Unless the government enacts mandatory jail terms for unscrupulous merchants, all consumer protection legislation will not be successful.
This, according to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Leslie Miller, while making his contribution to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Bill in the House of Assembly, Wednesday. The Bill will make available adequate protection for the average person doing business with others in The Bahamas.
The Trade and Industry Minister told his Parliamentary colleagues that there has to be redress in The Bahamas to assist those who are not in a position to support themselves.
He charged that many of the laws that the government are proposing to implement, including amendments to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Bill should have some “teeth” and become sufficient enough to enable individuals, such as unscrupulous contractors to know that if he takes advantage of a Bahamian, they will have to pay the consequences.
“Until and unless we have in our laws, the necessary minimum jail terms, I think it will be a wasted effort in trying to bring anything to bear on some Bahamians in this country. I hate to say this, but experience has shown that unless jail term is proposed in any of these consumer legislations, we are simply wasting our time in this honourable chamber,” he charged.
Minister Miller, who outlined several examples of how consumers are ripped off, informed that there are thousands of local building contractors that are ripping off many individuals, especially single females, before vanishing. He said that some contractors would take a deposit from females and simply walk away, or sign a contract to construct a dwelling, but never live up to its terms.
“I know of one instance where a gentleman started a house for a lady that was supposed to cost some $106,000. She advanced him the sum of $82,000 and the roof was just about to go on, but he said that he needed the balance to pay his daughter’s school fees in the U.S.,” he said, adding that the contractor, upon receiving funds, left the capital and never returned.
According to Minister Miller, when such acts are committed by contractors, there are no fines or penalties for delays in contractual agreements. He noted that a “first class” architect would ensure that there is a penalty, but such acts are not enforced.
“If a man has already gotten your money and he does not have any funds of his own to complete your structure, what do you do? The normal recourse is to go to court, but the normal results is that little or nothing is done,” he said, adding that the cycle will continue to repeat itself.
The Trade and Industry Minister said that consumer education is an integral part of the protection of consumers in the country. He said that a lot needs to be done to enhance and educate consumers about their rights and some of the pitfalls that they may encounter along the road to self-sufficiency.
Using the purchasing of an automobile as an example, he noted that the average consumer in most cases, depends on banking institutions to borrow money for a car, quite unaware of their rights.
“Instead of going to the bank with any bargaining chip, they go into that institution lifeless, with no clothes on, as far as what their rights are and what they can expect. There is no bargaining between an average consumer in The Bahamas walking into any financial institution in this country, nor does that institution assist the consumer in helping to get the best interest rate,” he informed.
Minister Miller also outlined that those persons in the community that are generally taken advantage of, are the poor and disadvantaged. He said that such individuals lose faith in society, the government as well as themselves for having trusted another individual with their money. “I believe that we have an obligation to protect and to assist those persons who cannot protect themselves and society would be ashamed if it did anything less,” he said.
Minister Miller said the disadvantages faced by some consumers, is by no means limited to the construction industry. He also pointed out that many are also being ripped off by realtors, merchants that sell expired goods and car salesman that sell Japanese vehicles without the necessary parts.
Meanwhile, Minister Miller said, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Bill, 2002 is most timely and necessary to enhance the protection of consumers throughout The Bahamas.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
