Noting that the government would do all in its power to ensure Bahamians were gainfully employed, he said, residents should not hesitate to take advantage as the various projects came on-stream.
During “The Prime Minister Speaks,” a 90-minute programme aired live via television and radio, Mr. Christie fielded journalists’ questions on a wide variety of topics, including: the economy, foreign investment, globalisation and domestic and foreign policy.
The programme was held at the British Colonial Hilton, with virtually Mr Christie’s entire cabinet providing moral support.
Value for money
With the existence of much foreign competition, Mr Christie said, “What I am concerned about is what happens to The Bahamas if we do not become more aware of how much it costs to do business in The Bahamas and how much it costs to do business in competing jurisdictions in this region.
“We have an obligation to come to grips with our product, to know that people think in great numbers that our product may be lousy, or their experience is bad and they are not getting value for money. We know these things, and the Bahamian public therefore must judge us on what we can do about these things,” he said.
Job training
The increased investment activity will require a greater focus on training an existing pool of unemployed labour, Mr Christie said, noting that the Government was engaged in developing a joint venture, whereby each developer would commit, funds, resources and personnel to help train such persons.
“What we have to do is have viable, efficient training programmes, and to date, we have not met that challenge,” he said, adding that the Kerzner group has agreed to dedicate resources to assist with training, in addition to personnel.
Mr Christie said that e-commerce development, agriculture and fisheries development would help to strengthen the Bahamian economy.
Avoiding ‘moral reprehension’
Responding to a question on his approach to trade unions, Mr. Christie said The Bahamas cannot allow itself to be controlled by individual groups, and there must be a common understanding of what it takes to make the country “work.”
He challenged trade union leaders to learn more about their country, and avoid incurring the “moral reprehension” of the general populace, by not being seen to take a constructive approach to negotiations.
Accoring to the prime minister, “The president of the hotel union knows that the only way we were are going to make tangible progress, is for the hotel union, the government and employers to immediately after they have settled this industrial agreement, to move forward to have national discussion on all of the issues that impact unions and their workers.”
“I am committed to sharing fairly with workers,” Mr Christie said, “but I am also committed to ensuring that wherever necessary, my government will promulgate laws that are deemed to be in the best interest of the country. Most certainly, it is an open one and it is not an anti-union one.”
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
