Published: Saturday March 13th, 2010

2009/2010 MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW CONTRIBUTION BY SEN. THE HON. C.V. HOPE STRACHAN

MADAM PRESIDENT, I AM GRATEFUL TO ALMIGHTY GOD FOR HIS CONTINUED MERCIES, FOR ALLOWING ME ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TO MAKE MY CONTRIBUTION TO THIS DEBATE. I want to honor the women of this country during this “Women’s Week.” It is unfortunate that some of us were not invited to participate in the various activities. Even these events have not been spared the rank political division which now reposes itself in us as a people. I remember today though, my grandmother Mary Ingraham and all of the other women who fought for the right for women to vote.

During the campaign for the Bye-election in Elizabeth the other day I came face to face with many of our people who have become so weary of politics and politicians in this country that they were opting not to vote. Many of these people a large number of whom were women felt there was little point in exercising their franchise when they have a government that has displayed raw intimidation and little if any respect for them. Many felt intimidated by the prospects of losing their jobs. After all this FNM government has perfected the art of firing and dismissing people from their jobs. They call it reorganizing, retirement, or redistribution. HOWEVER and by whatever name it is disguised it is clearly victimization. Many of these people were fired for their perceived political affiliation.

The constituents of Elizabeth like so many other Bahamians simply do not trust the government not to victimize them. Nor do they trust the government to assist them against private sector employee abuse. The thousand or more employees of Atlantis and Four Seasons can attest to that. The 100 or more employees that Sen. Foulkes talked so proudly about the other day are a drop in the bucket to the number that was dismissed.

So it was this fear that I was forced to address with many of the voters in that constituency reminding them of the tremendous sacrifice that was made all those many years ago by Mary Ingraham, Georgianna Symonette, Mrs. Mable Walker, Eugenia Lockhart, Dame Doris Johnson and others. I reminded them of the struggle of the father of our nation Lynden Oscar Pindling, Henry Taylor, William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, Cecil Wallace Whitfield Milo Butler, Sir Arthur Hanna our Governor General and many others who engaged a populace to fight the odds and stand up for what was right, and decent and fair. These men and women will be remembered for tearing down the walls of oppression; But more so for building a nation.

I encouraged these voters in Elizabeth nevertheless to come out and vote. To rebuke the obvious intimidation being meted upon them by the whole compliment of the Cabinet of the Bahamas Government dressed in red. I encouraged the voters in Elizabeth to come out and vote even though the people who were visiting them emerged from red plated government vehicles to demand they come out to vote for them or else stay home.

I encouraged the voters in Elizabeth to come out and exercise their God given right despite the fact that they were warned that unless they supported the government they would be disenfranchised, and many were. Many of the voters in Elizabeth who turned up to vote were turned away for one reason or another, many of those reasons were not legitimate. Citizens were deprived of their constitutional God given right. This is serious business.

This FNM government that thrives on criticizing the PLP presided over that Elizabeth election knowing full well that the register lacked integrity. The only reason I can think of that this would be allowed to happen is that they thought the confusion and erroneous entries would yield them a victory. But alas it was not to be. The people of Elizabeth demonstrated that they were prepared to defy the odds. They refused to be intimidated. They refused to be bought with washing machines, dryers, microwaves, light bill and other bill payments. They refused to be bought with street lights, paved roads and drive ways, speed bumps and other gimmicks.

The electorate defied the odds and made foolishness of the 300 vote win prediction by none other than the “Right Honorable Hubert Alexander Ingraham.” All the millions out of the public purse that was spent yielded a questionable two 2 votes. What a disgrace! Members opposite should hang their heads in shame for spending these enormous sums of money on a failed enterprise, increasing the public debt and jeopardizing the future of our children for political posturing.

But this is the modus operandi of this untrustworthy FNM government. They simply cannot be trusted with the management of the Bahamian economy. They have performed abysmally. To cover up their inadequacies they have resorted to distracting the Bahamian people. As a consequence we go from one distraction in this country to the next.

Most of this government’s energy and the little creativity that they possess have been focused on destroying the PLP, Their major distraction. So from right after the May 2007 elections almost every-day we have been fed a diet of sour grapes about the PLP. Since May 2007 each day the focus has been negative political propaganda about the PLP.

The media in this country has bought into the FNM’s strategy lock stock and barrel. Countless news productions in the printed and television media have been dedicated to spinning stories about the internal workings of the party and its members. While the negativity spewed forth makes for entertaining reading the truth of the matter is that it is engineered to distract the Bahamian people from the miserable job that the FNM government has done since coming to office in May 2007.

Instigating duly elected members of Parliament to cross the floor does not good governance make? Neither does engineering bye-elections. It may make for good politics but it does not make for good governance. So far the government under the leadership of The Right Honorable Hubert Ingraham has demonstrated to the Bahamian people that their interest does not lie in moving this country forward at all. The recently engineered resignation of the Member of Parliament for Elizabeth was the crowning glory of distraction. But it still was insufficient to hide the crises that this government has created for our country by their run on the public purse.

So, despite all of the glowing reports WE ARE HEARING IN THIS PLACE of how good it is today under this FNM government. Despite the chest beating by each government senator here in this place. Despite the untruths and misrepresentations that have been made and will be made about past PLP administrations facts are facts and facts are stubborn things. Even more illuminating is the quote by an Indian poet Rabindranath Taquore “Facts are many, the truth is one.”

Let’s examine the government’s communication about this mid-term budget and the state of our economy by extracting their own words. Let’s keep in mind that facts are many but the truth is one:

FACTS/TRUTH –

PG. 10 - OPERATING LOSSES AT THE WATER AND SEWERAGE CORPORATION – YOU SAID IT NOT ME. IT’S YOUR FACT! IT’S THE TRUTH.

PG. 16 – TOURISM OUTPUT WEAKENED SHARPLY. YOU SAID IT. NOT ME. IT’S A FACT AND IT’S TRUE.

PG. 17 – AS A RESULT OF LARGE-SCALE LAYOFFS IN THE HOTEL SECTOR, UNEMPLOYMENT ROSE TO AN ESTIMATED 14.2% IN 2009, UP 5.5 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 2008. YOU SAID IT NOT THE PLP. IT’S A FACT AND IT’S TRUE. (THIS IS EXTREMELY REMARKABLE THAT THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE DECREASE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE. SEN. FOULKES YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN TO THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE WHY AFTER SPENDING SO MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF THE NATIONAL INSURANCE FUND THERE HAS BEEN NO NOTICEABLE CHANGE IN OUR EMPLOYMENT PREDICAMENT.

PG. 17 – BAHAMIAN DOLLAR CREDIT DECLINED – YOU SAID IT NOT THE PLP. IT’S A FACT AND IT’S THE TRUTH.

PG. 17 - CONSUMER CREDIT DECREASED – YOU SAID IT. NOT THE PLP. IT’S A FACT AND IT’S THE TRUTH.

PG. 18 – ANEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE SECTORS - WEAKENED ECONOMIC SITUATION - BANKS QUALITY INDICATORS DETERIORATED - ARREARS INCREASED - BANKS INCREASED PROVISIONING FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS

PG. 19 - DECLINE IN EXCESS OF 4% IN 2009 (DOMESTIC ECONOMY). RIGHT HONOURABLE SAID IT. NOT THE PLP. IT’S A FACT AND IT’S THE TRUTH - WEAKER PERFORMANCE THAN HAD BEEN EXPECTED

PG. 20 – PUBLIC FINANCES .. WERE ADVERSELY AFFECTED…” - RECURRENT REVENUES WERE WEAKER - WE NOW EXPECT THE DEFICIT WILL EXCEED THE FORECAST OF 3.9% OF GDP - PUBLIC DEBT WILL RISE TO … 46% OF GDP

PG. 21 – STANDARD AND POORS LOWERED THE SOVEREIGN CREDIT RATING … BECAUSE OF INCREASED LEVELS OF DEFICIT SPENDING AND GOVERNMENT INDEBTEDNESS. (MY, MY, MY. NOW HERE YOU SAID, STANDARD AND POORS SAID IT AND WE NOT ONLY SAID IT BUT WE PREDICTED IT. WHEN WE PREDICTED IT WE WARNED YOU. SO THIS FNM GOVERENMENT WAS FOREARMED. YET YOU CONTINUED ON YOUR RECKLESS COURSE TO ENRICH YOUR SUPPORTERS AND PATRONISE YOUR CRONIES USING THE MINISTRIES OF ENVIRONMENT, WORKS, HOUSING AND EDUCATION. MANY OF OUR PEOPLE’S MISFORTUNES HAVE BEEN EXPLOITED, CRUMBS GIVEN TO THEM OFF OF THE TABLE WHILE FNM FAT CATS CONSUMED THE CREAM.

IN ALL OF THIS HOWEVER THE MOST TELLING PART OF THE GOVERNMENTS DISMAL PERFORMANCE IS FOUND AT PG. 22 WHERE THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER MAKES TWO ROUND ABOUT ADMISSIONS. HE SPEAKS ABOUT MAKING EFFORTS TO ARREST “THE RISE IN THE PUBLIC DEBT BURDEN AND REVERSING IT BACK TO MORE ACCEPTABLE AND PRUDENT LEVELS.”

WELL CUT OF MY LEGS AND CALL ME SHORTY. DID SEN FOULKES THE GOVERNMENT LEADER IN THIS PLACE READ THE SAME COMMUNICATION I DID? DID SEN. MCALPINE READ THIS COMMUNICATION? WELL IF THE PRIME MINISTER ADMITS THAT THE DEBT BURDEN HAS RISEN TO UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION WHY WOULD THEY ATTEMPT TO PAINT A ROSY PICTURE OF THE STATE OF OUR ECONOMY? THE BAHAMIAN PUBLIC IS SICK AND TIRED OF POLITICAL SPIN AND PROPAGANDA.

AS I QUOTED BEFORE “FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS. FACTS ARE MANY. THE TRUTH IS ONE.”

The TRUTH then Madam President is that our country is in crises. The reality is as I said before the Bahamian people have been constantly subjected to a government focused on politics and political maneuvering not governance. Meanwhile our country deteriorated and our value internationally declined. But to the FNM government they have been successful. Let’s further examine this proclaimed success:

• Madam President while the Bahamian people were distracted the revenue collected by the FNM government declined by 10%. (except for 1 time items such as the proceeds from the sale of South Riding Point in Grand Bahama). This is failure not success!

• Madam President while the Bahamian people were distracted the government over spent their budget by some $9.6 million. This is failure not success!

• While the Bahamian people were distracted the government borrowed more money than ever before in our history. Of course the government has excused their heavy borrowings due to the decline in the economy. However we know that this FNM government began to borrow since they came to office in 2007. This was before the economies of the world went south. Remember they borrowed $225 million before the recession. This has increased by 20% in the past 3 years.

This is failure not success!

While the Bahamian people were distracted our deficit position deteriorated. The FNM government and their “trust agenda” have put us in a most precarious position. Our deficit position is likely to balloon by approximately $74.4 million. This is failure not success!

Madam President while the FNM engaged in political machinations the second pillar of our economy financial services has been placed in serious jeopardy. While our Caribbean competitors have signed Tieas more than required to remove them from the OECD’s gray lists and have developed new and innovative products to attract business to their shores, we continue to be burdened with a Junior Minister of Finance for whom the 12th Tiea seems to be as tough to secure as it is to climb Mount Everest. Could it be the distraction of all the political maneuverings that I speak about that is causing this failure or is it private conflict of interest court case? Either way it is a complete and utter embarrassment. This is failure not success!

Madam President the Bahamian economy is on a slippery slope. This present 3rd non consecutive term that the FNM government likes to brag about could mean the end of the Bahamian economy as we knew it and enjoyed it for so many years. The economy that once was the envy of our Caribbean brothers and sisters is no more.

The economy that was created and nurtured by our predecessors is being systematically destroyed and dismantled by this FNM incompetent government. That middle class that was spawned out of the dreams and hopes and aspirations of the father of our nation Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling and the Progressive Liberal Party is in danger of extinction. This is failure not success!

Yes madam president this FNM government has perfected the art of distraction. While they fiddled unemployment grew to unacceptable levels in this country. It is estimated that more than 47,000 Bahamians are seeking employment. This does not include the large number of discouraged persons who are no longer looking for work. It does not include those that are currently involved in improving their education to enable them to find work. Then there are those that are under-employed – those who are earning less than they were before being laid off from their higher paying jobs. This is a national disaster. This is failure not success!

The temporary unemployment fund created at National Insurance was exactly that temporary. For most of our unemployed their entitlement has run out. How are these people supposed to feed their families? Pay their utility bills. Send their children to school each morning with a hot meal in their stomachs. Ensure that they have the basic tools necessary to take advantage of even the substandard education that this government is providing. And what of the fact that this suffering will translate into trouble for our country for the next decade or more. Hungry people do desperate things. This is failure not success!

The government’s approach to the problem of unemployment has been to “go it alone.” There has been little if any serious utilization of other elements of the economy. I say serious because the 2,500 jobs created by the fund just before Christmas was again another temporary measure. We have no empirical data to demonstrate how successful this problem has been.

Speaking to several persons who were employed under the scheme many expressed frustration that they were turning up to these places to work and to be trained but were not receiving training and were spending much of the day twiddling their thumbs. This is especially the case with those that have been engaged in the public sector. Admittedly those I spoke to in the private sector had better experiences. Senator Foulkes bright and cheery picture of success as I said before seems to have had little effect on the overall state of employment in the country. This is failure not success!

• Madam President the government distracted the Bahamian people while the cost of electricity increased to unacceptable levels. The Minister of State with responsibility for BEC has forecasted an increase in tariffs for BEC customers. I wonder who is expected to meet these increased costs. What are the 14.2% or 47,000 unemployed persons supposed to do? How are these persons expected to deal with these increases? These are tough times.

There has been talk about the economy being in recovery. Tell that to these 47,000 plus. Heaping more burdens on the backs of consumers is consistent with a total lack of vision or imagination. Devising cost saving, more efficient operations and strategies are the bulwarks of a caring, considerate and trustworthy government. Huge Failure. Huge Failure is what we have here on the government’s part.

• Then there is the BTC fiasco. We have gone from the Millions and Millions of Dollars wasted on disengagement packages during this government’s second non consecutive term in office to a dismantling and devaluation of that corporation during the last Two and Half years. All the talk, all the deadlines about selling this corporation has amounted to nothing. The firings and hiring’s of people sympathetic to the FNM at that corporation has yielded nothing. One minute we hear about how well the company is doing financially and the next we hear that earning are down. Something stinks at BTC and it aint the service we usually complain about.

The government needs to come clean with the Bahamian people about where we are with the sale. If there are issues preventing the sale, the Bahamian people need to know. BTC is not the property of the FNM and their cronies it belongs to the Bahamian people. We know that the sale of BTC is expected to help to reduce public debt and to fund the deficit for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. If this sale fails or does not meet reasonable price expectations I expect that this will negatively impact the economy also. Huge Failure. Huge Failure

• Then there was the distractions created by this FNM government with the Immigration and customs departments. So many dedicated employees were dismissed after a cloud of suspicion was cast over them. They have been replaced by a new cadre of officers. We wish them well. Their jobs are extremely important to our economy. The bread and butter system of over-time pay was abolished. The government said that this would prove to be less expensive for the Bahamian people but given the salary complements of both departments it is highly unlikely that this decision resulted in any financial benefit to the country.

• • More distraction by the government allowed them to sneak in increases to your National Insurance rates. Your caring FNM government is heaping more coals upon the heads of the debt burdened citizens of this country. This increase will soon become a stark reality to each and every Bahamian. Every employer and employee will be affected. The fact is this is likely also to affect the rate of employment negatively as these increases translate into a rise in the cost of doing business. This may well herald the death knell for many small businesses.

• Yes Madam President while we were distracted by this government with political maneuverings the health of our nation has been jeopardized. Our Minister of health has pointed out that the Bahamian population is aging and rightly so. He also pointed out that this will result in increased health costs in the future. When this is related to the nearly $4 Billion current debt levels this government has taken us to we know that our children and future generations are likely to not only suffer financially but their very health and wellbeing has been fully compromised.

• Yes Madam President this FNM government has perfected the art of distraction. One of the worst effects of this distraction has been the unprecedented escalation in crime in this country though. This is the single most serious issue affecting our country at this time. We know the statistics. They increase daily. We are in crisis. The new Commissioner has his hands full. I for one wish him all the best and congratulate him on his efforts thus far. He is enjoying much success in the detection of criminals. The problem for him is the government’s inability to establish effective programs to stem the rising tide of crime. The failure of the government’s revamping of the PLP’s very successful urban renewal program. I believe it is now crystal clear that changing the name of a program does not make it your own. Nor does it make it successful. What is even clearer is that politicizing social intervention programs as the FNM government did is destructive to their success.

• Crime is not only affecting us locally but our tourism industry is suffering. In today’s instant messaging environment even our Minister of Tourism who is a serious advocate for technology is incapable of stopping the proliferation of websites which warn people not to visit our shores because of crime. These instantaneous messages reach across the globe and seem to outdo the positive advertisements that we pay millions and millions of dollars for every year. Minister telling people not to worry about this is not enough. More has to be done to protect our visitors while ashore.

• But Madam President, one bright sunny morning in the not too distant future Bahamian people will be afforded the opportunity to show their disgust for a government that is visionless and devoid of ideas; A government that cannot be trusted. They will turn up to vote because of those great freedom fighters of whom I spoke and because they will come to realize that cabinet ministers dressed in red are there to serve them and not the other way around.

They will turn up to vote because they will realize that most of what was achieved in the last forty (40) years since independence has been reversed within the last Two and Half years of FNM governance. They will come to protest having their dignity trampled on by a government whose vision for the advancement of its people is confined to $200 a week jobs when the cost of living is ten times that.

They will know that they have been subjected to a government of spite and jealousy who fired their parents for political reasons. They will come to vote because they will recognize that the sovereignty of our nation is in jeopardy. They will come to vote because they will have been subjected to decisions and policies made from the seat of the pants and at the drop of the hat with little thought for the consequences to our people.

They will come because they would have been subjected to a government that is devoid of vision and about what is required of them, a government that does not know that they were elected to govern a strong and mighty people and not to be distracted or to distract the Bahamian people with petty politics. They will come and they will restore integrity and wisdom in governance. They will vote for the PLP.

But in the meantime Madam President this FNM government needs to get on with the business of governing and developing our country. The constant distraction must end. 2007 to March 2010 has been 2 1/2 years of misery for the Bahamian people. The last 2 1/2 years of misery for the Bahamian people must end and end soon.

Finally, Madam President despite the virtual uselessness of this mid-term budget exercise I am constrained to support this Bill since the countries bills have to be paid. For this reason alone I lend my support to this budget.

Senator C.V. Hope Strachan 10th March, 2010