We must KILL da The New Work Permit Bill [Enterprise Bill]!
By Alexander James
Bahamas Press
Nassau – Now something serious has to be done about this Enterprise Bill where clearly the Minister for Immigration and the Attorney General are both in agreement about making sure Bahamians are left in the back of the job line.
The law, in our view, is loosely drafted, poorly designed and fails protect Bahamian jobs. It fails to secure the transfer of skillsets to Bahamians and does not in any way properly enhance the processes within the Immigration department but makes them more cumbersome.
Let’s be real; while Brent Symonette is seeking to terminate workers within the department of Immigration, he himself has suggested that the department was indeed grossly understaffed and had failed to meet the demand of multiple immigration applications within the department.
Wouldn’t it, therefore, be wise for the Minnis Regime to firstly ensure that the archaic systems are corrected, modernized, and enhanced before it compounds the problems at immigration with this new work permit bill?
Further to this, the bill, in our view, represents everything discriminatory, something which we all should be moving away from. For example: how come the door is being opened to set up shop in other sectors of the economy except the legal fraternity? How come they get special protection while everyone else gets invaded? What is this?
Or how about this angle: One group of foreigners [rich and upper class global citizens and investors] are allowed to walk into the town to set up shop, but what about others – who might just be, say, a carpenter – who cannot do the same or better yet submit a $250,000 cheque? That carpenter, no matter how skilled he or she is, must leave the country – if inside – and apply in his or her home country before being considered for a permit. Not so for the class this bill is designed to facilitate.
This, in our view, is modern day discrimination and promotes elements of apartheid in the modern Bahamas. Why can’t we come to Parliament with bills that do not discriminate?
The government must park this Enterprise Bill, aka ‘New Work Permit Bill’! It compounds the problems at immigration and clearly promotes elements of discrimination.
Kill Brent Symonette’s Bill and let’s first try to begin fixing the existing systems in immigration.
We report yinner decide!
