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Columns : Letters to The Editor Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Opinion: "When spending $6 million more than collected is not a loss"
By Rick Lowe
Jul 30, 2015 - 9:36:31 AM

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Political doublespeak at it's finest


The long awaited Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival report on the financial success of the event has been put on the table and expenditures came in almost $4 million over the budgeted $9 million at $12.9 million. Income was reported at $6.7 million. A loss of an astounding $6.2 million.

Of course now that these unfavourable results are in we're told this "should not be analyzed as a "profit and loss" exercise" and we should even call other carnival events around the world to see how much they make as if that's relevant. Because other people use taxpayer money irresponsibly, why should The Bahamas?

It's also suggested that business ventures don't necessarily make money its first year or two and this will all be forgotten 10 years from now.

While this might be so, business people risk their own money at events like concerts and parades. Risking tax dollars where every Bahamian is forced to pay eventually with higher taxes is not a decent thing to do particularly when the government is not operating on surpluses but debt and deficits.

It's reminiscent of football stadiums in the US where the state pays huge sums of taxpayer funds to support profit making by the team owners. See video below.

Making this whole charade worse is how the organisers attempt to distract people from the net outcome by suggesting there were huge economic impact numbers and citing which groups got direct benefits from people that did not agree to pay for the goods and services.

Meanwhile, the government's deficit and national debt will increase, worsening the eventual tax burden for all Bahamian taxpayers. But this is temporarily hidden in the haze of cute language.

If the event cannot attract sponsorship and ticket sales to at least break even then it should be reconsidered.

Of course if people want to volunteer their time and resources for potential profit or loss that's okay too. But to expect to use taxpayer dollars for the bogus popularity contest of politics is a travesty.

Only a government bureaucracy can tell us that losing $6.2 million dollars is not a, well...loss.

Yours in Liberty,
Rick Lowe


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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