Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Session Chairman, Convention Chairman, Party Leader, outgoing deputy leader Cynthia “Mother Pratt”, Party Officers, fellow delegates, party supporters,  ladies and gentlemen present and joining us by way of the electronic media. Good evening.

I am humbled and deeply honoured to have been afforded this opportunity to speak to you in the fifty first general convention of this great Progressive Liberal Party.

The Progressive Liberal Party has a great legacy. It is a legacy that each of us must defend and protect.  We must never forget the many giants that have given so much so that we in the Bahamas can enjoy everything that we enjoy today.

In that vein we remember again our departed brothers Joe Pratt, the husband and great supporter of our outgoing deputy leader Mr. Pratt, Sir Clement T. Maynard and Leander Minnis; who are but three of our number who have departed this life since we last met in convention. We salute them for their contribution.

Delegates, as we gather in convention, the Bahamian dream of social and economic advancement through education and advancement through the provision of opportunities, has become a distant and fleeting illusion.

That dream that so many of our forefathers committed their entire lives to making possible has been displaced, nay evicted by hopelessness and despair.

Today in the Bahamas we are mired in the worst economic crisis in living memory. It has never been this bad in The Bahamas. Unemployment is high and continues to rise. Underemployment for many has become the norm.

Thousands upon thousands of Bahamian workers have become discouraged, disillusioned, have lost hope and have given up seeking work altogether. It makes no sense to them, to get up everyday and go out looking for jobs that are simply not there.

The response of this government, who is supposed to help Bahamians see a light at the end of this long dark tunnel; who is supposed to inspire hope in the Bahamian people; is that we should be happy, and grateful that they are in charge.

They tell us we are lucky that things are not worse. They say be patient, don’t complain.

Fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is very easy for a man with a full belly to tell a hungry man “hold fast”. They do not feel what you are feeling!

The truth of the matter when it comes to the economy, ladies and gentlemen, is that is that serious errors in judgment by this administration have made the impact of the global economic slowdown on the Bahamian economy much worse than it had to be.

Investor confidence was badly shaken and the strong forward momentum of the economy was lost. This is the handiwork of the FNM!

This is not an assertion that we invented. This is the opinion of the independent international credit rating agency Standard and Poor.

The finances of the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas are under severe stress. Last year’s budget saw a total deficit of four hundred and twenty two million dollars.

So far this fiscal year, which began on July 1st, government revenue is at least forty million dollars below forecast. The situation does not promise to get better anytime soon. This is evidenced by the recent downgrade of Bahamian dollar denominated debt by another independent credit rating agency.

 In short unemployment is up, income is down, deficits and the national debt continue to go way up and suffering and misery are way, way up.

This is the situation that we are in today. Not a pretty situation; and certainly not a situation that can be allowed to continue to deteriorate.

The Bahamian people need relief and they need relief now. We need an articulated plan designed to begin to pull us out of the economic slump that we are in.

We do not have the luxury of waiting for others to solve our problems for us. We definitely do not have the luxury of completely surrendering our economic destiny to the policies of another government. Regardless of traditional economic relationships, we must gain some measure of control over our fortunes. The security of our future depends on it.

This government has the power to affect the economic fortunes of the country through its spending. Governments have put into practice the theory that calls for a government to accelerate its spending in order to make up for reduced private sector and consumer spending that accompany a recession.

However in putting this theory into practice, our government, should ensure that such spending is properly targeted and used to create maximum employment for Bahamians and that the money stays in the country.

It makes little sense for the government in the name of economic stimulus to engage in projects that employ more machines than people. It makes no sense to in the name of economic stimulus to ship money out of the country wholesale!

We have been making this point for months. From the first time we got wind of the government’s intention with the road project. We make the point again because we have not seen the end of the borrowing.

Next time maybe, and that’s a big maybe, this administration would have learned that Bahamians can build roads to international standards. It is unacceptable that while the heavy equipment of Bahamians remains parked, in the yard; foreign companies are allowed to bring in their own heavy equipment to work on the road project.
Fellow delegates I contend that if the government of the Bahamas is borrowing money in the name of the people of the Bahamas and leveraging our children’s future, and since the people of the Bahamas will have to pay these borrowed monies back, then these monies should be spent to create employment and wealth for Bahamians.

We must protect and secure the future of our children and our children’s children!

These monies should not be sent wholesale out of the country to create wealth and employment elsewhere while Bahamian fathers and mothers have to explain to their children,  why they face such a hard struggle to put a meal on the table, to keep a roof over their heads and to keep the electricity on.

There is something wrong with that!

I call on the government to ensure that, in future, monies being borrowed in future be spent in the Bahamas for the maximum benefit of Bahamians!

How do we begin to move out of economic decline and get back on the road to growth and prosperity?

We begin with the elimination of waste in government.

In hard times each of us, in our personal finances, watches our pennies more closely and ensures that we get maximum value for every dollar we spend.

This must be equally true for the government. Over the past two years a billion dollars has been added to the national debt of the Bahamas. The national debt is rapidly approaching the four billion dollar mark.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of this money has been spent and called by the name “Stimulus Package”.  Once again, we call upon the FNM to lift the veil of secrecy and shed light on exactly how much is being spent and on what it is being spent.
 
 
 

Such transparency will enable Bahamians to help the government decide on the effectiveness of its stimulus spending. We have seen it done in the United States where citizens can go online and see where every penny of their government’s stimulus money is being spent. The only thing preventing us from doing the same thing is the will to do so.

If an FNM minister is giving a speech, you can have it online immediately; they post it before it is delivered. They send it to every media house in a flash. Surely the same can be done when it comes to spending the peoples money.

I say again that we must be assured that the massive debt, that we have to repay, is being spent to create employment and enhance the environment for Bahamians to get opportunities.

Going forward, to ensure greater prudence and transparency in government spending, I propose the creation, by the government, the office of Contractor General.

The office of Contractor General would be responsible for examining every contract entered into by the government of the Bahamas to ensure compliance with due diligence and ethical standards and to ensure that contracts are executed in a timely fashion, that all works are completed satisfactorily and that the people of the Bahamas receive value for their money.

The Contractor General would be independent, would be required to report to parliament annually and would have the power to recommend prosecution for misuse of government funds.

Making credit available to businesses and individuals

The Central Bank of The Bahamas reports that credit has declined substantially. What this means is that people who want to borrow money to build or purchase a home, to construct a business or to start a business are having a very hard time getting access to money.

While the government brags about liquidity in the system, that money sitting up in the banks does not help houses to be built or businesses to get started.

We know that over the years the Bahamas has been a lucrative place for banks to do business. In the good times business was very good for them. In bad times, business is still good for them.

However, in bad times we do not expect that the economy would be choked and the recovery stymied by the lack of available credit.

Persons who qualify for mortgages should not be made to jump through hoops and persons who qualify for commercial loans should be given every consideration.

The economic downturn will be prolonged if credit is not available for homes to be built thereby creating jobs in construction and allied fields. A healthy flow of credit is necessary for commercial purposes so that businesses may be started to put people to work!

The government should sit with the banks to ensure that they understand that overly restrictive banking and credit policies serve only to stifle economic recovery.

Going forward our future economic growth and advancement dictates that we have a more equitable partnership with the banks.

This is what a caring PLP government would ensure!

I am not advocating the abandonment of prudence in doing banking business. Nor am I seeking to tell banks who to lend their money to. I am saying, however that to have the credit tap turned off at exactly the time when credit is needed, serves only to prolong the economic downturn.

Small business development

It is time that we move forward with reforms to spur small business development. Efforts in this area have been made over the years with mixed success. We continue to put resources into these areas but it is now time to bring greater focus these efforts.

Given the depth of the current economic crisis, I believe that it is urgent that we bring the Bahamas Development Bank, BAIC, The Venture Capital Fund, The Self Starter Programme and the government guarantee loan programmes for small business development and for family island tourism  development together under the umbrella of a Bahamas Business Development Corporation.

The Bahamas Business Development Corporation would work closely with the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce. A PLP government will ensure that this happens!

With all of the programmes devoted to small business development under common administration, greater coordination and thus more efficient use of resources would be achieved.

The Bahamas Business Development Corporation would be mandated to ensure that capital and other resources in particular access to expertise and professional advice are readily available to small and medium sized businesses. This is urgent. And your PLP government will treat it that way!

Inward driven tourism development

Over the years we in the Bahamas have benefited from an economic  model that involved investors coming to our shores, having the benefits of concessions in the form of access to land and exemption from certain taxes. This model has served us well by creating employment in construction and permanent jobs in the hospitality industry and related businesses.

 We and investors have benefited form their presence here.

However I believe that the global economic landscape that will be in place following this latest recession will be very different from the pre-recession landscape. This new landscape will be characterized by more regulation of financial institutions and a permanent adjustment in the way people look at money and in the way money is spent.

We will have to work harder to attract investors and visitors.
Investors will have to work harder to attract capital.

We will have to work even harder to give our visitors what they feel is value for money and an experience that would make them want to come back.

We no longer have the luxury of sitting around waiting for investors to once again flock to our shores, bringing with them prosperity.

I believe that we must begin to look inward for our development. We must look at the possibilities of using local capital, pooled together from many small investors, working people from throughout the Bahamas, to develop our tourism and other industries so that we create not only jobs, but opportunities to create wealth.

It is time that we utilize our institutions, like a reordered Hotel Corporation and the Bahamas International securities Exchange (BISX) to give ordinary, everyday Bahamians the opportunity to purchase shares in, to own, resort properties throughout these Bahama Islands.

In this vein, I see no reason why a privatized Hotel Corporation of the Bahamas can not still today, be that catalyst, that acts like the foreign investor, in getting crown land and other concessions from the government, in gathering investors together, in this case many small Bahamian investors, in raising additional money from the banks if necessary, in putting in place proper management and corporate governance so that highest business standards are observed, and by so doing, develop these islands by Bahamians and for Bahamians!

In this way we address the long standing and vexing  the issue of Bahamians having greater ownership in the tourism industry; ownership not by the few but, by pooling resources, ownership by the many.

Instead of abolishing the hotel corporation of The Bahamas to save a few thousand dollars we should look to utilize a properly structured corporation to assist in the further development of our tourism industry by our people for our people.

All it takes is a belief and a commitment that Bahamians can do it; a belief that Bahamians can build their own country. That, in its essence, is the philosophy of the PLP.

There are some who think that the government should stay completely out of business. I believe that in a developing country, government entities still have an important role to play as a catalyst; to get things rolling.

We have seen in the Bahamas, persons come from abroad, raise money from the local population and from local public institutions; make millions upon millions of dollars in profits and leave.

If they can be entertained by the government, surely a proposal to truly empower Bahamian must be supported.

Some may say that we tried ownership through the Hotel Corporation and it failed. We did try ownership by the government in trust for the people; let’s now try ownership directly by the people.

We can not cling to old notions that say that nothing government touches succeeds. More ownership by all of us in our tourism industry would awake a new pride and a drive to ensure that everyone understands that tourism is everyone’s business.

I believe that this is an idea worthy of exploration; not only in tourism but other industries as well.

The world is changing at a rapid pace. If we stand still we will be left behind. To get from where we are to where we need to be will require us to explore new options; new options that do not fit neatly into the traditional theories of how things should be done.

So fellow delegates, there is much work to do.

Our mission must not be to simply not to seek to replace the other party as government. Our mission goes far beyond that. To simply replace the other party and go about with business as usual will not do. They Bahamian people will not stand for it.

Our mission is much more sacred, our mission is to ensure that the people of the Bahamas continue their forward march that began so many years ago.

Our mission is to ensure that we take those next steps and empower our people so that wherever they may be in this world the may be able to say proudly: I am a Bahamian. I live in a country called the Bahamas. It is a country that we built with our own hands.

We must do our part fellow delegates and as a party, stand ready to help build this country through the power of ideas and hard work so that many more young Bahamians would want to say: I am PLP. I am proud to be PLP!

Let us then with unity of purpose, get down to work, and move forward  knowing that the security of the future of our children rests with a strong and united PLP!
 

PLP ALL THE WAY!!