Attorney General Ryan Pinder. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder has vowed to steer the Davis administration to comprehensive land reform which will help alleviate obstacles to foreign direct investment.
His comment came as senators debated a resolution yesterday for the government to acquire Pearis Court, which was once a public right of way/ road on the property of the current Marriot hotel.
Although political parties and administrations often promise significant land reform, longstanding problems have persisted.
“Consistent with our pledge, and without wasting time, the Cabinet of The Bahamas has agreed to appoint a public/private sector committee to review land reform issues in general with a view to analysing a land registration system in The Bahamas,” Mr Pinder said.
“As we know, a fundamental engine of our economy is foreign direct investment, not only for the purpose of advancing the economic development of our country and having a wider impact on Bahamians and employment and entrepreneurism, but also in support of our balance of payment and our foreign reserves.
“For those in the practice, I am sure they can confirm that for far too long the government approval agency, the Bahamas Investment Authority, and primarily the National Economic Council of Cabinet, has operated in an ad hoc manner with a lack of transparency and predictable meetings and approvals. This has created unnecessary delays and concerns with respect to developers and inbound investment. This unfortunately has been the modus operandi for multiple administrations.”
Mr Pinder claimed the problem worsened under the previous administration.
“In the PLP’s Blueprint for Change we pledged to reorganise the approval process and promotion process for inbound investment in The Bahamas, creating a more robust structure with greater compliance oversight and more timely and transparent approval processes.
“Again, the Prime Minister and his government have wasted no time in the fulfilment of our mandate to the Bahamian people. The Bahamas Investment Authority is putting together its compliance unit as we speak to address enforcement of obligations of developers to the Bahamian people.
“The Cabinet of The Bahamas has appointed a subset of Cabinet members to operate as the National Economic Council who meet on a routine basis independent of Cabinet to address foreign direct investment proposals. The Cabinet has likewise agreed to a streamlined approval process whereby more innocuous applications can be addressed in house with a report to Cabinet, while the material high investment decisions can be fast tracked to the National Economic Council. This is in fulfilment of our mandate to the Bahamian people to provide a framework for more expedited investment project approvals which means that shovels in the ground and the impact to Bahamians is enhanced and expedited.”
In regards to the resolution, Mr Pinder said the government will acquire Pearis Court, then swap Pearis Court for a BPL wayleave parcel of equal value plus $10.
Comments
joeblow 2 years, 3 months ago
FDI allows others to own our economy, encourage corruption through kickbacks and control the workforce while not allowing Bahamians to have as great a share in the economy as we should have. We need to move away from that business model and diversify the economy locally in order to better control the volatility of our local market to external forces!
tribanon 2 years, 3 months ago
Couldn't agree more.
One 2 years, 3 months ago
Absolutely. The little investment in locals goes for political favours. We need a market that rewards those who will execute competitive and valuable services not greedy idiots with connections. We live in a country ruled by monopolies, oligarchs, unions and mob bosses.
Slavery 2.0. We're not operating a free market economy where each individual has the power to move up and down the socioeconomic ladder based on merit and competence.
Dawes 2 years, 3 months ago
Every Government has been saying this since i was a kid, and nothing changes. Whilst i hope they succeed, my previous experience makes me think this is all talk.
tribanon 2 years, 3 months ago
Land in our small nation available for less wealthy Bahamians is already scarce on many of our more inhabited islands, even shrinking with rising sea levels. And as we all know, land in The Bahamas does not grow on trees.
tribanon 2 years, 3 months ago
SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE WORDS UTTERED BY RYAN PINDER.
JUST HOW MUCH MORE LAND DOES THIS SMUG AND CONDESCENDING BRAIN-DEAD ATTORNEY GENERAL THINK OUR SMALL NATION HAS TO SELL OR LEASE TO FOREIGN INVESTORS!!!
LAND IS OUR SMALL NATION'S MOST SCARCE RESOURCE. DOESN'T THIS WEALTHY AG, BORN WITH A BIG SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH, NOT KNOW THAT OWNING LAND HAS BEEN BEYOND THE REACH OF MOST BAHAMIANS FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW DUE TO ITS EVER-INCREASING SCARCITY AND UNAFFORDABILITY?!!!!
I JUST WANT TO PUKE (IDEALLY ON HIM) WHEN LISTENING TO HIS FOOLISHNESS ABOUT LAND REFORM THAT IS INTENDED TO FACILITATE FOREIGNERS ACQUIRING WHAT LITTLE LAND WE HAVE LEFT FOR BAHAMIANS TO OWN ON MANY OF OUR MORE INHABITED ISLANDS, ESPECIALLY NEW PROVIDENCE.
RYAN PINDER OBVIOUSLY LIVES IN A WEALTHY COCOON TOTALLY DETACHED FROM THE STRUGGLE AND HARDSHIPS MOST BAHAMIANS FACE AND ARE HAVING TO ENDURE EACH AND EVERY DAY.
TALK ABOUT A WEALTHY SPOILED BRAIN-DEAD INSENSITIVE MORON!
JackArawak 2 years, 3 months ago
Another big issue is central government. Local government is an illusion. We have zero control over our own affairs. Colonial rule 2.0. As an Abaconian, I’ve been on the wrong end of the stick ever since 1973 when the Marsh Harbour boys tried to blow LOP up with a tub full of dynamite.
whogothere 2 years, 3 months ago
Wow Pinder - you utter utter utter buffoon...you would surely sell the shirt off your own mother if you could make a profit...This is like a baker coming in the public office and promising to lower the cost of flour...the self serving appropriation of power is disgusting...
zemilou 2 years, 3 months ago
An ongoing challenge for our country is the sale of "prime" real estate to non-Bahamians -- to the highest bidder -- especially the finite amount of waterfront (particularly beachfront). Increasingly, access to the sea for those who do own boats is being cut off, even in areas once assumed to be public access because they were used for generations by Bahamians. I am fortunate in that I do not have a problem accessing the water, and probably never will. However, one day, our descendants will wonder why more was not done by their foreparents to preserve easy access access to "the sea" for ALL Bahamians. They will wonder why -- as with many amenities, I imagine -- only the privileged/monied enjoy rights that, for many generations, were considered natural or God-given.
The fortunate communities are those built on commonage land. However, increasingly waterfront is being privatized as that land is divided into individual parcels -- a different kind of privilege.
While many will argue that the world is not fair, it is within the power of current generations and decision-makers to ensure that access to The Bahamas' most treasured resources are preserved. This should apply to other threatened resources, such as conch, scalefish, and crawfish. Resources that, because of their price and the difficulty of accessing them, are well beyond the means of many citizens. Resources that should not be exported, especially because a ready market exists for them, in both Bahamians and visitors.
We must seriously consider implementing a public trust doctrine, whereby the government owns and maintains resources such as beaches and preserves them for public use in perpetuity for the benefit of everyone. Our legal and parliamentary system is based on British law, so this should not be a principle alien to our lawmakers, especially the lawyers among them. Our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc will thank us for our foresight, rather than curse us for the more narrow-minded pursuit of profit.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID