The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas has become a nation “addicted to entitlement”, the Chamber of Commerce’s chairman said yesterday, arguing: “We have become a capitalist lifestyle jurisdiction that wants the socialist protectionism.”

Gowon Bowe told the 26th annual Bahamas Business Outlook conference: “The Bahamas has unfortunately has become a nation addicted to entitlement. We have not lived up to what our forefathers, the unions and those who fought for independence and Majority Rule set out as the tenets that they want to abide by. We have become a capitalist lifestyle jurisdiction that wants the socialist protectionism.”

Mr Bowe added that this nation cannot have Bahamianisation in isolation. “We cannot desire the foreign direct investment, investors and expertise, but reject the actual individual,” he explained.

“We have to understand that we must embrace competition both at home and abroad.”

Mr Bowe argued that Bahamians must reverse their behaviour to help achieve about economic improvement.

“We have to have a mindset of ownership and not simply employment,” he said. “We have to reverse our behaviours. We have to now get to a point where we are saving and investing, not relying or depending on government.

“We have this need for foreign direct investment, but we have to juxtapose that against our inconsistent analysis, approval and regulation of these big projects. We talk highly about the ground breaking ceremonies, but we rarely speak about what it has cost us and what benefits we are getting for that investment.”