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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 The Bahamas National Citizens Coalition (BNCC) published in one of the
local dailies a 25 year development plan for The Bahamas. This plan was
published, almost simultaneously, with the national development plan
launched by the government of The Bahamas a few weeks back.
As we discussed at length in a previous article, "A National Development Plan: What should be expected?",
we tried to make the case of the importance of long term planning for
The Bahamas, and highlighted some of the merits, challenges the planning
committee may face in addition to addressing some of the bottlenecks
that may occur. We wish to afford the BNCC the same level of respect
that their courage to publish their views on planning deserves.
Through speaking to one of the progenitors of the BNCC's plan, they have
assured me that a fair amount of research went into their statement
and that one can conclude that it was not prepared in a peloton.
A
statement of intentions is more in line with what was published, to be
quite frank. One can't really fathom how lengthy the back notes, white
papers, green papers, policy notes, analysis and impact assessments went
in to their published product. But we should take the team at their
word that work was done.
Without rehashing what was written earlier with regard to the plan
launched by the government of The Bahamas, I wish to give a little more
context into the thinking behind the BNCC in an attempt to grasp the
spirit of what was produced and why it seemed so important to bring it
to the public at this particular point and time.
The tenor of the BNCC's plan was harmonized around one particular theme:
The Stafford Sands Economic model of Tourism (in that of the Promotion
of Tourism Act,. 1965)and Financial Services (in the Bank and Trust
Regulations Act., 1964), and the schemes born out of it that has
retarded growth in the BNCC's estimation.
I would like to add that the reliance on the Holy Grail of Economic
models in The Bahamas, in that of the Sir Stafford Sands model, has in
fact served it's usefulness, and perhaps is retarding growth if more
than a healthy share of people fail to see any way past it.
There was an interesting report given at the Bahamas Economic Outlook,
2011 by Dr. Olivia Saunders from the College of the Bahamas. At this
forum, she had challenged the understanding of the Sir Stafford Sands
model for economic development in the Bahamas.
She had asserted that it really should not be credited to him to any
great extent. She further claims that the Sir Stafford Sands model, is
based solely on economic activity that was already present in the
Bahamas from the 19th century. I could not have agreed more. In fact, I
think the insipid repetition of the "model" is not only mystifying, but
also borders on cult-like rabidity, which lends itself to mental images
of faithful and loyal clansmen, dressed in their dark hooded robes
gather in their covens surrounded by a pentagram neatly drawn in white
chalk, kneeling in front of an altar with a sacrificial Potcake atop,
with a menagerie of warmly lit blue candles smattered about while the
chants of the name of Sir Stafford Sands with selected quotes from
speeches echoing through the room, interrupted only by short outbursts
of orgasmic like screams of glory, while pictures of Sir Stafford
flicker in the dim mist.
Just to add some clarity on what the Sir Stafford Sands model is; it is a
model for economic development of the Bahamas, using the pillars of
financial services and tourism as the primary base for economic
activity.
Without fear of sounding as if I am bashing the efforts of a deceased
former cabinet minister, the ballyhoo over the "economic model" of Sir
Sands is overplayed to a great extent. The brilliance of Sir Sands
relied not in some grand mental faculty that was overlooked by mere
mortals, but in fact the genius of it rested in basic common sense.
Tourists were coming to The Bahamas from the 1700's. In fact, The
Bahamas, as were colonies like Jamaica, Barbados and the Caymans and
Bermuda, were all vacation hideaways for the rich and the famous in
Britain that extended to wealthy American and Canadian elites.
We had what every other Caribbean country had- sun, sand and sea with a
more than amenable government structure that was kind to European
visitors and controlled the masses as if they were cattle.
We also inherited our financial services model from the British. In
fact, almost, if not all of the former and current British colonies have
large offshore banking sectors. This was not something Sir Sands
created, but facilitated because it was happening already.
The Banking Act. of 65' was repealed in 2000 due to OECD anti-money
laundering strictures and replaced with another, which directly means
that at least half of the Sands model was either washed or neutered; and
the Tourism Act., 64' had minor changes to include taxation provisions
in 1970, etc, etc. but too has been rendered antiquated and under
constant threat from crime, other rival destinations in the region and
the threat of the opening up of Cuba.
All of this indicates that the obsession with a Sir Stafford Sands model
that never really was, is now proving injurious to the growth and
development of The Bahamas as it chokes out anyone and any thing
that merely mentions ideas challenging its genesis, usefulness then and
now and practicality on any level.
This makes calls for things to be new, like the BNCC has provided for
us, a breath of fresh air, even though some of the ideas, concepts and
features should be fleshed out in detail.
For example, we all can agree that a Sovereign Wealth Fund for The
Bahamas is perfect common sense. There is no empirical reason why we
can't and shouldn't have one, with the capitalization of such an
institution taken into consideration.
More importantly, the opening up of our natural resources to Bahamian,
which shifts away from the current practice of open secrets on it's
viability, the persons currently engaged in mining our natural resources
and seeking to mine our natural assets, also makes perfect common
sense.
It has been noted that Caribbean countries that use their natural
resources for their benefit can and in fact are able to control economic
cycle dynamics for the better, and hence control the growth of their respective economies.
Some of the other portions of the BNCC's statement are also ideals we
should strive for and finds ways and means to doing so: From the
elimination of the prerequisite of grossly unneeded concessions for
foreign direct investment; public service transformation to one that is
more accountable and efficient; and the goal of creating 1,500 new
millionaires over the first five years.
A lot of the BNCC's plan hinges on the exploitation of natural resources
as a key pillar of economic development, but a lot of it hinges on the
participation and the willingness for citizens to see the fundamental
core of some of our problems and seek new and meaningful ways of
correcting them.
While the BNCC's statement is not clear on the "how much", the "where do
we start" and "the mechanics of getting all of this done", but common
sense is what many of their proposals are, even before we begin to
discuss the realistic mechanics of some of their proposals.
Read more by Youri Kemp
Youri Aramin Kemp, is
President and CEO of "KEMP GLOBAL", a Management Consultancy firm, based
in the Bahamas which serves all markets. Our core competencies are:
Business and Project Planning and Design; Project Execution; Market
Researchn and Analysis; and Operations Development. Through our
affiliates, we offer Construction Services; Public Relations Services;
and IT and back office support to small and medium sized businesses.
Email: globalviewtoday@gmail.com
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her
private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of
TheBahamasWeekly.com
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