Amidst claims of victimization and misappropriation of funds the source of contention this time stems from the dismissal of several employees from the Corporation.
Prime Minister Christie, while a guest on Love 97 FM Jones and Company radio talk show on Sunday, said one or two of the individuals who were dismissed from BAIC, may not have fallen into the category of being “a political operative,” and because of this, he did not want anyone to be confused that the terminations of these individuals were “inferences of victimization.”
“We knew that BAIC was grossly overstaffed and we also had direct evidence that people were hired by the former administration (FNM), knowing that they were not going to work. They were political operatives who were put on the payroll, who simply did not work,” he said.
Mr. Christie said if the government decides to make individuals redundant, they will “get rid of them in the right way.” He stated that they would also examine the needs of the public sector, to see whether in the foreseeable future, the government will require people with similar skills to those that have to be made redundant.
According to Prime Minister Christie, he wants to manage The Bahamas in a way that all Bahamians would feel proud. He mentioned that he wants to “redefine” governance to eliminate or minimize the extent that patronage is used is an employment tool.
Continuing, he said that some six weeks before the May 2002 general election, the former government hired 350 people. When the PLP came to power, they had to make the decision of whether they would let them go, but agreed to hold them.
“We knew when we looked at it, that these people all needed the job, that they were working, they had an income stream and we knew that we could, through rationalization of employment throughout the government sector, have these people fill certain voids, but having done this, we had to hold the line,” he said.
Mr. Christie also outlined that in governance, there are individuals who vote for a certain party, with the hopes of looking for opportunities. He noted that it is therefore the government’s job to meet this level of expectation.
“Let me just say this about patronage. It happens everywhere and therefore, our job is to do the same thing, but there is a right way of doing it though,” he said.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
