The Tribune

ONE WONDERS if this nation realises the necessity of providing a first class telecommunications service if it is to maintain and strengthen its reputation as a financial centre?

Or is it more important to return the communications system to a government monopoly, despite the inferior service such a monopoly provided residents – especially the financial sector – for so many years?

Why does the BCPOU union claim that morale is low among its members at the new company, which despite its difficulties, is now producing far better financial returns for government than when it was government-owned?

The kernel of the problem probably lies in a statement made by a member of the public.

A reader of The Tribune’s website – www.tribune242.com — points out that it is not cruel or unusual to ask “someone to work eight hours a day, arrive on time, take one hour for lunch, keep phone calls and personal conversations to a minimum, refrain from using company equipment for personal business, give an account of monies spent or time taken away from the office, accurately report vacation, eat breakfast before you arrive for work, not take bribes to award contracts, and steal from the cashier’s cage or from company inventory. Be productive.”

These are terms of employment demanded in the private sector — no wonder so many want a government job. Taxpayers probably do not understand that they are the ones who are carrying the burden of non-productive government workers.

Negotiations by the Christie administration to get back two per cent of BTC from Cable & Wireless so that it could once again have control of the company should never have been suggested. It certainly has shattered investor confidence in the Bahamas as an investment centre. Government signed contracts from one government to another can no longer be relied on.

However, for better or worse, Mr Christie promised the electorate that if his party won the election, BTC would be returned to the people.

What we cannot understand is Mr Christie’s apparent surprise that Cable & Wireless was not about to play ball. It had signed a contract with the Bahamas government — albeit the Ingraham government — and it was not about to lie down and play dead. On the other hand, Mr Christie — again this should not have been a surprise to him — did not have the financial means to buy back the needed two per cent. We don’t know if he expected it to be returned to his government in return for his usual pleasant smile and friendly handshake.

However, this whole fiasco, if nothing else, has demonstrated that this government does not speak with one voice. Members of the Cabinet don’t seem to pay attention to their leader.

Mr Christie has made it clear that he will only use legal means to get the company back — no strong arm tactics.

His position was attacked last week by BCPOU president Bernard Evans, who said his union members were tired of waiting and their morale was low. He did not know how much longer they would wait. “We thought by now the government would have taken the two per cent back,” Mr Evans told a press conference.

In reply, Mr Christie more or less told him and his members to back down. Mr Evans has since agreed to do so.

Mr Christie informed the union that, whether they liked the deal or not, Cable & Wireless had purchased 51 per cent and “we are trying to get them to give up two per cent”.

Mr Christie said that if the union thought he should nationalise the corporation, “then they are on their own because I do not propose to make such an intervention in this country”.

Mr Christie’s message to the union went further: “I, the Bahamian people,” he said, “own 49 per cent. In all that I do, I must protect the interest of the 49 per cent because there has been a sale and I cannot cause the company to lose value by decisions that I make.”

That was Mr Christie. Now let’s turn to Labour Minister Shane Gibson, once himself a labour union leader.

Mr Gibson bluntly told union leaders that if they want BTC to re-Bahamianise they will have to fight for it themselves. The BCPOU should “put their money where their mouth is and let me see some action” rather than waiting for government to act for them.

“When I was a union leader, I didn’t depend on the government to do my job,” he told them. “I did it by myself. This new generation of union leaders seem to want the government to do everything, we can certainly give you the support base but persons must take it upon themselves to fight for what they think is rightfully theirs and to fight for what they believe in and sometimes it calls for sacrifice.” It appeared that Mr Gibson was encouraging strike action, while Mr Christie demanded peaceful negotiations. Is this the same government speaking?

Mr Christie says he is now thinking of extending Cable & Wireless’ three-year monopoly to five years in return for them transferring the majority shares in BTC to government. This means that Bahamians will be kept out of the lucrative cellular market for five years instead of the agreed three. Something Mr Ingraham strongly opposed, because he wanted Bahamians to have a fair chance in an open market.

“Extending the BTC cell service monopoly,” said FNM chairman Darron Cash, “would be a betrayal of trust and bad policy. The Prime Minister needs to tear up that secret agreement in principle. A decision to extend the monopoly would be a giant step backwards because the ultimate goal of privatisation – under the FNM anyway – was to open the industry to competition.” He pointed out that it was only by competition that service and rates will improve.

Mr Cash reminded Mr Christie that he had already denied Bahamians an opportunity to participate directly in the company’s profitability by cancelling the plan to sell the first nine per cent of the shares to the public, which was the Ingraham plan.

It makes one wonder whether the Christie government really “believes in Bahamians” or is the fight only for the chosen few of the PLP inner circle, as it was in the Pindling era?

This does give cause for serious concern.