The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

CAT Islanders have emphasised the critical need for local investment as the island’s “orphan” economy shoulders the impact of an aging, dwindling population and stalled development.

Island officials, educators, and entrepreneurs say that the unmitigated exodus of high school graduates, paired with no direct international flights and scarce jobs, have suffocated growth.

Based on census figures, the island’s population has decreased by 70 per cent over the past century. During The Tribune’s visit to the island this week, residents reflected on the toll population trends have wrought on the economy and cultural transmission.

“A lot of young people are leaving,” said Danny King, a 30-year-old tour and taxi operator. “With people leaving, it’s just turned the island into a quiet place. With them leaving, who is going to carry on the few businesses still here, who is going to buy from the shop, purchase fuel, greet you or meet you at the airport or the docks?

“We were promised by numerous governments, and we always complain about the government, but we were promised an airport, clinic, roadworks. If some of these promises could be fulfilled, then we could get people back into the island to stimulate the economy through that way, even some assistance with farming or fishing.”

Tony Armbrister, owner of Fernandez Bay Village, said: “Growth is my biggest concern. I see these young kids coming out of high school and the opportunities for them here don’t exist. I would love to see enough growth from tourism or some activity that will allow them to keep going here and build a life here but right now that opportunity doesn’t exist.

“We don’t even have international air service,” Mr Armbrister added. “Without the international air service, the probability for growth is limited.”

At a town meeting last month, residents reportedly vented their concerns and frustrations over the level of support from Nassau and the central government, and suggested potential solutions. Prior to the island visit, The Tribune received two letters from concerned residents, who questioned progress made on roadworks and the status of PGA Village development, an investment that has been billed for eight years as the “anchor project” for the island.

“The PGA was the white knight as far as that is concerned,” said island administrator Jackson McIntosh, “probably still is the white knight, the immediate white knight as far as that is concerned. Hopefully with the airport improvements in the very near future, I believe that may pan out to be more of a reality. As far as I know, there has been an impasse with negotiations on what the government’s obligations to the project ought to be, and what the PGA’s commitment to the project ought to be.”

The PGA Village project broke ground under the last Ingraham administration. According to Mr McIntosh, developers estimated total investment to date to be around $42m at a town meeting last month.

“It seems as if the PGA, in terms of their talking points, they want the airport to be in place so that it would give a better feeling for hope for any further investments at this time,” Mr McIntosh added.

This week, Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, confirmed that the government has agreed to build Cat Island’s new international airport, and has prioritised the development. Mr Rolle told Tribune Business that the government would be able to provide estimated construction start and completion dates for the New Bight airport once the necessary “technical” drawings were finished.

Jerome Forbes, principal of the Old Bight High School, said: “I’ve only been here two years, I don’t know what it was before but at this present state, comparing it to other islands of this size, it’s a really minute population. So a company would only make so much money, the taxis, hotels only make so much, and there is only so much you can make from the local people because the population is just very minimal.”

Mr Forbes explained that the education benefits on the island were under represented, suggesting that more could be done to advertise the advantages of a Family Island education. Old Bight High School was tapped for the pilot Prometheus programme, which will provide a digital classroom experience and discussions have been initiated to provide some form of tertiary education to the island.

He also pointed to the invaluable exposure his students have received by working with researchers to explore the island’s historic slave ruins.

According to the Department of Statistics, the island’s population increased only once during the 20th century. The increase was recorded in the 1911 census, when the population increased by 414 women. Since then, the population has decreased by the hundreds each decade. The greatest decreases were recorded during the 1921 census, at which time the population dropped by 799. Another major decrease was recorded in 1990, at which time the population dropped by 517.

In the late 90s, the island reportedly experienced a brief economic upswing fuelled by a building boom as a result of government exemptions. In 1999, district education superintendent and local historian Eris Moncur claimed that the island was in the midst of a population boom as a result of the increased economic activity.

In the 2000 census, the Department of Statistics recorded the lowest decrease for the century – 51.

Despite this, then-MP James Miller in 1999 maintained that the exodus of young Cat Islanders, who left after high school for the country’s employment and education centres – Nassau and Grand Bahama – was still troubling. That year, Mr Miller pledged that he would campaign in the House of Assembly for running water in a bid to challenge the notion that Cat Island was a “forgotten island” as it related to infrastructural development.

He conceded that it was “not Cat Island’s time yet”, adding that the government could not do everything in the Family Islands simultaneously. He pointed out that Cat Islanders had access to adequate supplies of potable ground water, and that families had individual water wells. Later that year, Hurricane Floyd contaminated the island’s fresh water supply with salt water, forcing residents to rely on donated bottled water for survival. Fifteen years later, the island still has no ground water distribution system.

Mr McIntosh said: “Justifiably the people of Cat Island are no different from any other people anywhere else in the country. But the reality Cat Islanders must face is that Cat Island is an orphan island, it’s not an island that can carry itself like, maybe, an Abaco or Grand Bahama or some of the more affluent islands in this country.

“It is very dependent on the financial activities of other islands,” he said, “and so the demand is strong but the payback is not as lucrative or as meaningful as those islands that can carry themselves and so when you have orphan status you have to wait. Sometimes your demands are not necessarily commensurate with your expectations, and so hopefully that will change soon and Cat Island can better sustain itself.”

Mr McIntosh noted that the island’s MP and Deputy Prime Minister was scheduled to host a town meeting on the island next week to provide an update on the government’s plans to address ongoing and proposed development.

“There is a proposal to make this entire area at the Regatta site a national park,” Mr McIntosh said, “to stretch southward to include Como Hill and all the historical sites on Cat Island. The idea discussed is to make this a cultural theme park preserving the history and culture of this island. The projection at this time from a domestic point of view is that they want to better organise these historical sites and to use that as an anchor interest for eco-tourism.

“Cat Island is the cradle of our Bahamian culture and history and I think it has more historical ruins and relics when compared with any Family Islands at this time, and so the natives want to exploit that more for economic benefit.”

Jaded by the stalled pace of state-funded development, residents pointed to the need for native Cat Islanders to return home to lead an economic turnaround.

“What I would like to see is those persons who came from Cat Island to please come back and invest in your island,” said Denice Bethel, of Hidden Treasures Seafood and Jerk Pit. “You know what it took for you to leave home, come back and invest. Those persons who have not only money but experience, or connections with persons who can provide funding.

Ms Bethel said: “We need persons to come back and educate those that you’ve left here and encourage those persons who are now becoming businessmen and women to come back and get their generational property or crown land and build the economy, build Cat Island back.”

A teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity added: “Our MP is a millionaire, if (only) he would do something in Cat Island. He put things in Nassau, we realise he has a turnover there, but let’s show some interest. Invest here.

“I don’t even agree too much with foreign investment because foreigners come to take what we have and the money doesn’t stay here. He (Philip “Brave” Davis) could be a model for our younger persons. Once more people come back, business increases.”