“New bill to have ‘trickle-down effects” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Minister of Financial Services, Trade, Industry and Immigration Brent Symonette argued that the government’s Commercial Enterprises Bill 2017, will have a ‘trickle down’ effect on middle class and lower class Bahamians.

‘Mr. Speaker if the tide rises and the boat floats, all Bahamians will benefit from the issue,’ Symonette said as he wrapped up debate on the Commercial Enterprises Bill on Wednesday night.

‘If they (the opposition) want to be like [Canute] on that side and try and stop the tide from rising …nothing is going to happen.

‘If that is what the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) calls progressive, I feel sorry for them because they will be in opposition for many years to come.’

Indeed, one of the things that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has proven over the past fifteen years or so and that is that they are not very progressive,  not unless it seems to have affected them directly and the country has suffered because of it. 

As they [the Progressive Liberal Party] seeks to say that this bill is only to roll out the ‘red carpet’ for foreigners and give them jobs deserving of Bahamians, enquire of them whatever became of the Stem Cell Research Bill 2013 and the industry that it should have sparked.

“Red Carpet”

“Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper, in his contribution, charged that the government is rolling out the ‘red carpet’ for foreign investors’

‘It is a hard sell to Bahamian people when you say it’s your time and then making it easier for foreigners to open companies and get work permits without identifying and explaining the upside and the benefits in detail to the Bahamian people,’ he said”

I guess it is like telling the Bahamian people we believe in you and then walking away from them, right Mr. Cooper?

First the concept of ‘rolling out the red’ carpet for foreigners is quite misleading in the manner in which Mr. Cooper his party and others that wish to oppose this bill are presenting their “facts” and the only difference that I have seen here than with any other applications for a work permit is the time frame in which persons would be allowed to get these work permits. As per the bill, persons on its management team and those who are key personal for the companies will be considered for work permits, which I find to be reasonable in principle but expect to be approved on the basis of what these people actually do; as we all know ‘key personal’ could include the gardener and that is one work permit that in my opinion that should be denied, so this ‘red carpet’ treatment needs to be explained to me, because this is what was done for Izmirlian before, well we know what happened there.

Mr. Cooper suggests that the government has a ‘hard sell’ and notwithstanding what can only be seen as intentional misinformation by the opposition PLP and others, I would agree with him and the best way to deal with this problem is through education; yes, the people need more concise information on this bill and until the government does this Chester Cooper and the rest of the Progressive Liberal party will feel free to create fear and apprehension among the public with their speculation and supposition – INFORMATION will end this.

END