From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
This Week in The Bahamas Commentary by Elcott Coleby: Feb 9 - 13
By Elcott Coleby, BIS
Feb 13, 2015 - 4:49:03 PM
The passage of the
Tripartite Council Bill 2015; the
midyear budget statement and the
announcement
of the finalists for a second mobile network license were the three big stories
of the week in The Bahamas.
This week in
Parliament
The
Tripartite Council Bill 2015 was unanimously passed in the Lower House on
Monday evening of this week. This new law institutionalizes broad based
consultations on labour issues where the oversight Council will comprise
representatives from the union, the employer and the government.
In
other parliamentary news, the Senate will meet on
Wednesday, 18th February at 10:00 a.m.
for first and seconding readings of the Electricity and Tripartite Bills and debate
will continue on Thursday,
19th Feb at 10:00 a.m. if necessary. Please tune in.
Mitchell answers
critics on immigration
Immigration
Minister Fred Mitchell used the House rule “Statement from Ministers” to set the
record straight on media reports that he claimed were “replete with errors and untruths.”
The media reports were related to the government’s latest administrative
measures designed to strengthen its immigration policy.
But
readers, allow me to digress just a bit. Some people continue to call these new
measures “new laws” but they are not – they are simply measures the immigration
law empowers the Minister (meaning the cabinet of The Bahamas) to take to strengthen
the existing immigration laws in the national interest. The only new immigration
law in this whole reform effort by the government is the tabling of a bill to
provide for a “Belonger’s Permit” for persons born in The Bahamas, but are
stateless. Under such conditions, international law mandates the government to
provide status to those persons and the Belonger’s Permit achieves just that at
a cost of $125. The alternative is the current Residency Permit which costs
$1,000.
The
Member for Marco City raised the issue of the 2nd generation and
beyond of Haitians whose parents were born in The Bahamas. While they are not “undocumented
Bahamians” as the member said, they are stateless and the current Residency
Permit and later the Belonger’s Permit will solve their problem of
statelessness while fulfilling our international human rights obligations at a
significantly cheaper cost. It is important to note that when applications are
filed for citizenships between their 18th and 19th
birthdays, approval is subject to the terms and conditions of the Bahamas
Nationality Act and is not automatic as the Member for Marco City indicated
from his feet in the House.
The
complaint raised in various quarters about cost of the student permit is not a
legal or constitutional issue even though attempts were made to somehow tie the
two together. The issues raised are merely administrative details that the
government has faced and resolved for decades. If an applicant is unable to pay
for the service, the fee is simply waived so that the law can be carried out. Bahamian
parents have complained for years that they cannot afford the registration fees
for their children levied by the public school system (that include insurance
for field trips), but none of their children were ever denied access to
education, no not one.
While
the government is busy trying to regularize the immigration status of these
various categories of persons and bring some semblance of order to and control
over our immigration situation, there are Bahamians who are misrepresenting the
policy and injuring the international reputation of The Bahamas. The Minister therefore
sought to set the record straight
on Monday in the House.
Back
to the minister’s statement: Contrary to the assertions made by the Nassau
Institute, Mitchell maintained that “no new fees are being introduced for
immigration fees and there is no new policy as it relates to permission for non-nationals
to go to school in The Bahamas.” There were also no new fees for expatriate
workers in the private sector as the Nassau Institute claimed and no known work
permit requirement in law for non-Bahamians to work in the public service were
Mitchell’s rebuttal.
In
responding to Fred Smith QC, the Minister told House members that he never
mentioned student visas for children born in The Bahamas to non-Bahamian
parents, but that schools should ensure that the children have a student permit
at a cost of $125. He further denied ever referring to persons born in The
Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents as stateless and that there is no such thing in
law as a “citizen in waiting.”
Prime Minister Christie
Delivers Midyear Budget Statement
It
is that time of the year again. Right around February the government reports to
the nation on the state of the economy and public finances for the first half
of the fiscal year pursuant to the Financial Administration and Audit Act. The budget
statement covers the period 1st July to 31st December of
the fiscal year.
As
part of his mid-year budget statement, Prime Minister Perry Christie expressed
great confidence as he highlighted to the House of Assembly, and to all
Bahamians
on Wednesday of this week, the strength of the Bahamian economy,
secured through the sound fiscal management of public finances by the PLP
government.
The
Prime Minister stated, “As a result of our
prudent approach to financial management, we are on track to reduce the deficit by more than $160
million in this fiscal year.
Our deficit for the first half of the year will be 5% below our target. The
policies we have put in place, coupled with the courageous financial decisions
we have made, will ensure further strengthening of our finances in the second
half of the year.”
The
IMF projects real growth for The Bahamas this year and next year of
approximately 2 per cent. In other words, real output in the Bahamian economy
is expected to be more than $600 million larger in 2017 than it was in 2012.
This means that during the PLP’s five year mandate, the economy will have grown
by almost 8 per cent. This story of economic growth is in sharp contrast to the
growth experienced during the previous five years when the opposition FNM was
in power, where the economy actually shrank by $239 million, or 3 per cent.
“Since
my administration took office, revenue has grown by 6.2 per cent, including
this year’s projected revenue.In comparison, under the FNM from fiscal year
2007/2008 to 2011/2012, recurrent revenue decreased by 1 per cent,” said Prime
Minister Christie.
As of December 31st, 2014, $689 million in revenue
has been collected, which represents about 40 percent of the government’s
revenue forecast. Given the implementation of VAT, this number is expected to
increase significantly in the second half of the fiscal year.
Government spending is trending below forecast, having spent
49 per cent of the budget. Capital investments
in areas such as property, equipment and
technology have also been carefully managed,
spending only 41 per cent of the budget
to date.
Given the success in the first half of the year, and the
expectation of a significant revenue stream with the implementation of VAT, the
government will be better positioned to make vital investments in healthcare,
education, culture and public safety that Bahamians deserve and expect.Having
access to sufficient resources to finance these vital expenditures will reduce
the government’s borrowing needs.
“The
numbers speak for themselves,” continued the Prime Minister. “All Bahamians
benefit from economic growth, irrespective of party affiliation, and the PLP
will continue to improve the economic outlook to ensure a stable and prosperous
Bahamas for the generation of
tomorrow.”
Finalists for the
second cellular license revealed
Three
months after the Government of The Bahamas invited interested parties to apply
to operate a cellular mobile network and provide cellular mobile services in
The Bahamas, the finalist were revealed by the Cellular Liberalization Taskforce
hours after the
2pm deadline on Wednesday, 11th February. November
13th 2014 was the invitation date.
The
finalists were Digicel (Bahamas) Holdings Limited, Cable Bahamas Ltd. and Virgin
Mobile Bahamas Ltd. All three applicants were present at the opening of their
proposals by the Taskforce.
In
a press statement, the Cellular Taskforce further revealed that nine entities
registered for Request For Proposal (RFP) packages and that upon the
competitive process spearheaded by the government, “an Individual Operating
License (IOL) and an Individual Spectrum License (ISL) will be issued by the
sector regulator, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA).”
One major component of the evaluation criteria will be
the bidders’ ability to have broad Bahamian ownership of the new company, which
will ens
ure that decisions are made to benefit all
Bahamians.
The government and the Cellular Liberalization Task
Force are aiming to select and announce a successful applicant by May 2015.
Since the election in 2012, the PLP government has made
strides that have steered The Bahamas in the right direction and has paved the
way for a more modern country in the future.
During
his address, Prime Minister Christie emphasized the, “government is committed
to ensuring that
ALL
Bahamians benefit from the economic fruits of the country and not just a select
privileged few.”
Prime Minister Christie: Government
will not own 51% of new cellular company
Shooting
down media claims that the Bahamas government is looking to purchase shares in
the new cellular company scheduled to be named in May, Bahamas Prime Minister
Christie said the policy of his government is for “Bahamians – Bahamian investors
to own 51%, not the government.”
The
Prime Minister went on to say that “the government will retain its ownership in
BTC for the time being and the government will spearhead the liberalization
process where we say a real special effort was made to place Bahamians who are
owners in the pension funds of the country – to have those funds invest towards
making up the 51%.
“And
so clearly what we are saying is (that) the foreign partner will be a foreign
strategic partner with the management of the company probably – in all
probability – that is it” said the Prime Minister in an interview with the
media
on Thursday.
The
Prime Minister reiterated that the government will only be a bystander in the
process as a task force along with the accountant firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(PWC) will be overseeing the liberalization process, following which URCA will
oversee an auction. He expressed his surprise that no (new) Bahamian company
submitted a proposal but said that the government heard that there might be an
alliance between the Virgin Mobile Bahamas Limited and a Bahamian investment group.
In passing…
The
Bahamas Press Club met
on Sunday at the Hilton and their guest speaker was
Immigration Hon. Minister Fred Mitchell. He encouraged them to be activist
oriented despite their severe limitations in influencing industry regulations, policy
formulation and the realities of the press environment where media houses are
owned by huge corporate bodies.
The Central Bank
of The Bahamas in conjunction with Bahamas Development Bank and Bahamas
Mortgage Corporation hosted an information session on the proposed Credit
Reporting Bill 2014 and the Credit Reporting Regulations 2014 at Melia Nassau
Beach Resort, Cable Beach, Wednesday, February 11th. Presenters included Wendy
Craigg, Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas; Rochelle Deleveaux, Legal
Counsel at the Central Bank of The Bahamas; Arinthia Komolafe, Managing Director,
Bahamas Development Bank and Kevin Burrows, Senior Vice-President, CFAL.
The President of
the College of The Bahamas, Dr. Rodney Smith and BAMSI President, Godfrey Eneas
toured the research institute
on Wednesday morning with the press in tow. It
was Dr. Smith’s first trip to the campus and commercial farm. Mr. Eneas said
the trip was to officially introduceDr. Smith to theinstitute. The courses taught at BAMSI are designed and accredited by the
College of The Bahamas as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between
the two institutions of higher learning.
Opposition
leader Dr. Hubert named Mrs. Lanisha T. Rolle as the senate replacement for
Heather Hunt who recently resigned her senate seat. Mrs. Rolle, an attorney at
law, is a former police officer and a married mother of three. The announcement
was made
on Wednesday.
The
Bahamas and Cuba signed a phyto-sanitary agreement
on Thursday morning to
facilitate and boost the trade of agricultural products between the two
countries. The agreement puts in place a series of sanitary measures to ensure
that animals and plants entering the borders of these countries are free of
disease. This is good news for the agriculture industry.
Prime
Minister Christie called him a national hero as veteran educator Samuel Guy
Pinder was posthumously honoured at a renaming ceremony
on Thursday in Spanish
Wells. The government officially renamed the Spanish Wells All Age School in
his honour to the Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School. In his address, Prime
Minister Christie reiterated a familiar theme – the need for the state to officially,
properly and formally honour and memorialize Bahamians sons and daughters who have
made significant contributions to national development. Mr. Pinder died in 1984
after fifty years of service in the education profession. Minister of
Education, Science and Technology Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald accompanied the Prime
Minister to Spanish Wells.
A
LeAir aircraft crash landed at the Mayaguana airport
on Thursday after circling
the airport for thirty minutes due to a landing gear malfunction. Only the
pilot and co-pilot were on board at the time and both were thankfully unhurt. An
eye witness said that the aircraft skidded off the runway upon landing causing some
structural damage to the aircraft and the airport was temporarily closed out of
an abundance of caution.
The
iconic Crystal Palace Casino closed its doors on February 12, 2015 in
preparation for the much-anticipated opening of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar
development on March
27, 2015 revealed Baha Mar in a press release
on Thursday. “The
current Crystal Palace casino team is transitioning to Baha Mar, with approximately
55 employees moving into new positions at the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, the
largest and most exciting casino in the Caribbean” said the release. The
Crystal Palace and Casino opened its doors in 1990 under the Carnival brand and
was the expansion of the publicly owned Cable Beach hotel that the Pindling government
sold to Carnival Cruise Lines.
After
six months of intensive training including physical training, defensive
tactics, safe handling of firearms and computer management, the “D” Squad 2014 comprising
thirty recruits graduated
Thursday evening during a ceremony at the Police
Training College. According to National Security Minister, the cost to train
and place an officer in active duty is around $50,000. The Minister further
said that given that most crimes are committed by young people, his expectation
is that this new pool of young police officers will establish their own relationships
in communities in the fight against crime. “We are going to need a lot more of
them too in New Providence” said Minister Nottage. Constable 3884 Kristoff Greenslade
won the baton of honour.
In
a press conference at its headquarters on Old Trail Road, BAIC Chairman Hon. Dion
Smith announced the launch of the Business Environment Lecture Series that will commence
on the 19th February at the Melia Resort. The classes are free of
charge for those interested in learning more about entrepreneurship.
Silver Airways is scheduled to make its inaugural
flight from Tampa International Airport to the new Abaco International Airport
in Marsh Harbour on Valentine’s Day,
Saturday, 14th February at around
3:15 pm.
Silver Airways will operate a SAAB 340 with a capacity of 36 passengers for
this air service. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Harrison
Thompson and the Director General of Tourism, Joy Jibrilu are expected to be on
hand to meet and greet passengers.
About the author: Elcott Coleby is a Deputy Director at the
Bahamas Information Services. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry (B.Sc) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He provides
frequent commentary on public policy and communicates the works of the
government. Address all comments to the following email:
egcoleby44@gmail.com
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