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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Nassau, Bahamas - The following is a Contribution to the House of Assembly on "A Resolution to Amend Minimum Wage Act" made by the Hon. Dr. Hubert A. Minnis, MP for Killarney and Leader of the Opposition:
Mr. Speaker:
I thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this debate. I fully agree, that the minimum wage needs to be increased, and I accept the increase to $210 because that is all that is offered by the government at this time. In this time of crisis, a little something is better than nothing. However, Mr. Speaker, I came to this honorable House today to ask an urgent question:
What could an increase in the minimum wage possibly mean to Bahamians who have no jobs?
What can it mean to numerous families, who count not a single job among them? The trouble is, there are far too many families who are suffering the hopelessness that zero income brings.
The government offers hurting Bahamians a minimum wage that is woefully inadequate, as the Minister of Labour admitted in his own comments on the subject. This is bad enough, but the fact that they offer it as solace in the midst of a growing crisis of joblessness, is terrible. It’s like offering a patient a throat-soothing lozenge, when he is bleeding to death and in urgent need of surgery
Mr. Speaker:
Joblessness is the disease in The Bahamas today, despite their incredible promise that they had the cure—remember the commitment to create 10,000 jobs in a ridiculously unrealistic space of time. In amazement, I continue to think of the Prime Minister’s boastful repetition of the phrase “Jobs and more jobs” in his 2013 budget statement. This was either a calculated political ploy, or a case of placing their job eggs in a basket full of holes. I’m talking about the holes of arrogance, and overconfidence. I’m talking about the fact that most of those eggs of confidence were placed in the Baha Mar basket.
Mr. Speaker,
What tax incentives or other economic stimulus initiatives are they planning to bring forth that will increase hiring by local businesses to jump start and grow the economy?
In light of the BAHA MAR debacle, is it not about time we offer some tax incentives to local businesses to generate more DOMESTIC DIRECT INVESTMENT, so that we can begin to diversify our economy, reduce our levels of unemployment and become less dependent on DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTMENT and big ANCHOR PROJECTS.
Mr. Speaker,
This government didn’t do its homework. The only studying they did was how to manipulate Bahamians, into believing in them, enough to vote a Christie-led government into a second, non-consecutive term, after they voted them out in 2007, for the same kind of smart but empty promises that they made in 2012.
Good governments don’t keep their fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Good governments plan thoroughly.
Good governments keep a watchful eye on matters of national importance.
Good governments establish contingency plans before the days of trouble arrive.
I know that with the best of intentions, we human beings can’t foresee all the calamities that befall us from time to time. For those, that good research can’t predict, I pray.
So, Mr. Speaker, for sowing calculated politicking and deception, the government is reaping a bitter harvest of layoffs. They keep coming and their response has been lame at best and uncaring at worst.
What bothers me deeply, is the fact that this government appears to be totally insensitive to the suffering of the people who put them in power. The Minister responsible for labor, the good Member for Golden Gates said something unbelievably callous. I quote:
“Every merchant throughout The Bahamas should be happy for this increase. Unlike those individuals like us making plenty of money, these people who make the minimum wage spend all their money and I could understand why Super Value and Solomon’s, and all of these business places could appreciate this increase because every single dollar made by these individuals will be spent. They have no room to save money.”
Unbelievable, Mr. Minister! In that statement you cheerfully admit that all the money of the people who are forced to live on minimum wage, will go into to the pockets of shopkeepers. You cheerfully admit that these Bahamians won’t be able to save any money for rainy days, and believe me, Mr. Minister, it’s been raining plenty in this country recently. (Raining – hard times, pain and suffering, murder and crime, victimization, unemployment, no-bid contracts, house foreclosure, property, shrinking middle class, mistrust, poor governance, and an escalating cost of living) – I ASK THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE, IS THIS NOT A TIME FOR GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE? What a betrayal of the trust the small man placed in this government in 2012. They obviously believed in you more than you believe in, or care about them.
We all know, however, that the increase is just a drop added to an empty bucket. Mr. Speaker, imagine going to fight a fire with a drop of water in a bucket. Although they can’t afford to admit it with a General Election looming, they well know that this country is in the midst of financial and social inferno. Unemployment is rampant, and increasing. Businesses are losing money and or, closing. The VAT on breadbasket items is sucking the life-blood out of the poor, the vulnerable and the most down-trodden in our country. In their 2012 election campaign, they promised to put Bahamians first. That promise has proven as empty as the minimum wage compromise. Their power-broking, their extended electioneering has put the Bahamian people’s interest at the bottom of their list in every case. The gold of their “Gold Rush” turned out to be fool’s gold. It doesn’t buy anything but frustration and desperation. Look at them, can’t you see the mounting frustration and desperation?
Mr. Speaker:
In the beginning of this growing plague of layoffs came the redundancies at the superb One & Only Ocean Club, which must have knocked some of the wind out of their sails. What was the Cabinet’s response? Minister of Tourism, the good member for West End and Bimini called the redundancy of more than 20 workers "unfortunate". He said that the government had hoped for a different outcome and the Ministry of Tourism was committed to growth in the industry, despite the bad news. Speaking on behalf of the Cabinet, no doubt, the member for West End and Bimini spoke further of trusting that acceptable settlements were met, hoping that the hotel would have found a route that would have prevented this action. That brings me to the crowning statement. The member played this PLP government’s usual get-out-of-jail card: He told us that his government was committed to the continuous growth of the tourism industry to create and sustain employment opportunities and encouraged the tourism work force to lift its standards and “raise our levels of service to excellence."
The Director of Labour Robert Farquharson revealed the true extent of the damage--14 of 29 employees were made redundant immediately and 15 were notified that they would be out of a job by June 21.
Mr. Speaker:
Since then, the redundancy/layoff ball has kept rolling and gather more moss. Unfortunately, that moss is a lot of families that will grow more desperate and even more unable to pay bills. That means, that more Bahamians will be facing the nightmare of foreclosure on their homes with no mortgage relief in sight. Mortgage relief, another rash of broken election promise.
And what of BTC? What of the big farce of taking back BTC for the Bahamian people? This government made big press about getting back two percent, which made The Bahamas Government the majority shareholder. But again, it was just a deceptive public relations gambit. It bought hurting Bahamians nothing. The two percent did not come with voting rights. And what of the increase in dividend payments that would come with the two percent? The Bahamian people have yet to know where the money is going.
I do know this for certain. BTC has joined the staff redundancy band. All of a sudden we hear BTC needs to reduce costs and restructure the company’s workforce to remain competitive.
BEC redundancies are next and, with the best will in the world, PowerSecure, can’t save the day and stop that train from rolling. If they are to achieve the energy efficiencies and cost savings they have contracted to effect, I don’t see how they can do differently.
As I said earlier, you can’t prevent every eventuality, but honest intentions and proper planning can go a long way to ease individual hurt and damage to the Bahamian economy. This government has dragged its feet on liberalization of the mobile market to the cost of workers, cellular customers and the Bahamian people in general. This government has dragged its feet on cleaning up the monumental mess that Bahamas Electricity Corporation has become. They dragged your feet on BEC, allowing time for more expensive posturing and foolishness to go on. This government touted plans to restructure BEC early on, yet it took two years to contract with PowerSecure International to oversee generation and transmission/distribution. As it is a five-year contract, we can only hope for the best.
What bothers me deeply is the fact that this government appears to be totally insensitive to the suffering of the people who put them in power.
From listening to the various TV and radio shows, it appears that ordinary Bahamians have a better grasp on the way forward than this PLP government. We hear of the push to revive or expand many of the traditional economic pursuits, such as sponging and straw craft. We see the great push being made in the visual arts. Is this government wise enough to see the vast, positive and sustainable possibilities in these areas?
Despite the fact that I am deeply concerned that BTC is now having to offer a third tranche of voluntary separation employee packages (VSEP), I see a glimmer of sound thinking in BTC’s proposed outsourcing of services and paving the way for more entrepreneurship in the telecommunications industry. I sincerely hope to see it take root.
As an honest man, I have to emphasize that poverty and unemployment alleviation can’t be fixed by any government alone. Every citizen and resident of this country has a role to play in learning more, developing more expertise in whatever we do and caring more about the less fortunate and the community in general.
Ashley McBain, corporate communications vice president for Kerzner International, the management company of the One & Only Ocean Club, has provided a big hint that the Minister of Tourism should take seriously. We must do more to insist on quality in everything we do—every Bahamian, every time. Quality in The Bahamas tourism experience must be memorable for highest quality and not just escape from near brushes with crime.
Right now, Mr. Speaker, As far as I’m concerned PLP stands for Putting People Last. The GPA of the Christie government 2.0 as regards people care is far below the 2.0. Right now, it would be a happy circumstance if it could reach the D plus of the national average in educational achievement.
They have to build in concrete using a solid and creative plan. I’m glad to hear about the new Social Safety Net Reform programme, but a word of caution. I agree that improving education achievement is an imperative, but is their proposed methodology sound? If the children are failing in Ministry of Education schools, how in the world can that Ministry be solely responsible for tutoring the client children of the new Social Services programme? Isn’t this a case of physician heal thyself? Let us think more deeply about this.
Thank you for the increase in the minimum wage. To the Member of Golden Gates, I say that my prayer is that it benefits more than the food store owners. May the good Lord help our struggling Bahamian families to make the most of it. I put you on notice Ladies and Gentlemen: the time has come to make a serious effort at truly “putting Bahamians first”.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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