The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The year 2020 will long be remembered, mostly from a negative point, so long as The Bahamas continues to exist. It was a year that may be termed annus mirabilis (a miracle year). I readily concede that one would hardly wish to refer to 2020 as a miracle year because for many it was not.

In 2019 we experienced the wrath of hurricane Dorian. Either the administration was totally unprepared for it or the recovery and rebuild efforts have fallen far short of what would have been expected. Then we were buffeted by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and even now we are not yet out of the woods as it relates to this deadly disease.

We have the ongoing debate about citizenship and nationality for children born in The Bahamas to foreign or undocumented parents. There are also apparently discriminatory elements in some proposed legislation viz-a-viz the Fisheries Amendment Bill (2020) and the Gaming Tax Act. It would appear also that as a nation we do not have a cohesive and recognisable economic or fiscal plan for our people. Yes, my fellow Bahamians, on the surface it does not look too good.

One of the biggest problems we have here at home is that whenever one praises a political party or gives credit to a politician that either one is labeled as a PLP or an FNM. It seems to be impossible to just be accepted as a genuine and sincere critic or supporter. As we go into 2021 this bogus stance has got to change if we are to make 2021 the best year since corned beef and grits.

The appointments of some individuals to the disaster and recovery efforts following Dorian by the Prime Minister were not, in my opinion, good ones. More engineers and hands on individuals should have been appointed, especially for Abaco and Grand Bahama. There should have been better and more accurate financial oversight of the donations and government funds that were/have been allocated.

It is remarkable that to this very day, a year and more after Dorian that we still do not have audited financial statements from the relevant bodies tasked with the recovery and rebuilding efforts. No one is suggesting that anybody carried any monies or supplies, but we all know just how some of our people operate.

Dr Minnis and his party were surprised by their electoral win in 2017. The vast sweep of seats was also surprising to them and most political observers, myself included. In short, they were unprepared for high office initially. As events are playing/have been played out over the past three years and counting there have been some serious missteps that could have been avoided.

Apart from the ill-suited persons tasked with the recovery and rebuilding efforts following Dorian, the swift increase in Value Added Tax did not go down too well with the bulk of the lowest income/wage earners, where they still exist. This may have been needed, but it was never really explained in ordinary language. Strike number one. Dorian was/is number two.

Number three is the rushed purchase of the Grand Lucayan over in Free Port. Most of us agree that something had to be done with that once fabled resort before it fell into a grave state of disrepair. I advised the administration not to make a purchase, but that if it did get rid of the same in short order. Too much time was being taken before the unexpected arrival of the pandemic.

Now, it is clear that the proposed buyer, the Carnival Group, is either having second thoughts or is seeking to exact even more concessions from the administration. In the meantime a portion of that property is slated to reopen under the guidance of a lawyer with absolutely no hotel management much less operational experience. They are unable to dispose of The Light House Club in Andros now they will run a multi-million dollar resort? Only in The Bahamas could this occur.

Number four is clearly the emergence of what might appear to be discriminatory practices. In opposition and as President of The Bahamas Bar Association, the Hon. brother Elsworth Johnson (FNM-Yamacraw) was very vocal in defending the human rights aspects of Bahamian born children/young adults and others detained at The Detention Centre. He was wont to regularly blast the then PLP government and he was right, in my view to do so.

Once in office, however, his tune and dance have changed beyond recognition. Not a dammed piece of legislation has been brought, so far, to regularize what is now a human rights issue and one of morality. Persons in this category will continue to remain in limbo as this is not a priority for Johnson or his cabinet and parliamentary colleagues. Are there any wolves in sheep’s clothing in this administration?

Fifthly we see what appears to be an unconstitutional piece of legislation in the form of the Fisheries Bill Amendment Act (2020) which has been passed by both the House of Assembly and the rubber stamp Senate. It has yet to be assented to by the Governor General or published in the Gazette.

This Bill makes it unlawful for a commercial fishing operation in The Bahamas to hire a foreign born spouse of a Bahamian (especially our females). This posture is contrary to the Bahamas Independence Order and our assorted Immigration Laws, especially for those with spousal permits to work and earn a living. The FNM under brother the Rt Hon Hubert Alexander Ingraham was a caring and progressive administration.

It was while he held sway that we saw a referendum, even though it failed, that sought to give our Bahamian sisters and brothers equal rights under the law of the land. Minnis is a good man, I am sure and he has to mean well, but there appears to be a disconnection with what he and his administration say today, but do differently tomorrow. Ingraham is retired and seldom makes public political remarks. He has now done so and spoken out against the discriminatory posture of the Fisheries Bill.

Sixthly, in opposition, the FNM appeared to take a stance against gaming by the web stores and the legalisation of wagering by Bahamians. In fact there was even a referendum (some say opinion poll) that rejected, massively, both questions, inter alia. Brother Christie, et al, ignored the results and moved legislation to do what had been rejected by parliamentary means. The FNM pledged to revisit the gaming industry once in office.

They did just that and allowed branches of the approved operators to be opened all over the place with impunity. Today Bahamians are gambling more than ever before especially with the economic losses incurred by the pandemic. A financially challenged FNM administration is seeking to wring every single available dollar out of the lower classes of Bahamians by imposing another tax, which appears discriminatory, on the black masses while leaving the foreign casino wagers untaxed.

2020 on balance has been a rough and tough year for the bulk of our people. Many died during Dorian’s passage and scores more died at the height of the pandemic. Had it not been for The Lord Jesus Christ the rest of us would not have survived 2020.

I pray that the PM and his team will get it right in 2021 for the coming year will, indeed, be the times that try men’s souls. The New Deal PLP under the laser focused and stellar leadership on the Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis (PLP-Cat Island) stellar stands in the gap to assume office if Minnis and crew continue to falter.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

December 29, 2020.