As the world braces for war, The Bahamas is on a heightened state of alert as members of the country’s security council were huddled in crucial meetings on Monday, assessing the preparedness of government agencies to withstand the consequences of a United States-led invasion on Iraq.
Emerging briefly from that meeting last evening, flanked by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell and Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Prime Minister Perry Christie said The Bahamas is well prepared for the eventuality of war.
“I am happy to report that we have had a comprehensive assessment. This represents an ongoing assessment that we have been making as a contingency in the event of such a war,” Mr. Christie said.
The Council has received briefings from various government agencies on the possible impact that military action would have on affairs in The Bahamas. The assessment is ongoing and started about nine months ago, according to the Prime Minister.
“We are satisfied that our economy most certainly appears today to be sufficiently resilient to withstand any of the impacts of war such as it did in 1991 in the Gulf War and such as we did on September 11, as a result of the incident in 2001,” he said.
“We believe that it’s a matter of extreme continuing interest and we shall continue to monitor what’s happening very closely.”
The Prime Minister vowed to give a more comprehensive report within two days after reviewing U.S. President George W. Bush’s speech on Monday night and comments that British Prime Minister Tony Blair was slated to give in Parliament on Tuesday.
President Bush delivered a no nonsense ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq or face war. The latest international press reports say that the Iraqi regime has rejected the “reckless” ultimatum, retorting that it is ready for a U.S. led conflict.
A war could throw economies into a tailspin, wreak havoc on national habits and create drastic consequences. Governments are flinching at the talk of war and in the Bahamas it’s no different.
Some financial analysts and economists are projecting that because of worldwide trends and jitters about war, 2003 will be a bumper year for rising prices that will seriously eat into family income.
There are also concerns that the inflation rate in The Bahamas that has not hedged past 2.7 percent since 1993, could rise this year.
A temporary jump in inflation is almost inevitable according to Kevin Demeritte, Senior Research officer at the Central Bank. He said how much the rate of inflation will be is an issue that remains open for debate.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mitchell has said that The Bahamas supports United Nations procedures on the conflict between the United States and Iraq.
Insisting that “the danger is clear,” President Bush is insisting that the Iraqi regime would provide terrorists with biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.
As for a timeframe for war, Mr. Bush would only say that it would begin “at a time of our choosing.”
By Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
