Trade minister Leslie Miller has been called a “worldwide travelling parasite” by a furious German investor who is campaigning to have European aid diverted from the Bahamas.
Disgruntled Harald Fuhrmann has been lobbying top officials in Brussels in a bid to block any European move to send post-hurricane reliefor other finacial aid to Nassau.
Mr. Fuhrmann told The Tribune Tuesday: “They wre amazed at what i had to tell them. They were appalled at some of the disclosures I made about the way things are done in the Bahamas.”
The investor sternly criticised Mr. Miller’s attendance at ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and told senior officials that it was ridiculous to regard the Bahamas as a “least developed country (LDC)”.
Mr. Fuhrmann said the Bahamas is not an LDC so the European Union should not provide its government with any additional financing over the 2005-2010 period.
In a press statement issued Tuesday, Mr. Fuhrmann said: “Nobody except the government, by itself, is guilty of allowing a handful a of people to control the economic plight of the majority of the population. High duties, even on basic items, are the cause of poverty in the Bahamas.”
“The Bahamas’ prime minister perry Christei never tires of repeating that he cuts red tape for foreign investors, I know many investors who gave up trying to invest money in this little island nation due to widespread bureacracy, difficulties in getting licences, obligations to employ unskilled workers, as well as racism and injustice towards white foreigners.”
Mr. Fuhrmann said Bahamians themselves were responsible for the unusually high cost of capital developments in the country because of low level productivity.
“Concerning Eurpoena development activities, it is absurd to spend the money of European taxpayers in such countries where the prices are so high and productivity so low,” he said.
“There is no true need in supporting the Bahamian government. In Europe and the US, with all its highways and autobahns, every second person owns a car. In the Bahamas every fifth person is proud to own a car.”
“But look at the statistics of the low developed countries,” stated Mr. Fuhrmann, “In Haiti it is every 220the person and the ACP members from African areas are Rwanda (500), Sudan (1,000) and in Somalia every 5,700the person has car. Now you know where the poorest people live in our world.
Real estate agents might laugh if you requested a property in the exclusive Lyford Cay development for less than one million US dollars. Foreigners can barley imagine how much a villa is,” he said.
“Look at the long lines at the various burger restaurants – it seems everyone is too lazy to cook or has enpugh money to afford such meals.
“Shopping trips to Florida consume a substantial percentage of the average Bahamian’s budget. Per capita Internet connectivity and cable television percentages are higher than in the United States.
“Considering this background it is a shame for the Bahamian government to ask for international support, considering that Bahamians have an average income per capita of $45 dollars a day and income from drug trafficking is not included in that figure.
“Many Bahamians have been used to living on handouts from other countries for centuries. Hopefully, the requested report fromthe delegation of the European Commission in Jamaica will shed some light on the darkness or Leslie Miller as a fair partner will announce the cancellation of the Bahamas from the list of real low developed countries.
“However, the Council of the EU needs to make the right decision, focus on the poorest nations and develop a variety of activities, inclduing dialogue with official parties and advocacy.”
Source: The Tribune
