The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

On June 7th, 2016, the Bahamian people spoke loud and clear. They rejected the gender equality referendum initiated by the present Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Government.

This is the second time in one political term that Mr Perry Christie, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas has presented a referendum that has been soundly rejected, but he has yet to resign or call an election.

Last week, distinguished journalist Mr Jeffrey Lloyd sounded the alarm and correctly said that Mr Christie has lost the mandate to govern. He said that he does not trust Mr Christie to negotiate any deals with the Chinese with regards to Baha Mar because the next general election is only months away and Mr Christie would do anything to hold on to power.

There have been rumours that the Chinese want unimaginable concessions before they authorise the financing to complete Baha Mar. Reports have been swirling that they want 500 Bahamian citizenship, tax breaks on VAT for thirty years, exemption from custom duties and more work permits for Chinese nationals. Mr Christie has never definitively addressed these reports.

In his contribution to the budget debate last week, Dr Andre Rollins dressed down the entire government and said that the Christie government is negotiating from a position of weakness with regards to Baha Mar. He said that the present government is a lame duck government and inferred that there is no way that they can negotiate the completion of Baha Mar in the best interest of the Bahamian people.

I think that Dr Rollins and Mr Lloyd are spot on. The Bahamas is swimming in shark infested waters and the Chinese know it.

The two failed referendums held by the Christie government has no doubt left them scrambling for ways to stay in power and they have no business being at the negotiating table.

The economy, despite all the ramblings during the new budget debate is not growing at a rate that will tackle the ever growing unemployment epidemic in the country. Keep in mind that several thousand students just graduated from high school this month.

Everywhere I go in New Providence, I am approached by persons asking for a dollar or two. Economic wise, things are extremely bad for tens of thousands of Bahamians and it is not getting any better.

Mr Christie knows that for his party to have any chance of winning the next general election that he must get construction on Baha Mar started. He is in a desperate situation politically and this cannot be overstated. There is no doubt that he will sign off on the completion of Baha Mar at the peril of the Bahamian people, especially given his current fragile political state.

I am not sure if the average Bahamian is aware of what our country is presently faced with. This government by its own repeated actions have displayed bad judgment and their supposed belief in Bahamians is scoffed at during social gatherings.

I share Mr Lloyd’s view that it is time for Mr Christie to go. I would go further and state unequivocally that the entire Cabinet needs to be removed from office.

The tragedy about this situation is that there are cabinet members who know that collectively they are making bad decisions but their loyalty lies to the governing PLP party and not country.

We have had cabinet ministers sit idly by when citizens in the Marathon area were being poisoned, some of whom have reportedly died. We have had cabinet members sit idly by when the auditor general in his audited reports state that millions of dollars are unaccounted for at several government ministries. We have had cabinet members sit idly by when the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) was burnt down and the contractor had no insurance.

I ask all Cabinet Ministers the following questions.

1). Are you not Bahamian?

2). Don’t you not have a responsibility to act in the best interest of Bahamians?

3). Look 30 years down the road and ask yourselves if the next Bahamian generation will benefit from the decisions you are making today?

I cry shame on the whole lot.

DEHAVILLAND MOSS

Nassau,

June 18, 2016.