Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham framed the issue at hand earlier this year in an address to the nation. As the nation’s chief admonished, "We must never lose sight of the reality that as the world’s economy shrinks, competition increases.
We must therefore – as a people united in service and love – place ourselves at the forefront of the drive for efficiency and productivity if we wish to achieve and maintain global competitiveness.
The time is now for the Bahamian people to realize that the world in which they live, work and where they might prosper, remains one that rewards productivity and creativity.
All else would be for naught.
They can do so by working hard, remaining sober, being diligent and otherwise, giving value for value received.
While much of this is easier said than done and while some others might dither and others dawdle, clearly things are going from bad to worse.
We need merely refer to some of the grief some employers are obliged to experience as they try to keep their businesses afloat.
Utility costs are high; so is the price of labor.
There is little to no commensurate value coming the employer’s way – this due to the fact that labour is expensive, often incompetent and just as often, simply unavailable.
This and more information just like this, serves to underscore the urgency in the moment for all hands to be put to work if things are going to be kept together.
Some of our people are today slowly but surely coming to the realization that they will be obliged to work harder, study more, get more training and otherwise become more competitive if they hope to make it.
There are also deeper issues that directly impinge on and which therefore affect productivity. Some of these relate to family background, class status and nutrition; all of which have a direct bearing on the level of work education, training and ultimately work ethic and capacity.
This question of productivity cuts to the heart of that matter that turns on whether the Bahamas has what it takes to compete in the region and in the wider world.
Sadly, the answer must be in the negative.
We just do not have what it takes to compete with nations that have vast numbers of disciplined workers – men and women who work well and hard – and who do have what it takes to create value.
Discipline is the key.
But not only is discipline important, globalization – as a major force – is ruthless. Here the mantra is compete or perish.
The time is now for the Bahamian people to realize that the world in which they live, work and where they might prosper, remains one that rewards productivity and creativity.
People in the know tell us that small businesses – some of them family run operations – are responsible for providing jobs to the vast majority of Bahamians who need them.
In addition, government can and should take the lead in bringing such relief to these kinds of enterprises. But there is more.
Note well that, we are also quite convinced that employees can – in their own self-interest – do much more to help see to it that their employment remains real and buoyant.
This stands in direct contrast to larger enterprises where workers are being routinely ‘thrown overboard’ in efforts to help staunch a company’s money-hemorrhage; thus the emergence here of late of that rising ocean of unemployed and underemployed Bahamians.
Clearly, these people must thereafter depend on help from neighbours, family and friends.
In time, this becomes onerous; at other times, limits are reached.
In this regard, Freeport and Grand Bahama, more generally are in what seems to be their last throes. Things are just that bad.
Something is dreadfully out of whack when some who are doing do much are afforded so very little help.
Hanging in the balance is any number of jobs, the money expended on them, and the greater good these assist in bringing to fruition.
We are absolutely convinced that more and better can be done to help these kinds of businesses stay afloat in these hard economic times.
Evidently, government can and should do all that it can to assist those who are doing all they can to survive the ravages inherent in these challenges.
