Recent legislative measures will be insufficient to create a 'third economic pillar' in the Bahamas based upon e-commerce and e-business, a leading economist said yesterday, despite the sector being 'bandied about as a liberator from our reliance on tourism and financial services.'
Dr. Olivia Saunders, a lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, said the only response tosuggestions that the e-commerce industry was set to propel the Bahamas into a new era, transforming the economic landscape and providing a wealth of new opportunities for young entrepreneurs, could only be "surely you jest?"
She said the Bahamas could not be serious about the role e-commerce will play in transforming theis society if the goal was merely to have a computer in every classroom. Currently, only 28 per cent of Bahamian population has access to a computer, and about 15 per cent have access to the Internet.
In New Providence, 21 per cent of households have access to a computer with 12 per cent having access to the Internet. In Grand Bahama only 4 per cent of households have access to a computer and 2 per cent to the Internet., while in Abaco only 1 per cent have access to a computer and 0.6 per cent to the Internet.
Dr. Saunders also questioned the Bahamas' ability to expand its tourism sector to include healthcare initiatives, Such a transformation could only happen with the complete overhaul of the education system to emphasis mathematics, science and technology.
Even if the Bahamas had the political and financial will to make the e-business transformation, she said it was questionable whether it would succeed given the current state of affairs in bahamian society. Parental negkligence, sexual abuse and a level of greed that turned a blind eye to criminal activity had all subordinated eductaion to a lifestyle of easy gain.
"I sugest that we stop holding onto the claims of uniqueness, of difference, of specialness, of better than, and get on with building a society that reflects the aspirations of its citizens – to have a better way of living, a secure society, a fair society, an innovative society, a self reliant society, a tolerant society, a healthy environment, a society comprised of people progressing towards a common purpose."
Source: Yolanda Deleveaux, The Tribune
