Khaalis Rolle lays down the gauntlet

Two cheers for Mr. Rolle, Minister of State for Investments who said recently "that early results from the NDP (National Development Plan) make it clear that the government no longer has the luxury of sugarcoating the state of the economy and workforce, adding that the government had not done the best job of planning its way out of criticism surrounding unemployment and a fundamental dearth of skilled labor."

“We’ve been treating symptoms for many years and it’s like treating cancer. If you’re just treating the symptoms of cancer chance are over a period of time you will die from it. What The Bahamas is facing now in our evolution is a slow death, to be frank...”

Sensible words from a Member of Parliament stuck in a government in crisis.

But wait there's more. In dissecting the challenges to doing business here he pointed out that:

Starting a Business: Declined form 88 to 95
Construction Permits: Declined from 88 to 92
Getting Electricity: 50 (Over 60 days)
Registering Property: 179 (122 Days)
Enforcement of Contracts: 125
Protecting Minority Investors: 141

Mr. Rolle went on: “If you look at what businesses and governments across the Caribbean and across the world are doing, they are positioning themselves to be competitive and be best in class. The Bahamas started off as best in class. If you look at the statistics that we’re currently seeing in the 70s we were growing and then at some point we started to flatline and decline. It’s not that The Bahamas isn’t doing anything, it’s that we’re not doing enough. We’re not doing as much as other countries…”

In another comment about the Ease of Doing Business survey Mr. Rolle suggested "The Bahamas has been one of those countries that continues to slide in the rankings over the years, and it’s because other countries have gone through the process we’re going through now, and they are making all the necessary reforms to ensure that they don’t continue to have negative results…”

So in a way, the gauntlet has been thrown down by Minister Rolle. The reason we give him two cheers is because the most import question remains. And that is, will the government make the tough decisions or will they punt the ball again as successive governments have done for generations now?

References…

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/55433-under-threat-rolle-says-poor-workforce-too-much-foreign-labor

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/55478-private-sector-growth-needed-for-economy-to-grow

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/55395-rolle-bahamas-has-fallen-out-of-best-in-class

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/55320-national-plan-survey-highlighting-critical-weaknesses