Dear Sir,
The discussions on the Commercial Enterprises Bill cause other considerations to be made.
Firstly much is being made concerning the ease and simplicity(?) of obtaining work permits, with people making wildly false and fatuous statements that a foreign employer will not employ Bahamians as he will be able to bring in his own staff; not really very likely, anybody in business is trying to make a profit, no serious, sensible employer is going to pay the astronomic permit and relocation costs involved to bring in foreign staff if there is an adequate pool of satisfactory local labour.
Of course a foreign employer is going to want his senior management from his home office, knowledge of and trust in those people being paramount.
Consider this. If Mr. Atario Mitchell, of Bahamas Striping, was considering setting up a subsidiary in (say) Trinidad or Guyana it is quite certain he would transfer members of his own senior management team to run that business in the foreign country, and employ local labour for the day to day operations.
Secondly, and a point totally missed by everyone, if a foreign company sets up in the Bahamas but does not employ any Bahamian staff, that company is still paying substantial fees and taxes to the Bahamian Exchequer and other expenses to the general economy, this is definitely not a scenario condoned by this writer, but must be considered, since if that company did not come there would be neither employment nor national income.
Just wondering when certain people might engage brain before mouth.
George Francis
