The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A former Chamber of Commerce chairman yesterday warned that the “absurd” rhetoric over Baha Mar was unnerving both Bahamian and foreign investors, while ignoring the Bahamas’ “fundamental core problems”.

Robert Myers told Tribune Business that the vitriol surrounding Baha Mar and foreign investors was “very disheartening”, and showed that this nation was in desperate need of “maturity” among its political leaders.

“I think there’s just a necessity for some maturity,” Mr Myers told Tribune Business. “We’ve got to mature as a nation, and understand the political battle isn’t helping anything. We need to address these problems, and do so in a responsible and professional manner.”

He was speaking after a week in which Fred Mitchell, minister of foreign affairs and immigration, implied that Baha Mar’s principal, Sarkis Izmirlian, was a national security risk and should consider leaving the Bahamas.

Then Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, returned to the theme that Mr Izmirlian was ‘unhinged’ by suggesting that all foreign investors coming to this nation undergo a psychological evaluation.

Mr Myers said such remarks were scaring both Bahamian and foreign investors, telling Tribune Business: “I’ve talked to foreigners who are friends and business partners, and it makes them very nervous.

“I also spoke to a couple of Bahamians in the last few days, and they’re nervous about investing/reinvesting anything in the country. There’s a lack of confidence. That’s not my position; I’m still investing and doing various things, but it is unnerving when this kind of rhetoric thrown out.

“If you look at it from the $50,000 feet level, you think of the Bahamas: What the hell is going on there? It’s just absurd. It’s not great for business confidence and foreign direct investment, any investor, frankly.”

Mr Myers said the Bahamas desperately needed political leaders who were focused on national issues and interests, rather than political interests.

He suggested that the Bahamas was currently enduring ‘shiny object’ politics, where the electorate was being distracted from the nation’s problems and real issues that need to be addressed.

“We’re not addressing the real core problems of the country,” Mr Myers said. “There are some core fundamental problems going on in the country that are not being addressed; that are going to make all these shiny objectives they’re talking about irrelevant if we don’t address them.

“We desperately need a maturity in all the political parties, and we need responsible, accountable and open governance. We’re simply not getting it,” the former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman added.

“You wonder who’s got their hand on the wheel, if anyone does. It’s very disheartening. All the energy is spent on bashing each other [in politics]. How in God’s name is that going to get us to fix our core fundamental problems?

“We have people in positions of great importance that are not focused on these significant problems.”

Mr Myers listed the Bahamas’ key problems as crime, education, fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency, and unemployment.