PAGE 4, Tuesday, December 10, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH,
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,
jamaaltheartist@gmail.com
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,
C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-
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Why the sudden turnaround on minimum wage? THE news of a rise in the minimum wage to at least $300 per week will be a welcome one for public workers – and beyond if the private sector follows suit. But it does seem a surprising move – particularly at this moment in time. We have a hurricane-sized hole in our finances, and the cost of rebuilding Grand Bahama and Abaco to come, so there must have been some serious bean counting going on to work out if we can afford to increase the minimum wage right now. It’s also a surprise given that it appears to have come despite a wave of government denials. In August, Finance Minister Peter Turnquest said the government had not given any detailed consideration to increasing the minimum wage. Hurricane Dorian hit two weeks later, throwing all kinds of consideration awry. At the same time, National Tripartite Council member Peter Goudie said that talk the council was debating a minimum wage increase was “unequivocally not true”. He said: “There has been no discussion on it, and I’m the one who led all the research last time on the minimum wage when it was increased from $150 to $210 per week. We had considered the idea of reviewing of every couple of years but, because inflation is low and the economy as we all know is awful, it’s not been on our agenda.”
Union leaders in August were wanting a rise to between $250 and $300 – the government is looking to make that $300 the lower level of their considerations, and even raising it to perhaps $350. A minimum wage increase is a complex issue – of course, workers deserve to be properly paid for the employment they provide, and that means they should be able to go home with enough money that they don’t have to worry where their next meal is coming from or of how much they can afford to put a roof over their head. This column has in the past also called for consideration of a living wage proposal – a figure higher than the minimum wage which could be used as an aspiration for businesses to aim for, and which would factor into consideration for contracts from government, which would go to businesses that paid their workers better. If the government has done its figures, and can afford a minimum wage increase, then it is a positive thing for those workers earning the lowest wages. But we do wonder – given how determinedly previous talk of a rise was shrugged off – if this truly is affordable right now. We welcome the move – but we don’t want to risk the economy at this most delicate moment either. Do your sums carefully, Mr Turnquest. There’s a lot riding on them.
Safety first A BOY is in hospital tonight – injured after he played with a gun he found in a relative’s home. He and another child found the gun inside the home and were playing with it when it went off. We are lucky that the boy is alive. We hope he makes a full recovery. Guns in the home are not to be taken lightly. If you have one, it must be
secured. It shouldn’t be kept loaded, either. It is a weapon and a danger – and should be respected. Safety should be the first goal of any gun owner. So if you have one? Lock it away. Keep it unloaded until it’s ready to use. These children just wanted to play – it’s for adults to make sure that dangerous toys are kept well out of reach.
Are we still beyond our Ken? EDITOR, The Tribune YOUR editorial on Wednesday December 4 is apropos. Even before Dorian, we had the launch of our Tech Hub in Freeport and I had hoped that we might have opened our eyes beyond our shores, but clearly we hadn’t, and if Freeport has not borne the fruit that we had hoped for, maybe now is a good time to look around and see what the competition is doing. The Cayman Islands, or at least its main benefactor Kenneth Dart, very likely took the original concept of Freeport Bahamas, and created, among other ventures “Cayman Enterprise City” (CEC), a city within a city “. Sound familiar? Tenants of CEC, in addition to getting various levels of office accommodation and services, had a given level of work permits thrown in FREE. I don’t know what the numbers are now but several years ago, I recall AS the cost of living increases in the country, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said his policy is in place to “protect the poor and marginalised” – readers gave their reaction on tribune242.com. Proudloudandfnm posted this comment: “You say you’re protecting the poor but you never said how. All these prices going through the roof but you never said how you’re protecting them . . .”
that one could get shared office accommodation and three work permits for about 12,000.00 Cayman dollars. By contrast, under our competitive offering in the tech hub, work permits would be available for professional/technical people from upwards of 12,000.00 per person. The bottom line is that no one is going to set up their tech, or medical business, in Freeport and pay a thirty-six thousand dollar premium for work permits, over a similar option in Grand Cayman where the permits are included in the rent? Not to mention other competitive imbalances, such as value added tax and high import duties. I think that sometimes our Government feels that we exist in a vacuum, and for some things that is true, (Real Estate, Legal, Retail and Wholesale), so we only have to be competitive locally. Although our closed shop Legal Profession keeps our financial
BONEFISH said: “Poor fiscal policies by this FNM government have caused the cost of living to increase so dramatically. Three former cabinet ministers in the Ingraham
services business far behind that of the Cayman Islands. Perhaps the best plan for Grand Bahama now is to revisit some of the elements of the original Hawksbill Creek Agreement and see what kind of economic activity might flow from another fifty years of that. Sadly, Ken Dart came to Nassau, under the previous Government, and was so unimpressed, or disgusted, that he turned around and left. Maybe some humble diplomacy could entice him back but if not maybe there are others with similar big dreams out there. The old adage is as true today as a hundred years ago “you have to spend money to make money” and for a Government, giving up on some tax revenue is the equivalent of spending money. BRUCE G RAINE Nassau, December 8, 2019. cabinet basically said so. Also a journalist linked to a former cabinet minister in the Ingraham government basically predicted this may happen. They have created on their own accord some fiscal and monetary problems, Some of these problems they may not be able to solve. Economics is a very complex subject. It is not as simple as Turnquest and Johnson believe.”
Dorian: More than just a natural phenomenon EDITOR, The Tribune A PROMINENT Family Island prophet from the Pentecostal community is purported to have predicted the coming of Hurricane Dorian to Grand Bahama as divine judgment. If this claim is accurate, his recent prophecy regarding New Providence and Andros conjures up a sense of foreboding for The Bahamas – seeing that the capital city is located in the former. The country has already been dealt a harsh blow with its second and third largest economies being brought to their knees by Dorian to the extent that the unemployment rate on Grand Bahama now stands at 50 percent. In Abaco, I would assume that it is much worse. I shudder to think about the ramifications of New Providence and Paradise Island being pummelled by a major hurricane, considering the many Over-the-Hill shanty town communities in Nassau as well as flood prone areas such as Pinewood Gardens. If a Category Five storm like Dorian could pummel Freeport, despite its strict Grand Bahama Port Authority building codes, what would it do to Bain and Grants Town, Englerston and Farm Road? That’s a scary thought. Judgment can be averted by repentance, and
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net a return to our Christian heritage. With an official tally of 70 deaths and an estimated $3.4 billion in damages to Grand Bahama and Abaco, Grand Bahamians, who are accustomed to weathering major hurricanes, view Hurricane Dorian as an unusual storm, because it lingered for three days over the North West Bahamas. To Grand Bahamians, it looked like an intelligent mind was steering Dorian. God is good. Yet how does one reconcile God’s goodness with the Dorian tragedy? Herein lies the role of Gottfried Leibniz’s theodicy, which argues that this is the best of all possible worlds. The only other alternative would be a world of automatons, which would be dehumanising to human beings. Free will is intrinsic to our humanity. God is sovereign. Yet in His infinite wisdom, He chose to grant to His creation, man, free will. Man exercised that freedom in rebelling against his Creator in Eden. As a result of that initial rebellion, man must now contend with the reality of moral and natural evil, Hurricane Dorian being of the latter. So was Dorian judgment
on Grand Bahama and Abaco? Yes, but only insofar that God lifted His hedge of protection from both islands. Many Grand Bahamians believe that Dorian was demonic, amid reports of Grand Bahamians and Abaconians seeing demonic entities and voodoo paraphernalia during the storm (this writer being one of them). They believe that Satan was behind the storm. And there is biblical grounds for such an hypothesis. In Job 1:18-19, Satan murders the children of the Old Testament patriarch by sending either a tornado or a hurricane. In Luke 8:22-25, Mark 4:35-41 and Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus rebukes the tempest, which has led many Bible scholars to believe that Satan was behind it. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air.” This implies that he has the ability to manipulate the weather, within the parameters of God’s sovereign will. Granted, this theory is politically incorrect to some people. But many Grand Bahamians believe that a demonic mastermind was behind Hurricane Dorian. To them, Dorian was much more than just a natural phenomenon. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama December 8, 2019.
The poor are the majority EDITOR, The Tribune PM says he’s focused on the poor? Seriously? According to The Nassau Guardian, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said, “We feel that the wealthy, the rich individuals, regardless of the outcome, they would be able to survive and protect themselves. And we would still need them to help generate jobs, employment, etc, but we would do all we can to protect that grouping that needs protection, and that is the poor and marginalised. So, regardless of what happened, policies will be there to ensure their protection.” There is little to nothing that this administration has done to help the poor in The Bahamas. Even less to help the economy here. Their raising the
level of VAT did not help the poor. Their going along with the rate hikes by BEC/ BPL did not help the poor. Their ignoring of Family Islands needs have not helped the poor. Their continued borrowing of money at high interest rates did not help the poor. Their inability to crack down on crime has not helped the poor. Their lack of attention in providing quality health care at PMH has not helped the poor. Their lack of planning for hurricane relief did not help the poor. Their allowing the web shops to continue fleecing the poor, did not help the poor. Their lack of understanding of our economy, by making the statement that we need the rich to, provide jobs and employment, (aren’t jobs and employment the same thing?), has not helped the
poor. Minnis, by his choice of words, refers to poor people as a “grouping”. I always thought that the poor were people. This administration, like the one before, is beholden to the moneyed interests for their survival. They have few policies, let alone Christian policies, which would indicate they give a rat’s ass about the poor. Dr Minnis, the poor are not a grouping. The poor are the majority of Bahamians. Your lack of understanding of basic economics and your inability to honestly empathise with the majority of your people show clearly that you are not suited to be Prime Minister of The Bahamas. PORCUPINE Nassau, December 8, 2019.