There was a time in The Bahamas when activism was demonstrated by political organizations and labour unions. This has dramatically changed as political parties and labour unions do not take to the streets as often today as they did in previous years. As a matter of fact, both of these bodies have become very conservative in their activism. Hitting the streets is not the politically correct course of action for political parties and organizations these days; this is certainly the case with the major political parties and unions.
Community activists are now binding themselves into a network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are proving to be a very effective representation of Bahamian civil society.
These NGOs are essentially issue orientated and have taken up topics which are specific to heritage, the environment, community life, human rights and regional and hemispheric matters with a national focus i.e. the Free Trade Areas of The Americas (FTAA) and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Over the past 24 months, The Bahamas has been a “hot” location for several large investment projects. Some of these are billion dollar projects, (Kerzner Group’s Atlantis Phase III and The BahaMar Development of Cable Beach), several Family Island mega projects, (Guana Cay, Abaco, Mayaguana, Eleuthera, Rum Cay, Exuma) Liquefied Nitrogen Gas (LNG by AES at Ocean Cay off Bimini, and in Grand Bahama with Tractabel and El Paso).
All of these projects have sensitized the citizenry to the impact these projects will have on the environment, community life in the Family Islands, causing considerable socio-economic transformation resulting from the employment, which these projects will generate and the type of businesses, which will emanate from these undertakings.
In one instance, locals are clamoring for a project which had been halted but not totally rejected. It is the aquaculture project by Ocean Farms on Inagua.
NGOs with international connections like ReEarth have taken the government of The Bahamas to task on the issue of the LNG installation by the AES Corporation on Ocean Cay. Multi-national NGOs with local affiliates can destabilize governments of small island economies like The Bahamas. Countries whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism can be negatively impacted by adverse public relations on a global issue such as the environment.
Recently in Grand Bahama, the Grand Bahama Bahama Rights Commission has mounted a strong advertising campaign against The Bahamas becoming a full participant in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) by becoming a signatory to the revised Treaty of Chaguaramus and a partner in CSME. The Grand Bahama group has maintained a steady stream of advertisements against CSME involvement.
On Guana Cay, the residents took court action against the government of The Bahamas because the government approved a residential/resort project which included a golf course and a 100 slip marina. The residents feel that their way of life would be compromised by this project so they have resorted to staging protests, demonstrations and have initiated legal action against the government.
In 2002, the Clifton Cay Coalition challenged the government of The Bahamas regarding the preservation of Clifton as a heritage site. It eventually became an issue in the general election.
These actions by NGOs in the civil life of this archipelago have indicated that there has been a loss of confidence in the manner in which representatives of the people are articulating the concerns of the citizenry. It is becoming blatantly obvious that civil society is bypassing the political directorate and confronting the government head on with its concerns. With a general election less than 24 months ago, some of these may evolve into thorny political issues.
In additions to the NGOs, there are advocacy entities like The Bahamian Forum which caused a national furor on the sensitive subject of illegal immigrants. The Forum highlighted the fact that there were thousand of Haitians who were born in The Bahamas but were in a “stateless” condition as they lacked national determination. It was determined that there were thousands of children born to Haitian parents prior to Independence and had applied for Bahamian citizenship but were still in “limbo”. In some cases, they have been “stateless” for years.
Bahamians are no longer adopting the laid back, docile approach to matters which they feel may impact them negatively. Also, they are not sitting back and waiting for their elected representatives to fight for their interests. Through organized bodies, groups of Bahamians with similar outlook and philosophy are establishing a common agenda to redirect public policy.
In this information era, civil society is ——- the impetus for a say in public policy.
Governments all over the world are coming to realize that the citizenry expects to be consulted through the elected term of a government not just during the period leading up to a general election. Based on the European experience in the recent EU referendum, the French and Dutch people demonstrated to their governments that the political directorate was out of step with electorate. May be there is a lesson here for the Bahamian political directorate.
In 1992 after the FNM victory, Sir Lynden Pindling, the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas after realizing that his government of 25 years had been defeated stated that “the voice of the people was the voice of God.”
By: Godfrey Eneas, The Bahama Journal
