Prime Minister Perry Christie challenged other top government officials on Thursday to place as much emphasis on securing the success of small businesses as that given to multimillion-dollar mega resorts.
Mr. Christie urged the group to consider the policies and strategies in place to ensure that the Bahamian businessperson is able to take full advantage of the new economies unfolding in each island.
“For there to be the broadest and deepest degree of stability in our country, for us to guarantee the future of our country in terms of the wholesomeness of our economy, we are going to have to have as much a priority attached – if not more – to the development of Bahamian businesses, as we do to the successful management of the outside investments,” Mr. Christie said.
The prime minister was bringing the keynote address at the start of a two-day seminar at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort that brought together permanent secretaries and heads of departments, who are senior policy advisers to public corporations and key government agencies.
International experts are also attending the workshop to provide guidance based on their experience in such issues in their own countries.
Officials said the workshop arose out of the “critical” need to improve the overall coordination and timely response from the public service when faced with mega-resorts.
More specifically, the aim is to develop a pre-clearance mechanism to provide essential input during the negotiating stages of future projects, including land use and environmental impact analyses.
Mr. Christie said the success of an investment project depends crucially on the public sector ensuring that at every stage of each development, it has in place all of the required resources and facilities.
He urged the group to consider how it would assist in designing initiatives and programmes that would form public policies to ensure that the country is able to cope with what is taking place.
“I have been meeting with young businesspersons over the past five to six weeks. They do not know enough about policies. Even the commercial banks sometimes donﾒt know enough about government guaranteed programmes and they feel immensely frustrated over the bureaucracy,” the prime minister said.
Mr. Christie added that because each investment will probably make urgent demands on public sector services, it is crucial that planning, coordination, monitoring and supervision capabilities are in place to ensure the success of each project.
“The public sector must be able to satisfy each of the major investors that it is one of the most capable and competent in the region. Other countries in the region and the international organizations such as the [International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank will be watching our progress and our efforts with great interest,” he said.
“Each agency must understand its own specific role and needs, its own needs for cooperation and coordination with other public sector agencies, and its capacity to monitor and meet any crisis [that] might rise because crises always arise when the scale of activity is so large and the timescale so short,” he said.
“So the country needs you to go out there and whip [things] in line. Things are running way ahead and there is not any use of being insecure about it. You have to be able to admit that this thing is racing and we have to come to understand how to deal with it more effectively.”
Mr. Christie was not alone in expressing such sentiments.
Minister of State for Finance James Smith too stressed that given the scale of the projects underway or in the pipeline, the senior management of the public sector will face formidable challenges and responsibilities that they must be prepared for.
The minister stressed that some of the major challenges include proper planning, budgeting and coordination between and among agencies to ensure that the projects are not unduly delayed at the ministerial and department levels.
He added that there is also the need for effective and timely execution and processing of government approval.
“Next is our ability to evaluate, track progress and monitor the project implementation to ensure the developers adhere to best practices, standards and follow closely, existing rules and regulations,” Minister Smith further explained.
“An important consideration is also the availability of adequate local skilled and un-skilled manpower for the construction, management and maintenance of the various projects.
“Another is the provision of supplementary infrastructural support services such as transport, telecommunications, energy, water, sanitation, electricity and water management needed to support these investment projects. And lastly, our ability to effectively protect our ecosystems against environmental degradation and abuse.”
According to Minister Smith, success in meeting these challenges and responsibilities will prove to the world and to the region that The Bahamas is fully capable of rising to the highest levels of efficiency in bringing about its economic and social transformation.
There will be a report on the results of the workshop. There will also be a questionnaire to complete by each senior officer attending
The prime minister said he looks forward to seeing the report and comments on what he feels is a crucial initiative to the success of investments over the next 12 to 24 months.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
