By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday said crime fears had cost the Bahamas a job-creating investment by a “multi-millionaire client”, as he likened doing business in this nation to “hell”.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that the Bahamas “continues to put tremendous hurdles” in the way of investors coming to its shores, with local entrepreneurs enjoying an equally hard time.

A former immigration minister, he described one such hurdle as the “bureaucracy and red tape” of the work permit and permanent residency processes, urging that these be “streamlined”.

And, turning his attention to this week’s highly publicise detention of a top UBS (Bahamas) executive by the Immigration Department, Mr McCartney said the whole episode sent a message that the Bahamas was still living “in the Third World”.

He added that the heavy-handed treatment allegedly meted out to Emmanuel Fiaux had embarrassed not just the Government but the entire Bahamas.

And Mr McCartney called for Immigration to issue an “across the board” apology, going beyond the Swiss banker, encompassing the numerous persons apprehended while waiting - in some cases for “months and months” - for their work permit renewal applications to be processed.

Calling for the Bahamas to become “more progressive”, the DNA leader said the “Third World mindset” of its leaders meant it was stuck in a rut and failing to tackle key issues.

Suggesting that continuing high crime levels, and the fear of crime, was starting to deter foreign direct investment vital to the Bahamian economy, Mr McCartney told Tribune Business: “I had a client call me yesterday, a multi-millionaire client.

“He had a group of persons wishing to come over to the Bahamas to invest. He said to me: ‘McCartney, we are pulling out of the proposed investment, and you know why? Because of crime’.

“He cannot convince his other investors to come to the Bahamas. They are saying: ‘It’s not safe there, and we are not prepared to even have our families come there to live. We are not prepared to do that’.”

Mr McCartney declined to name the investor(s) or the nature of the project involved, but said that, if approved, it would have created numerous Bahamian jobs.

“If the investment was approved, a number of persons would have been getting jobs in the Bahamas,” he added. “That’s the most significant part: The jobs that were lost, which would have been gained, as a result of losing this investment.

“It could have been an ongoing concern that people would have been engaged in, and could have helped grow the economy. What a shame. I’m so fed up.”

Meanwhile, pointing out that the Immigration Department - and policy - had a vital role to play in encouraging investment, Mr McCartney added: “We need to ensure that the bureaucracy in terms of the approvals going through for persons going through is streamlined.

“The red tape continues to be tremendous. We seem to be in a position where we continue to put hurdles in the way of persons coming to invest in this country.”

Suggesting that Immigration checks could be combined with the due diligence conducted by the Central Bank and other government agencies, Mr McCartney reiterated: “We cannot build this country by ourselves.

“Bahamians cannot do it by ourselves. This country has been built together so far by ourselves and others. To move forward, we need investment, joint ventures with other persons, and to make the transition smooth.

“But Bahamians themselves are having a difficult time doing business. Can you imagine a foreigner coming in? Trying to get a Business Licence, work permit approval, Town Planning approval.... It is hell trying to do business in the Bahamas today.”

The DNA leader described Mr Fiaux’s detention by Immigration as “a very telling situation”, adding: “This is so Third World and continues to happen.”

While acknowledging the Department’s need to conduct apprehensions and raids to combat illegal immigration, Mr McCartney said it also needed to know who it was detaining.

He added that Immigration officers should have computer technology available at their fingertips to determine whether persons they apprehended either had proper status to be in the Bahamas, or were awaiting answers on the renewal of work permit applications.

“Do we know how embarrassing that is, in particular?” Mr McCartney asked of Mr Fiaux’s detention. “We may have a need for his international friends and colleagues in this country. We may need to invite them over to invest. What an embarrassment.”

However, the DNA leader called for any Immigration Department and government apology to go beyond the UBS executive.

“There were other persons apprehended, albeit for a short period of time, who have had work permit renewal applications in at Immigration for months and months,” he told Tribune Business.

“That apology from the Government should be across the board, not only for the good banker but for the handyman, the housekeeper they apprehended.

“I know of one application that has been in since August last year. The persons detained was able to show them they were waiting for an approval from Immigration. I can tell you with surety I know that for a fact.”

Mr McCartney said the incidents involving Mr Fiaux and others here legally were not meant to happen, and he hoped they would help “minimise” the fallout by recognising this.

“But that is no excuse,” he added. 
“It was reckless; it was, quite frankly, negligent, and at the end of the day I want to know what the Government is going to do to ensure it does not happen again.

“It’s another example to show that we are not progressing. We are adamant in remaining a Third World country. You know why? We have Third World leaders. That’s the mindset. I challenge them to show otherwise. Look at the state of the country. What a disgrace.”