Bigmo
06-08-03, - 03:32 PM
In George Orwell’s masterpiece, Animal Farm, we see that change is not always all that its cracked up to be. The pigs become, if not worse, just as bad as their former human masters. This analogy lends itself well to our present governing party I am sad to say. During their campaign they promised, “…help and hope” for the Bahamian masses. They promised a return to governance for the people. Most important (from my perspective that is) they promised a discontinuance of the arrogant style of governance that emerged within the last days of their predecessor’s rule.
During the FNM’s tenure as governing party, the Bahamas (along with the majority of other countries in the western hemisphere) experienced a period of economic growth that had not been seen since the post world war II reconstruction era. Our country’s coffers should still be brimming over from the excess revenues generated during this period. We should be beginning to reap the benefits of investing some of this excess revenue in alternate economic areas. But as we were informed shortly after the last elections, not only do we have no revenues to show for this period, our country’s foreign debt is also fast approaching levels that both history and international monetary agencies say will have dire consequences for generations to come. Someone has some serious explaining to do about where our country’s money went to – my instincts tell me that there was some serious thiefin going on somewhere.
Now the present government have begin announcing stopgap measures to try to slow down our country’s approach to economic Armageddon. They have continued with the idiotic economic policies of the past and encouraged massive investment in the country by primarily one investor – Kerzner International. This one foreign investor now has more financial importance than any other entity in the Bahamas. No Government should gamble on its country’s future in this way. No one entity (especially foreign) should have so much economic importance in a country. What has happened to the basic economic principle of diversification?
We are also told of the vast amounts of revenue to be generated from gas transportation and exploration within the Bahamas oceans. We are not, however, advised of the serious and irreversible environmental damage posed by these types of development. We, the electorate and the government, have a responsibility to the generations gone before, and those yet to come, to do our very best to leave the country in a better state than we found it, and to ensure that there is something left for the enjoyment of the generations to come. We should not, under any circumstances, shirk this duty.
The current government has advised that public sector salaries are to remain frozen for the next fiscal year, but they have refused to visit the area of parliamentary salaries and ancillary benefits. To lead by example parliamentary salaries should have been cut by at least ten percent. The practice of cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries getting double duty salaries must be discontinued forthwith. The generous allowances and exemptions they are given should be visited immediately. Their generous pension entitlements need to be visited. You don’t kill a snake by cutting off the tail you cut off the head! An effective government needs to lead by example, and begin by cutting their massive remuneration packages. Membership of the ever increasing and far too numerous government boards should not be paid positions, but rather voluntary positions. We have many well-paid and highly trained Bahamians who still look at it as their duty to give best advice to their growing country.
Aspiring to serve in Parliament should be a call to duty, not a call to enrich oneself at your country’s expense – that’s still classified as the crime of treason that is punishable by death in most countries.
I will admit that I was one of the many who couldn’t wait for “...the fresh wind” of change to blow, but now I am fast beginning to think that nothing but the faces have changed; that gravelicious all for me baby attitude remains – and that makes me sad! I hope my assessment of our present government will prove to be wrong, or that I was impetuous in arriving at my conclusion. However, if history proves me right (God forbid) I hope there is a viable alternative to vote for in 2007.
During the FNM’s tenure as governing party, the Bahamas (along with the majority of other countries in the western hemisphere) experienced a period of economic growth that had not been seen since the post world war II reconstruction era. Our country’s coffers should still be brimming over from the excess revenues generated during this period. We should be beginning to reap the benefits of investing some of this excess revenue in alternate economic areas. But as we were informed shortly after the last elections, not only do we have no revenues to show for this period, our country’s foreign debt is also fast approaching levels that both history and international monetary agencies say will have dire consequences for generations to come. Someone has some serious explaining to do about where our country’s money went to – my instincts tell me that there was some serious thiefin going on somewhere.
Now the present government have begin announcing stopgap measures to try to slow down our country’s approach to economic Armageddon. They have continued with the idiotic economic policies of the past and encouraged massive investment in the country by primarily one investor – Kerzner International. This one foreign investor now has more financial importance than any other entity in the Bahamas. No Government should gamble on its country’s future in this way. No one entity (especially foreign) should have so much economic importance in a country. What has happened to the basic economic principle of diversification?
We are also told of the vast amounts of revenue to be generated from gas transportation and exploration within the Bahamas oceans. We are not, however, advised of the serious and irreversible environmental damage posed by these types of development. We, the electorate and the government, have a responsibility to the generations gone before, and those yet to come, to do our very best to leave the country in a better state than we found it, and to ensure that there is something left for the enjoyment of the generations to come. We should not, under any circumstances, shirk this duty.
The current government has advised that public sector salaries are to remain frozen for the next fiscal year, but they have refused to visit the area of parliamentary salaries and ancillary benefits. To lead by example parliamentary salaries should have been cut by at least ten percent. The practice of cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries getting double duty salaries must be discontinued forthwith. The generous allowances and exemptions they are given should be visited immediately. Their generous pension entitlements need to be visited. You don’t kill a snake by cutting off the tail you cut off the head! An effective government needs to lead by example, and begin by cutting their massive remuneration packages. Membership of the ever increasing and far too numerous government boards should not be paid positions, but rather voluntary positions. We have many well-paid and highly trained Bahamians who still look at it as their duty to give best advice to their growing country.
Aspiring to serve in Parliament should be a call to duty, not a call to enrich oneself at your country’s expense – that’s still classified as the crime of treason that is punishable by death in most countries.
I will admit that I was one of the many who couldn’t wait for “...the fresh wind” of change to blow, but now I am fast beginning to think that nothing but the faces have changed; that gravelicious all for me baby attitude remains – and that makes me sad! I hope my assessment of our present government will prove to be wrong, or that I was impetuous in arriving at my conclusion. However, if history proves me right (God forbid) I hope there is a viable alternative to vote for in 2007.