The new issue of The Bahamas Investor Magazine has finally hit the newsstands. Gracing its front cover are Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments; Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services and Michael Halkitis, minister of state for finance. The lead article, entitled “New Team, New Vision”, features the three PLP ministers who, according to the magazine, are charged with steering the economy to greater prosperity.
The substantive minister of finance is Prime Minister Perry Christie. These four men are the financial policymakers of this country. The country will only go as far as they take it. And if the first nine months are any indication as to where they are leading this country, then every Bahamian should have cause for concern.
Halkitis recently informed the country that the PLP government might have to borrow more money after the interim budget is presented in Parliament in early February. Since coming to high office in May 2012, the PLP has already borrowed $550 million. Yet the government is seriously contemplating borrowing an additional $100 million to $200 million in order to cover its deficit of some $700 million. This is only for the 2012/2013 budget. That is nearly a billion dollars.
How did the PLP government manage to blow through $550 million in an eight-month period? Where did all that money go? If this is the new vision The Bahamas Investor is talking about, then heaven help us. If the PLP government is running such massive unsustainable deficits, Christie needs to bite the bullet and cut costs across the board. He needs to take austerity measures before his new team of financial ministers drag this country to third world status. He can begin doing this by reducing the size of his bloated Cabinet of 21 ministers to 10. With a projected deficit of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars, the taxpayers cannot afford such a massive Cabinet. Christie can also put a moratorium on international travel for government ministers and other high ranking officials. Christie especially needs to keep a close eye on his Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell. Seems that Mitchell’s main objective is to visit every nation in the world at the expense of taxpayers. His travel costs in the first Christie administration were nearly $1 million. And that was when the economy was healthy.
Now we are in the midst of the Great Recession. The country cannot afford him visiting every nook and cranny in the world. Christie must also impose a hiring freeze. Since May 7, hundreds of PLPs have been added to the civil service. It is rumored that NIB, ZNS and other government-run agencies have been inundated with new employees who are PLPs. Had BTC still been under the control of the government, that organization would have also been teeming with PLPs. Christie should also give serious consideration to closing several of our consulate offices and embassies abroad. For instance, why do we have an embassy in Britain when only a handful of British visit The Bahamas? We are gaining very little in return for the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, that are being spent annually to maintain that office.
The government has appointed several PLP stalwarts to consulate and ambassadorial positions. One of these appointees is in his seventies. This is a waste of money. There have been rumors of substantial contracts being awarded to PLP cronies in urban renewal to clear down old abandoned houses and bushes. This is done to fight crime they tell us. Again, the taxpayers’ monies are being spent carelessly with no regard to taking prudent measures. I see no sense of urgency from the PLP concerning the financial mess we are presently in. The so-called new vision of the PLP is destroying this country. At this rate, we should be a third world nation in four years.
By: The Whistleblower
