More jobs, no new taxes, and futuristic planning for the economy are key components of the Progress Liberal Party governmentﾴs plans for this New Year, according to Prime Minister Perry Christie.
In a recent interview with the Bahama Journal, Mr. Christie disclosed some of the projects, initiatives, and challenges his government is expected to face in 2005.
ﾓAs we move into 2005 we have the challenge of whether or not we will be able to secure the right deal at Cable Beach, the challenge of whether or not we will be able to secure the right deal at South Ocean, which are two very active resort proposals we have,ﾒ he said.
He also revealed that the government has finally procured the funds to purchase the 200 plus acres of Clifton Cay ﾖ located on the western tip of New Providence.
ﾓFor the first time I will be indicating that we have raised the monies to cover our obligation to purchase Clifton,ﾒ Mr. Christie said. ﾓYou will therefore see considerable activities in 2005 towards making the 200 plus acres at Clifton a heritage park that will enable Bahamians and Bahamian families to go down there.ﾒ
He also said construction is slated to begin this year on the national stadium which will be funded by the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, Mr. Christie noted that a major challenge of the government is the creation of jobs for most of the 4,500 students who graduate annually.
ﾓI have purposely not taken a break since I have been elected,ﾒ he said. ﾓI have worked every day in the interest of trying to secure certain major economic agreements that would provide new construction jobs and ultimately permanent jobs.ﾒ
The prime minister said The Bahamas requires a planning mechanism that would stem the flow of Bahamians from the Family Islands to New Providence and Grand Bahama.
This year, the government hopes to ﾓconsolidateﾒ developments in Bimini and Abaco and bring on stream new developments in Eleuthera, Cat Island, Mayaguana, Crooked Island and Rum Cay.
With thousands of jobs expected to come on stream in short order, Mr. Christie said it is imperative that his government implement major training initiatives to complement the influx of new and existing jobs.
ﾓWe are creating jobs having no real assurance that Bahamians are equipped in the numbers that we would wish them to be to fill those jobs,ﾒ he noted.
Another government emphasis going into 2005/2006 is to provide Bahamians with greater opportunities to be more meaningfully employed and integrated into the economy as employees and employers, he added.
ﾓSo you will see programmes that are calculated to give Bahamians greater access to capital [and] greater access to management expertise,ﾒ Mr. Christie said.
ﾓOftentimes we give people the opportunity to borrow money and we donﾴt pay attention to what happens when they borrow it and we are going to add another component to this access to capital to truly superintend the administration of loans in many instances.ﾒ
Meantime, the nationﾴs chief said he has taken a measured approach to systematically reducing the countryﾴs deficit in an orderly incremental fashion that allows the economy of The Bahamas to continue to grow.
During the budget debate last June, the prime minister indicated that the budget deficit for this fiscal year was expected to be around $140 million.
But following the September hurricanes, he conceded that that projection is likely to be greater. The Central Bank of The Bahamas, meanwhile, has indicated that the deficit is expected to be significantly higher than the June projection.
ﾓSince I have been elected I have resisted all efforts to increase taxation,ﾒ Mr. Christie told the Bahama Journal. ﾓI am committed to finding additional sources of revenue with the context of those taxes that we have.ﾒ
Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
January 4, 2004
