The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The absence of local ownership and accountability is holding back Family Island economic development initiatives, the Exuma Chamber of Commerce’s president yesterday charging that “there is little to show” for the significant revenues being generated in his island.

Pedro Rolle said there needs to be greater local involvement in the governance of Family Island economies, with too much decision-making power currently centralised on New Providence.

“We are continuing to do the same thing the same way and not getting any results. Plans aren’t going to succeed if they are not managed and governed at the local level. I don’t care how wonderful an idea is; it’s not going to work if it is not managed locally,” said Mr Rolle.

To highlight the point, Mr Rolle added that if there was great local involvement in the governance of Exuma, the Staniel Cay airport would never have been allowed to reach its current state of disrepair.

“We have all of this money that is being generated in Exuma, and Exuma has very little to show for it,” he argued. “How is it possible that in Exuma you have Staniel Cay, which generates an unbelievable level of revenue for the Treasury. It is a tourism centre in the Exuma chain. Multi-millionaire yachters come there. It is a transshipment point for people who live in the other cays nearby.

“These people would come to Staniel Cay, and then they would then go to their private cays nearby. How is it possible that a centre that generates so much money can be allowed to have an airstrip that goes into disrepair, when it is the airstrip that is one of the main things that helps to generate revenue.

“It makes no sense,” Mr Rolle added. “If we had greater access in terms of local governance, those local persons would have ensured that if there ever was a hole in the airstrip, the very first order of business would have been to repair it because that’s how they make their living.

“Because decisions are being made in Nassau, that’s not a priority. They don’t see that every day. If local persons were making the decision it would have never gotten to that point.”

Mr Rolle said the fire that destroyed the straw market in George Town further highlighted the need for more local governance.

“This is an issue that has been a concern for a while. Here again, who manages the Straw Market? Who is responsible for its maintenance?” he asked.

“This place has been an eyesore for ages. It has been in what I consider a state of disrepair for ages. I don’t think there is local ownership of the Straw Market.

“I live there. I don’t know who owns it. The same kind of thing can happen at the fish fry. It’s a problem in our country; a lack of local ownership and local accountability.”