With the country’s unemployment rate jumping from 6.9 percent to 9.1 percent last year, government officials have been pushing for months to create more jobs for thousands of Bahamians. But according to a local psychiatrist, addressing the country’s unemployment problem is one that is much more complex than some realize.
In an interview with Bahama Journal Monday, Chairman of the Urban Renewal Commission Dr David Allen pointed out that unemployment in the country is not strictly about finding jobs, but addressing powerful psychological issues.
“While you have to follow unemployment statistics, there are other concerns,” he said.
“There are those people who have lost the will to work; those who don’t believe in doing a good job; some who believe in cheating on the job and some who simply don’t believe in going to work every day, which brings up the point of are there any other unacceptable and unknown jobs going on in the country like the drug trade and prostitution?”
One recent court case would suggest that prostitution is alive on some level.
Two women were arrested weeks ago for soliciting for immoral purposes at a suspected brothel in New Providence.
Officials, meanwhile, who recognize the need to provide legal employment for Bahamians are banking on the success of several developments throughout the country.
Topping the list are the multimillion-dollar Emerald Bay Resort in Exuma and Phase III of the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.
Knocking down the argument then that insufficient jobs are available in the country, Dr. Allen further indicated that there have been instances where members of the Urban Renewal Programme have encountered persons within the community without sufficient money, yet they are able to treat themselves to several weeks of vacation.
There are also those, he said, who want jobs but are not willing to work.
“What we’ve found is evidence that there are jobs available in the country, but unfortunately there are also people who fail to turn up for them,” he said. “In other instances, there are some persons who work for three days a week and still insist on taking a day off.”
One of the tremendous conflicts Bahamians face is their inability to determine the difference between servitude and servant hood, Dr. Allen said. It is by adopting the latter, he pointed out, that persons display the highest standards of self-esteem.
“The major problem in The Bahamas right now is for us to find a whole new work ethic,” Dr Allen said. “We know that problems exist, but the question is can we do anything about them?”
Pointing to South Africa’s Urban Commission studies as an example, he sought to dispel the “myth” that destroying crime in a country would tailspin in a reduction in poverty.
“The Urban Renewal Commission is apolitical and goes beyond any politics and particular government in place,” he said. “And my job is to establish this thing in such a way that the Commission becomes something not merely for the short term, but an ongoing process that would help Bahamians uplift themselves to a higher level.”
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
