The government can and should take the lead in this process. However, its chances of success will only be maximised, where it to work hand in glove with the private sector. A first step on this road involves doing precisely what the government has already done, which is to hold the line on public spending.
The current administration is currently in the midst of a backlash, which is partly of their own invention and artful construction. Having promised ﾑhelp and hope,ﾴ the government is now hard-pressed to meet the demands of people who expected miracles. Instead of rolling in with a gravy train, the current administration has been obliged to hold the line in its fiscal affairs. What this means in the real world, is that government ministers currently have little room for manoeuvre in their negotiations with any number of people; some of whom come calling searching for hand-outs or cushy jobs.
Having grown accustomed to viewing government as some kind of magnificent ﾑsugar daddyﾴ, many Bahamians are currently being distressed and dismayed. They are in this state because some of them had come to believe that once the party of their choice had been elected, happy days would be theirs.
Today in the aftermath of their euphoria and high optimism, the truth is dawning that there is actually no free lunch, and that rewards and benefits go to those people who are resourceful, innovative and hardworking. This explains why some people succeed in hard times, and others perish in periods of high prosperity. Here of late, any number of critics have taken to blaming government for any number of delinquencies. While some of the critics do have a point, they often go overboard in trying to blame government for everything which goes wrong in social life. Those who hold this position often do so out of an abundance of naivet�. On other occasions, they are simply mistaken.
Long gone are the days when money was flowing in, and when those in charge dole out any number of perks, goodies and sinecures. Instead, what we have is a situation where ﾖ as they say ﾖ things are tight. Businesses and households are being obliged to economize in their use of limited resources. People are generally speaking, therefore, responding to the economic facts of life. So, too, is the government.
While these times may seem overwhelming, there is a positive aspect to what seems a deeply rooted national malaise. The challenge in the moment calls for the government to be completely honest with the people, and let them know the full and unadulterated story about what the country is up against. In this regard, we are not talking about asking the government to justify or pronounce upon any proposed investment, but to talk honestly and openly about the challenges it faces in trying to govern.
We are advocating change in government public relations. Put simply, the government most find a way to get Bahamians to understand that if they wish to get value for money, resources and manpower in place must be commensurate with the job at hand. When Bahamians complain about shoddy service, few of them take note of a simple equation, which is that they can only get what they are prepared to pay for. This, in turn, brings us to the question of priorities, budgets and taxes.
Take for example, public services like garbage collection, the public provision of clinics, hospitals, schools and a myriad of social welfare payments, these have to be paid for. Our argument has always been that these are quite often taken for granted, because they are seen as being ﾑfreeﾴ. As such, they are often undervalued and abused by people who take no time to note that someone had to pay for them.
The matter involving these ﾑfreeﾴ services is compounded and often aggravated by the fact that most of the money which is earmarked for these social services, goes to pay the bureaucrats who were ostensibly hired to provide the services. Regrettably, very many of these people are themselves fed up with a system which pays them so little, thus the high and rising level of complaint from workers in the pubic sector.
This is the same public service which is home and parking place for many who were searching for an antidote to hard work. This explains ﾖ in part at least ﾖ the source of that mindset which discourages innovation, and which is content to sit back, gripe, bicker and complain.
Editorial, The Bahama Journal
