Nassau, Bahamas — If the words of Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding can be seen as a forecasting of what is to come in the Bahamas, then the ARROGANT FNM Government better get ready for a serious fallout around the country.
Golding was reported in the Gleaner newspaper telling members of the police force and workers at the National Water Commission, “Don’t bully me!” after his government announced a wage freeze on public servants in that Caribbean island nation.
“This Government is not going to be cowered, is not going to be yielding, and is not going to be genuflecting, simply because people believe they have a kind of power that can hold the country to ransom,” the Jamaican prime minister said.
We’ve mentioned this to put in context this fact. Golding like Ingraham both won the governments of their perspective countries by the skin of their teeth. One told his citizens, “We Need Change” and the other said in electing him you would find “Leadership You Can Trust”, today both are miserably failing their people.
Bahamas Press has learned that the government of the Bahamas, unlike that of Jamaican, is all tight-lipped about its plan to squash/FIRE/TERMINATE/RETIRE for a second time members within the public service of this country.
Just after the May 2007 general elections the Ingraham government fired [SENT HOME PACKING] more than 1,200 temporary workers within the public service, including a cripple mother of two. And since that first mass termination exercise, the Ingraham government has since sent scores more home including law enforcement officers who had reach the age of 55 years. A purging has also been seen within the departments of immigration and customs. And including in this termination exercise we’ve seen the axe fell right up to the office of Secretary to the Cabinet!
We’ve uncovered that the decision to for a second time since coming to office in 2007, Ingraham’s FNM government will mobilize a MASSIVE RIGHT SIZING EXERCISE within every department of the Bahamas government.
Bahamas Press has also learned that since December 2008, with revenue collection having slid by more than $175 million, the minister of finance has ordered ministers to cut their department budgets, which will take full effect by July 1, 2009 in the new budget year. The budget is expected to be presented to Parliament in just a weeks from now.
Sources deep inside the ministry of finance have confirmed to BP that workers attaining 30 years in the service will leave immediately. This, according to a source, will include a substantial number of workers now currently employed within the government.
In May over 5,000 persons have registered for the government’s unemployment benefit programme, as terminations by companies skyrocked in the country over the last year.
Without confirming any numbers of those to be terminated, minister of state with responsibility for the public service, Zhivargo Laing, told a mid-day talk show that whilst revenue is substantially down, the government has already taken care of the situation.
A question posed by the host asked, “What are the implication with a shortfall in government revenue?” Here’s how Laing responded, “What are the implication? Well the implication is that your financial situation is strained and that clearly decisions will have to be made as to how you are going to fund that deficit. And also anticipate whether this global economic downturn is going to be sustained beyond the next year or two and what implications that will mean for the conduct of government business.” Hmmmmmm!
Amazingly the same minister who said the recession was a “figment in the imagination of some people’s mind,” is now forecasting that the recession will possibly be a long protracted one. BOY, THIS A MESS ECH?
All we can tell members of the public service is this, “START PACKING! Cus Hubert is Back Back BACK Back Backkkkkkk! Good Lawddddddddd! He’s simply the Best!”
WOW, before we can say Jack Daniels the Ingraham government has already cocked the gun. Here is the beginning of what would be the norm throughout the public service as we reported early this week….
Bahamas Press/Editor
Some expat teachers to lose their jobs
By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com:
The Ministry of Education intends to hire 61 new Bahamian teachers and as a result will be unable to renew the contracts of certain expatriate teachers, Minister of Education Carl Bethel confirmed yesterday.
He said these new Bahamian teachers will add to 17 who were recently hired.
The minister provided the explanation when questioned about fears some people in the public school system have that the ministry is about to purge the system of scores of foreign teachers.
Bethel denied that any mass elimination of foreign teachers was being considered.
“We are not involved in a purge,” he told The Nassau Guardian. “This is a well-thought-out policy that has been followed since 1994 in terms of a reasoned position, and since independence in terms of the policy of successive governments. It’s not that we are ending their contracts abruptly. After an assessment of their strengths or weaknesses, we are failing to renew some of those contracts where we have Bahamians who are capable of doing the work. It is a process that occurs every year. It’s not an irrational process; it is based on need and it is based on the ability to supply [Bahamian teachers].”
Guardian sources said The Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) has not yet been notified about which foreign teachers will not have their contracts renewed for the new school year, and that it is rare that as many as 60 foreign teachers would be let go in one year.
Bethel said the ministry usually hires around 130 new teachers every year. Of that number about 100 replace retiring teachers.
“What happened this year is that the average number of retirees did not occur, which means that we have fewer retirees to replace,” he said. “[This] means…that we had to continue the process of reducing the number of non-Bahamian teachers in order to make space for [College of The Bahamas] graduates.”
Bethel said the ministry will also significantly reduce recruiting for foreign teachers.
“Ever since independence and also as a formal conclusion and recommendation since 1994 from the National Task Force on Education, the policy and practice of the Department [of Education] has been to follow a process of ‘Bahamianization’,” he said. “It has been a focused policy to seek where possible a more Bahamianized teaching profession. What you are hearing is mainly a continuation of the long- standing policies of this ministry.”
Every year, upwards of 100 Bahamians graduate from The College of The Bahamas as trained teachers, according to Bethel, who added that, “the policy of the government is that where it is possible, those students are accommodated within that profession by this ministry. As Bahamians are able to take on positions in our public school system, we have no need to import any teachers.
“We value the services of [non-Bahamian teachers] and the cultural diversity that they bring. But at the end of the day, there are also very pressing and well-thought-out reasons where the emphasis…is to move wherever possible to Bahamianize the corps of Bahamian teachers.”
Bethel said that the government spends more than $1.4 million every year to “foster teacher training” at The College of The Bahamas.
“The Department of Education no longer needs to import [general education] teachers into our schools,” Bethel added. “We are now fully able to supply [the teachers] in our primary schools from Bahamians who are better able to give a sense of cultural identity and reality to Bahamians.”
Friday, May 15, 2009
@JR
I think he should be charged criminally also. The average Bahamian struggles to buy land as it is, and he could pull a stunt like that. Some people are really messed up. Besides that, this brings to light the integrity of his previous handlings of crown land properties. But I can assure you, there is so much at stake here. HAI himself would have to answer questions and it seems as though he is above the law, so unfortunately Mr Turnquest will get off too.
They were talking about Tex on the online radio show too. That sucker needs to go to jail and he could take Tiny’s gal there with him. Now go dicey doh that one TEx.
@Russell Johnson
After Mr Turnquest make all that money off the land he stole…why not retire. That’s HAI boy, check it out. It seems as though only the FNM connected supposed to make money and have money these days. Mr Turnquest’s property should be confiscated and returned to the Crown. Just like his boss, he is a thief!
Yeah Media,
Investigate that Lands & Surveys Land exploitation. I hear that run deeeeeeeep. Plenty government people involved. I KNOW plenty in the office scared and a very senior civil servant visiting the office everyday. I wonder what he hanging around here for? When he was at OPM he was doing his own thing. Ya scare eh yardie?
Well I notice where Turnquest from Land and Surveys resigned under pressure and no statement from Govt. mmppphhh
Many young women are only interested in having proper nails and hairdo.I suggest that the Govt send these women to hair salons in the area where they live and pay them to learn this trade.Most young men love music and fixing vehicles lets open centers in their areas and teach them this trade.The Bahamas of tomorrow is a technical one so lets start training them all.Every Bahamian will not work in white collar jobs so let us refocus our training.
On the stage of life you play your part and then make your exit. That’s life.
Russell Johnson, You Right!…Reduce consultants and the staff at Urban renewal who are being paid for nothing…
Hay! Have we forgot that we are paying people in the Ministry of Works to keep this Island clean? Yes, for years, hundreds of men & woman are on the government payroll, to keep this island clean, but they have forgotten what their jobs are.
Lately the government decided to get, some young girls who goes on the street “doll-up” with long wigs and long painted fingernails. COME ON! Most of these ladies are “marking time.”
I prefer to see the government get the right equipment to do the job for our street cleanup and save some of those young ladies dignity. We can put some of those ladies on welfare of maybe keep the elderly (to learn something).
A wise government can get a small four-wheel scooter with a custom-made-rake at the back, and do a more effective beach cleanup than 50 of those ladies.
Example: I was on my lunch break and saw a group of men and woman raking the Sea Weed back into the sea as the tide was coming up, WOW! I could not believe what I was seeing. I wondered if anyone is thinking for some of these workers.
It did not have to be like this:road work where foreigners are employed is not a stimulus for Bahamians.We do not need our Bahamian women becoming prostitues by servicing these foreign workers all in the name of money trickling back into the economy.If the Govt wishes to downsize the civil service then cancel the contracts of all those old consultants who already have it made in life.John Pinder is too silent and should say something about any attempt by Govt to fire civil servants.The rubber is hitting the road but it did not have to be like this.
Kevin: take note that the quotes in OY’s post is about local governments which don’t have the structure to generate stimulus packages. You are absolutely right that most governments have developed stimulus packages because it is better to maintain the economy than allow it to fail.
Of course the primary result of a stimulus package is to maintain the middle class, the engine of the economy. Of course that would go directly against most conservative political philosophy. It then stands t reason that HAI could never do that because thats not the instructions he would receive from his handlers in the Republican Party. Check out what Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney says about the same issue and compare it to what HAI will say.
Also expect a statement from The Nassau Institute in complete support of the move.
Kevin you are so right many countries are spending money to employ persons in public service jobs such as building roads, schools, parks community projects and other such to keep the economy going.
However in our country the chickens have come home to roost ….when this FNM administration came to office and implemented the now disastrous stop and review fiasco I said then as I still say now that the Prime Minister committed nothing short of treason because of this he put a wrench in our economy ran away would be investors and put a black mark on our country….noe fast forward to this year we see that Laing,Ingraham and the rest of the wutless FNM ministers are like the blind leading the blind.
If this government was serious about stimulation they would not have signed a contract with a foreign company to redevelop our roads to the tune of some 260 million dollars when we could off employed a Bahamian firm to do the project at probably half the cost and the money would have stayed right here at home ……….We need revenue so why not legalise the number houses and tax them to get extra revenue……instead this government has borrowed and borrowed …we are in a serious financial mess folkes and Laing nor In graham have a solution to fix it.
I have looked at those same countries and i have also seen where their governments have spent and are spending hundreds of billions of dollars trying to revive and create jobs in their economy.However,if you disagree with my premise please asked the prime minister why in this tough economy 500 persons were hired to clean the environment?The answer is simple to generate employment and put money in the economy.Please objective youth remember this simple rule of finance,unemploy persons cannot contribute to an economy since they have no money to spend therefore governments have to increase their social spending on them.This increase in social spending will have to be borne by those of us that are working.So Objective Youth you can either decide to keep persons working or pay them unemployment benefits and when that is exhausted then you will still have to assist these unemploy persons.Government is now paying light bills for some persons however i must pay my light bill and social services told me that if i was unemploy then they will assist me in paying this light bill.Remember this the more persons that are working the less assistance government have to give which will lead to less taxes on the tax payers or better and more productive use of those tax dollars.This is my final comment on this post.
@Objective thought
That lady can say anything, while one or two might have got caught in the down sizing.For the greater part the vast majority were bad employees. The proof is in the pudding.
Check out the positive comments and the high ratings the guests are giving Atlantis.Even as we speak there are still some employees who have not learned from what happened because Atlantis is still getting some negative reports about rude employees.
CHECK OUT TRIPADVISOR AND SEE WHAT THE GUESTS ARE SAYING ABOUT NOT ONLY ATLANTIS, BUT THE BAHAMAS, ESPECIALLY NASSAU.
I had a conversation with an airport worker and he said he hate the tourists.No matter how hard I tried to get him to change his mind it was to no avail.Whether we like it or not the country is being challenged by this type of attitude.
The government is paying workers to clean the streets and everytime they clean up nasty people continue to throw garbage all over the place.Take a ride down east street south headiing to the beach and pools area
@Kevin McKenzie
I included links of G20 Countries that are downsizing their Public Service however they were not approved. Start your research by looking at countries in Europe including SWEDEN, The UNITED KINGDOM and FRANCE.
“Almost 7,000 council jobs have been lost across England in the past six months, and a further 14,000 are expected to go over the next year as the recession continues to bite, according to research published today.”
“Sir Jeremy Beecham, vice-chairman of the Local Government Association, said that councils had been forced to make redundancies after a £2.5 billion cut in income.
Town halls have lost hundreds of millions through reduced parking and planning charges, lower-than-expected returns on investments and reduced income due to the property slump.” – The Times Newspaper
It’s amazing how Bahamians’ view is so restricted, unfortunately, ignorance really isn’t an excuse.
Ya know, I would agree with you if this was a part of their campaign promise… But as we all know, many in the FNM including Laing, Butler/Turner and even HI went to great lenghts to make the civil servants feel like their jobs were under NO threats if the FNM were to become the govt!!!
That’s just outright LYING and total DECEPTION…. I would have NO problem if this was a campaign promise!!!
@tp
That’s what you believe!! Just about 3 weeks ago I met one of those ladies who were laid off from Atlantis… She told me that she was “Employee of the year” for 4 years straight until she was laid off!!!
@kevin mckenzie
Is this the man who said,I mean what I say and I say what I mean? Who is the senior Civil servant who should have been made to retired at the beginning of this month? Again I mean what I say and I say what I mean.????????????????????????????????
The prime minister didnot and i repeat didnot terminate anyone for sexual harassment,the prime minister said the senior civil servant was made to retire.Well it stands to reason that the prime minister must have been given some compelling and convincing evidence to come to the conclusion that this civil servant was in the wrong.It is also a criminal offence for a person to have knowledge of a crime and not report it to the proper authority.We cannot have two different set of laws in this country,one that applies to the poor and humble and another for the rich and well connected.I never claimed that this recession was caused by any of our local political parties,however i must conclude that all i have heard from our elected officials is we must wait for the American economy to recover.I will like for any one to name a G7 OR A G20 country that is downsizing its public service.Please give me the name of that country so i can research the facts.
Objectively I must agree the thought of people losing their jobs is a hard pill to swallow however it must be done, we as Bahamians must learn from the past and our silly stupid mistakes and having people working into the grave is something what needs to stop a lot of youthful population goes to school to attain an education complete it and are forcibly sidelined as the bottle is to full to accomodate them if you have been working for 30+ years and do not own a home your in a sad case (not my fault you did not prioritize) at some point and time new blood needs to enter the system…if none is there to enter the system you cannot make a purge…hopefully i can see job openings and soon… good move government wheels were not made to stay in one position but to rotate
HAI is back,BETTER BETTER,ha ha.
Paul Moss said that they could not meet payrole thats why they restructuring
@kevin mckenzie
Whew…….. this is a long one but I’ll just zoom in on the sexual harassment bit.It was not the PM duty to press charges,his duty was to terminate. The person with the complaint was the one supposed to press charges
@ Kevin McKenzie:
Please check your facts in regards to other G20 countries increasing the size of their Public Sector. In fact many Governments here in Europe are cutting jobs as the recession deepens. The Bahamas is not a country that is experiencing the recession alone, and despite popular belief of the increasing number of ignorant individuals that are seemingly flooding Bahamian society, it was not caused by an FNM or PLP government.
Governments can only do so much, and with people loosing their jobs everyday in the private sector, why should the public sector not see a turnover simply because individuals have financial obligations. Don’t we all?
Lets see, president of the USA Barack Obama is increasing the American public service and government spending because he said when no one else is spending government must in order to keep the economy going.The European Union,China,Japan and all the G20 governments are all keeping and increasing their public sector,however, we in the Bahamas are proposing to do the exact opposite.I want us to carefully think this through.Why did government hire those 500 persons to clean the streets?Their answer was to be a stimulus to our economy.If more people are working ,more people will have money to spend on goods and services,this will in turn generate more private businesses and as a result those private businesses will employ more workers at more attractive salaries than the public sector.The end result will be more civil servants will then leave the public sector for those enticing pay,however if the private sector is downsizing and the government starts terminating employees that will lead to the economy entering a state of depression!For example lets say government fire/forced into early retirement 5000 workers who were making $1000.00 per month each thats at least $2,500,000.00 per month taken out of the economy.It is this amount since approximately half of your salary is considered pension.The government will still not be in a financial position to hire those young persons unless they can pay them $200.00 per month in order to achieve any savings from downsizing.So we can now see the whole picture and not fall for any lies that the government wants to hire more young people.General Orders lays out the procedule that must be followed in order to fire/retire a civil servant and it must be noted that a public employee can be fired in the public interest.The prime minister said that he recently caused a senior government employee to retire for sexual harassment . Since he wants to downsize the public sector,why didn’t he charged this senior man in court,like Darrell Miller for this crime?If the evidence was good enough to forced him into early retirement then it must have been good enough to get a conviction in court! The beauty of this will be once this senior man was convicted, government will not have to pay him anything.He would have forfeit his pension!Finally,i must state and ask how government could expect me to believe that their motive to downsize the public sector is pure when government sent home persons from the police force who were 7 OR more years younger than the Commissioner?In another case the government appoint a retiree,Anita Bernard,67/68 years old to be the PS to the cabinet.
TP am speaking of Urban renewal that now exists in name only.All of the youth bands have gone, neighborhoods are dirty again,graffitti is rampant ,yards are full of weed,streets are filled with derelict vehicles.Staff members in the Urban renewal units are doing nothing but are the first on bank lines.Yes some civil servats are lazy,apathetic and could not be recommended as replacement for the original group.These so called employees of Urban renewal only needed to read the script and would be in a better position to advise.While am at it,what is the state of the Neighborhood Policing programme?THe silence is deafening.
@Russell Johnson
You ain’t talking about the URBAN RENEWAL NOT MR CHRISTIE’S URBAN RENEWAL
I went to the PMH three weeks ago and was apalled at the horrible treatment that clerks and porters mete out to the public.If ever a place that needs a shakeup its the PMH.From what I undersdtand civil servants can work until 65 yrs old.The President of the public service licence better say something soon before this thing hits the fan.Too much secrecy by this Govt is causing alarm bells to go off.Let the people know the real story and stop catching Bahamians off guard.The rubber is about to touch the road.This bullshit talk of 30 years is just a figment of the FNMs imagination.If the Govt is serious about cutting salaries then firstly reduce the Cabinet then the salaries of Cabinet Ministers.I smell the rubber on the road and I see destruction.Reduce consultants and the staff at Urban renewal who are being paid for nothing.Show the example HAI then persons would understand.
tp, I agre. However, most Bahamian treats there political party the way Percy Sledge explains in his song, “When a Man Loves A Woman”
When a man loves a woman
Can’t keep his mind on nothing else
He’ll trade the world
For the good thing he’s found
If she’s bad he can’t see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he put her down….
I see the FNM spinmeisters are out early!
@Wisdom
Maybe you are right but I heard a former PLP minister said while he was a miister that it was very difficult to fire public servants.
How much has changed since then ? We complain about the bad service we are receiving and when it is announced that the prime Minister is about to make some changes we are all up in arms. Like the old saying goes you can’t have your cake and eat it to.
I will bet iF MISTER CHRISTIE would have the guts to make such a bold move he would be looked at as doing the right thing.But we know MR CHRISTIE is to weak to do such a thing. Like the PRIME MINISTER said he might have to do some things that might cause the FNM some votes, might even cause them the government, but if he feels as if it is the right thing for the country so be it
Trinity…The ministries are only as bad as their leaders!?
Then the ministers are only as good as their leader. @Trinity
Both the private and public sectors have bad appples. Sol Kerzner cleaned up Atlanits by geting rid of a lot of rude and uncaring employees. Now guests are constantly talking about the great service they are receiving.Guest satisfaction is now hitting the 90s. Something not seen since in years.
The Bahamas has been held hostage for to long by the hands of uncaring public servants. I am sure the prime minister will do a good job in weeding out the bad apples.
While i agree that no one was promise a job until they die,i must point out that in the public service they were PROMISE that if they perform and behave themselves and follow the rules as laid out in General Orders they will have a job until they reach the retirement age of 60.It must also be noted that it was the current prime minister who decided to increase the retirement age to 65.I hope we Bahamians stop being selfish and look at things objectively.For example if a youth from a middle class family graduate from college today he/she will be about 21 years old and the average motgage is for about 25 years.Now without going into the details of the cost of living and daily expenses please tell me what that young man/woman could achieve in 30 years and remember at the end of 30 years that youth would only be 51 years old.Is this the new retirement age?We must also take in consideration that the average life expectancy is approximately 68 years.How will the average Bahamian be able to make a better life for themselves or their children? No hardhead gal government is terminating employees because they have no idea of how to improve the economy,create jobs and financially empower Bahamians.If we allow the government to lack vision and creative drive then we will witness the destruction of the Bahamian middle class and the Bahamas continued downward spiral to the economic level of Haiti.
@Wisdom
I feel worse than that. I feel as though I’ve been living in a nightmare for two years. Every time I get up it’s worse! I can’t wait to see HAI gone and FOR GOOD! Someone need to tell him carry Laing, Symmonette, Turnquest, Deveaux, Bethel, and Gibson with him……THEY NEED TO GO! As a matter of fact before he shakes up the civil service, he need to get rid of worthless MP’s. The ministries are only as bad as their leaders!
Both the private and public sectors ahve good and bad apples.i
1968 Percy Sledge
Sang the song: “Take time to know her its not an overnight thing.”
The story of the song, tells of a young man who found a woman, and felt a true love. He thought she was everything he’d ever dreamt of but she was bad…
Are you feeling that way with the FNM?
I agree that the civil service can do with some shaking up. Too many people are lax, while others are hardworking and have to do more than their share of work for little pay. When and if Mr Ingraham starts to do this, I want to see equal movement. Let’s face it, in the last two years, mostly PLPs were called to retire early or were forced out. This is a fact! Since 2007, Mr Ingraham has put many people in place that are underqualified but happen to be in his favour. Mr Ingraham also seems to favour hiring foreigners over Bahamians. I want to see change in the civil service, but for the betterment of Bahamians.
@kevin mckenzie
There will not be much if any weeping over the majority of those whose retirement are requested. Not one of them was promised a cradle to the grave job and they should have prepared for this to happen at any time after 30 years.
Bahamas Press i believe your information is right on the nail!The truth of the matter is government is more broke than a desperate jonser in need of fifty cent for his next hit.We Bahamians stood by and allowed government to impose early retirement on police,customs and immigration officers without saying a word.Some of these public servants were in their early to mid fifties with children in colleges and outstanding mortgages to be paid.Now the cold,cruel hands of this grim reaper government will reach to snatch the livelyhood of numerous other civil servants before they reach the retirement age of 65. The government has taken away the constitutional security of tenure by the Commissioner Of Police but have given the foreign chairman of the newly proposed URCA security of tenure.Mr.Tommy Turnquest has already gone on record as stating ZNS will be right sized after it becomes a public broadcaster( something like PBS)this is just the smart way of saying persons will be terminated.To paraphrase sir Winston Churchill Bahamians get ready for this blood,sweat and tears budget or in the words of the FNM theme song during the 2007 election campaing,”It ain’t right lord,it ain’t right.”
I must respect the Jamaican P.M. he started the “salary cuts” with himself and his ministers.
The Gleaner reports:
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has pledged to take a 15 per cent pay cut and called on his colleague members of parliament to sacrifice 10 per cent of their salaries.
Here in the Bahamas, I have no problem with the government getting rid of none productive Civil Servants, but let us start with ineffective Ministers as well.
As a former civil servant, I say good riddance to many of the over 30 year (senior) veterans. They will get their pensions and whatever else they are entitled to unlike the young ones they have forced into early retirement, resignation or to the point of mental illness. Some of them have occupied seats and used their positions to strangle, stop, review and cancel the upward mobility of many of the younger people in their departments, particularly those who have better educational qualifications than them. Yes, the timing is bad, but the younger,able, qualified staff will be able to catch a breath of fresh air. They may now be able finally to take care of their children and reap the rewards of their labour.
@Marley
AGREED!
BP
BP, we all talk about Change and it comes with a hard price. The civil service has been for years in a terrible condition, it needs some serious shaking up. Too long now politicians have been scared to touch the civil service and civil servants have the ‘you can’t fire me’ attitude. A lot of them are lazy, rude and corrupt and fit right in with KB’s government dem spong. This country is in a terrible state and for years nothing has been done, we need a complete overhaul. I say clean it up if that is possible, every aspect of it.
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