Dear Editor,
CONFUSION REIGNS 1 - THE ‘GREEN HOLES’ OF DEBT
I have read with amazement
several news articles over the past week that have prompted me to put pen to
paper once again! In the October 1st edition of the Nassau Guardian’s
National News segment the headline states “Govt to borrow $16 mil. for COB” for
its transition to University status, whilst in the Editorial of the same date
entitled “The dream called BAMSI” it states that the Prime Minister, in his
quest to reduce our $1 billion annual food import bill, is throwing
approximately $100 million into the BAMSI project.
The $100 million BAMSI facility
opened its doors in Andros last week catering to only 35 students, no sorry -
40 students (as 5 more are supposed to be coming), all of whom are on
scholarship, i.e. their tuition is also being paid by government – BUT the
facilities are not ready yet, so government is also paying additional rent for
room, board and food for them, as well as renting temporary accommodations for
the classrooms in which to teach them……BUT there is the question of the
agricultural course itself which, as I understand it, is already presently a
part of the School of Chemistry, Environmental and Life Sciences curriculum at
COB…..SO there must be lecturers already at COB for this (but BAMSI/Ministry of
Education is still in the process of ‘negotiating’ the memorandum of
understanding for this outside of the knowledge of the Union of Tertiary
Educators for COB who seem to be in the dark)…..SO it seems as if the students
will not be coming to Nassau to do that course, but are in Andros being taught
by maybe another set of teachers resident there (as their housing is luckily
completed)…..BUT if BAMSI doesn’t have its curriculum sorted out yet, what are
the students actually being taught, theory wise, in their makeshift classrooms
….BUT they don’t really need classrooms for the practical part of the course
because they will be carrying out field work on the already established BAMSI farms.
SO this $100 mil. investment presently cannot expect any significant returns
for several years yet in order to mitigate the country’s $1 billion food import
bill. Hmmmm…….
Meanwhile COB, that has rather more
than 40 students (all of whom are paying their tuition and other fees) is sadly
lacking in MANY ESSENTIAL areas. I have already made my opinion know on the COB
transition to University topic, so that’s not the issue here – this is: It is
easier to do things right the first time and to properly improve what you
already have, than to start something from scratch on speculation.
WHAT IF a portion of that same
$100 mil. had been allocated to COB for its upgrade, and then a scaled down
BAMSI facility was designed as a practical field work facility that students
would travel to AFTER completing their Associate of Science Degree in
Agribusiness and Agriculture at COB; or WHAT IF interested students from
several of the VERY ACTIVE FARMING schools in Nassau and the Family Islands
(and there are quite a few of them who are doing impressive work and producing
first class produce) had been given agricultural scholarships to attend COB; or
WHAT IF funds had been allocated to the very farmers who are struggling to keep
their farms operating to provide them with more training opportunities with
constant monitoring and proper follow up??? It’s too late now, but we, the
people, must make the effort to point out these inconsistencies because we, our
children, grand children, and children yet to be born are the ones who will be
footing the bill!
A solid long term vision, a
proper master plan for the country’s development accompanied by proper research
by qualified consultants, proper planning, planning and still more planning, relevant
collaborations, proper budgeting, clear communication and organization, realistic
timelines, committed stakeholders, adequate financing, and stringent controls, oversight
and maintenance – all these and more are essential to complete projects in a meaningful and fiscally accountable way.
But this is not happening – we, the citizens, are blithely informed after the
fact of the millions and billions of dollars that continue to be borrowed and
spent indiscriminately as we dig ourselves deeper and deeper in debt!
Maybe they are planning on
growing some money trees at BAMSI in these enormous ‘green holes’ of debt they
are digging!
Yours sincerely,
Pam Burnside
Pam Burnside: Confusion Reigns 2
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