Bahama Pundit had an excellent article relating to the latest PLP Immigration debacle yesterday. Read it here…
His summary?
"However, there is one thing we are sure of – reverting to the Pindling era of political intimidation and racial hostility is no recipe for either economic development or social equity. It is so easy for cynical politicians to spout aggressive propaganda with no constructive engagement, but where will that get the rest of us in the end?"
And he is so right.
However, I wonder if Mr. Mitchell, in his fervent posturing, would care to let Bahamians know how many expatriates there are working for The Bahamas Government. The expats in the schools, the Courts, and Princes Margaret Hospital alone must be a substantial number?
But I guess it's easier to demonise the foreign investor, rather than fixing public education and those areas where the governemnt fails our people. But political posturing does not put bread on the table. Economic growth, fueled by foreign direct investment does.
And working in the Immigration dept to.
OK.. Lets send ever foreign workers home and see what happens.. The whole government as well as the economy will probably grind to a screaming halt.. The real issue, which always gets swept under the rug, is labor (employment) productivity.. Lets face it, we Bahamians are known to be not very productive workers on the job.. In fact on a cost productivity basis, the Bahamas ranks in the lowest quartile in the world..
To rant and rage and have a show of force ever few years about foreign workers is just political rhetoric designed to stir up the public and divert the public’s attention from the more pressing issues of the day.. The same is true for the Immigration police who selectively pick on a few large firms while ignoring the real issues of illegal foreigners who do take jobs away from Bahamians..
Even Gengis Khan knew the beneficial value of a multi ethnic society and the benefits gained from the infusion and acceptance of foreign ideas and influences in all of his dominions.
Absolutely Legend. Expats contribute far more than they take.
And Tradewinds you are spot on.
I had an aunt, not blood related but a good soul non the less,
having spent at the time 20+years teaching Bahamian kids,unceremoniously told “you have 14 days to pack your shit and leave” for no better reason than a Bahamian had eyeballed her job.
This is cold, hard and unscrupulous, but was the modus operandi of the day.
Was the Bahamian qualified? Not really. Capable? Not really.
Politics. Stink, dirty, typical, foreign phobic politics.
Hell, as a Bahamian I was once challenged by Immigration officers who were called by a resident Jamaican housekeeper who had heard me speaking to a foreign home owner when discussing work wanted.
That I had some fun with.
I must’ve sounded foreign.
Those were some embarrassed immigration officers…..
try as you might,
you can’t fix stupid.