by Rick Lowe
Well Mr. Leslie Miller, Minister of Trade and Industry (read anti trade and industry) appeared with Mr. Michael Pintard on Love 97’s Issues of the Day radio programme today.
His first lament was that Bahamians have a colonial mindset and do not want to buy goods manufactured here.
For the record, our colonial masters have been gone for 38 years and if we still have a colonial mindset, we had better get over it.
In addition to that, if the local manufacturers cannot get their goods into established businesses for sale, maybe they should consider a coop like people do in other former colonies. By now the manufacturers should have freed themselves from mental slavery, as Bob Marley implored us all to do.
Mind you, he admitted to Mr. Pintard that he does not buy Bahamian in his Ministry of Trade and Industry!!! So that tells us something. This is really a remarkable admission as Mr. Miller holds himself up as the champion of light manufacturing for the country. To top it off, we stand to be corrected but we believe his Ministry is in charge of local manufacturing???
His second lament was PetroCaribe, and yet again, other than calling people liars, he could not justify his position with anything more than rhetoric.
Why not just tell Bahamians that you misunderstood the agreement you signed and you will attempt to negotiate better fuel prices in a separate agreement? That would be easier than continuing this public argument.
His final lament was accusing representatives of the business sector of saying that The Bahamas does not need Consumer Protection legislation. Mr. Miller is of course being politically expedient. He was reminded that he always leaves out the fact that the business sector representatives said that there are numerous laws covering fraud on the books already and the justice system should be supported to enforce them.
What is always intriguing about this gentleman is, in true Bahamian potcake fashion, when challenged he growls, skins his teeth and runs around in circles chasing his tail, but does not defend himself with facts.
Of course we believe Mr. Miller is sincere in his views, but that does not make other people less sincere if they differ with him.
The lament obout the colonial mindset is that the Government owns it, and it centers on “colonial control”
The “colonials” may be gone, but the mentality got transferred to politicians. If they ever woke up to the honest potential of our country and its people they would offer a thousand pardons, and retreat to their “cabinet” to count the surplus of money they would have!(to waste)
Its going to take the concerted effort of dedicated private citizens, civil servants, elected officials and a common vision to fix all that ails our country and until that happens, we will se no real change. On the state of manufacturing and local business and markets, with the ever increasing problems the medium and large businesses are having staying afloat, how is the small guy ever going to get out of the ground? Government must come to realize they cannot continue to demonize private enterprise and at the same time have them fund the treasury.(and their arrogance)
as the old saying goes,”you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink……..
One day they too will be thirsty.
I do not understand for the life of me, how our Prime Minister could put someone like Miller in charge of any ministry at all. This man does not know how to talk to people at all.It seems to me that he is one of these do as I say, not as I do kind of “Pot Cakes”.It is way past time for a change !