance.

Leadership also requires you to speak clearly and decisively, not seem uncertain and wishy-washy. Too many of our leaders mince words when it comes to women's rights.

The Free National Movement left two landmark issues as unfinished business. Whosoever forms the next government needs to ensure these two matters are settled.

In the face of women's rights, our leaders need to stop bowing to out-dated biblical interpretations. There is a reason why governments established a separation between church and state, because they recognised the Christian equivalent of Sharia Law would be equally as oppressive.

The church, given its past and present, is no moral authority, particularly on women's rights. Religious leaders may be biblical authorities, yes; authorities in religious doctrine, yes; but authorities on women's rights, certainly not.

Religious leaders, despite the theory that grounds their service, are no more competent to speak on women's rights than any other man.

What do you think?

Email Paco Nunez at pnunez@tribunemedia.net, Noelle Nicolls at nnicolls@tribunemedia.net, or join the conversation on tribune242.com/insight