Since the advent of party politics in The Bahamas we have witnessed any number of political shenanigans by different administrations, but some of the most brazen and glaring examples were committed by the former FNM administration. At this time I will deal with one in particular – Cable Bahamas. Although that company was not the lowest bidder, and its principals were reportedly bankrupt and in debt to the tune of some $6 million, they were awarded the contract over other bidders including competent and economically viable Bahamian companies.
I am told that one of the requirements of the contract was that all Family Islands would be serviced by Cable Bahamas. To ensure that this could be done the government saw that the necessary infrastructure – electricity and telephone lines, etc. – was in place. I am also told that the company started its operation on borrowed money. It is a known fact that, during the FNM’s administration, if one wanted to get ahead in this country and/or obtain any meaningful contracts from that administration, you or the company had to be foreign. The FNM government has proven in any number of cases that, when it came to huge government contracts, they were anti-Bahamian. There had to be a reason for this simply because there were too many costly scams during the FNM’s administration. The Bahamasair $135,000 rip-off and the $60 million plus road (unfinished) contract, just to name a couple more.
The question that the public needs answered is: Where did the money go? On the street there are many suggestions and speculations, but these are not answers. The answers must come from the leader of that party. The public was promised answers after a number of indiscretions by some cabinet ministers had been investigated , but up to now silence on the subject is deafening.
Cable Bahamas made a token effort in some of the major islands, but limited their services to thickly populated areas. In Long Island they supplied services in one district, Deadman’s Cay, from the Crown in the north (one half mile north of my house) to Hamilton’s in the south. There are other heavily populated areas north and south of where their service ends. What are the reasons for their omission from the programme? In Andros – North – they used the same system. This is discrimination in its most blatant form. The company is making big profits, most of which are leaving this country. Why not take a small profit cut and service all settlements in the Family Island districts? I am made to understand that Cable Bahamas has a 15-year monopoly, nine of which are almost expired.
This government has the mandate of the Bahamian public to protect their interest, so it is incumbent upon this government to ensure that Cable Bahamas fulfill the requirements of their contract. In the meantime, citizens in affected areas should come together in a community effort and take the Cable Bahamas before the courts for violating their constitutional rights and discriminating against them by withholding services (cable) from them while serving their neighbours, and claim damages for the loss of use of those services from the time that the other settlements got theirs. It is also said that the virus in the satellite system that blows satellite cards is not foreign-oriented. Interesting, don’t you think?
The time has come for us as a people to come together and find solutions to the various forms of discrimination practiced on our people in every industry in this country by aliens who are supposed to be guests and not citizens of the Bahamas. We must also take note and punish the politicians and party responsible for the cause of these people and/or the corporation’s behaviour and demeanour towards Bahamians by rejecting them and their party at the polls. Cable Bahamas was given – like other foreign investors – all kinds of concessions, and yet they, after getting fat off the land, fail to live up to their obligations. Some answers are needed and fast, as to who is being paid what, why and by whom.
Many of us are constantly complaining about how easy it is for the foreigner to come to the Bahamas, make money, rip off people, call us stupid and do as they like and please without fear of retribution; but what we need to do is to find the Bahamian culprits who are responsible for them being here in the first place.
It is common to hear some political gofers bragging about how many work permits they have for aliens who they, in turn, hire out to people for a good fee, paying the aliens a token salary while they enjoy a comfortable income. Then too, there are those unconscionable landlords who rent out termite infested cubbyholes attached to the rear and sides of their otherwise properly constructed homes, for inflated rentals to illegal aliens. The Immigration Department needs to carry out a massive campaign in those areas to try and bring a halt to this inhumane problem.
Please, Cable Bahamas, remember your obligations to the Family of Islands.
By E. W. I. WATKINS, J. P. from The Nassau Guardian
