By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday warned that the Bahamian people’s’ “despair index” is at its highest-ever level, with the economy still mired in depression seven years after the global financial meltdown.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that the economy was in “the worst” condition he had ever seen, adding: “We’re not in go slow; we’re in regression”.

With no major growth driver likely to emerge in the immediate future following Baha Mar’s demise, Mr McCartney said the economy was buckling under the weight of continuous jobs losses, high costs and new and increased taxes.

Referring in particular to Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) introduction in 2015, the DNA leader said this had forced many Bahamians to adjust their spending habits, resulting in a chilling effect on consumer demand.

He added that crime had also prompted many Bahamians and expatriate residents to leave the country due to fears for their safety, while the Christie administration’s governance failures - especially when it came to accountability and transparency - are deterring local and foreign investors.

“People are suffering,” Mr McCartney said. “It see it every day from all angles. I see it from the professional angle, I see it from the business angle, and I see it in the community when we go door-to-door.

“People cannot put food on the table, pay their rent and pay their electricity bill. I got a call two days ago at 10.30 at night. I don’t know how she got the number, but this was a woman who said she has nowhere to go,she has lost her apartment and needs money to go to a hotel for the night.

“She was calling for assistance, crying on the phone, and had two children in her care,” Mr McCartney recalled, illustrating the depths of the despair being endured by many Bahamians.

“You see children on the side of the road every day, begging for breakfast money. How can they learn on an empty stomach?

“We should be much more advanced, but we’re still in the depression. When you have an unemployment rate for persons aged between 18-35 years-old of more than 30 per cent, it’s not a good state.

“It’s heart-breaking. The despair index in this country is at its highest. It’s not a good place to be, the Bahamas, at this time.”

Mr McCartney said that professional services firms were now witnessing the inability of many long-standing clients to pay due fees.

“Persons simply don’t have the money,” he added. “What do you do? You have people with you for 25 years, and you cannot turn your back on them. Many of them will not be able to pay the fees, and yet your bills continue.”

Summarising the Bahamian economy’s current condition, Mr McCartney told Tribune Business: “We’re not in go slow; we’re in regression. There is nothing going on to stimulate the economy at this time.

“In my 48 years of being alive, and 23 years of being in business and as an attorney, this is the worst. No ‘if’s’, ‘and’s’ and ‘but’s’ about it. It started in 2008 and gradually got worse. We have not caught ourselves, and are still on the decline.”

With the Bahamas having just set a new national record for annual murders, Mr McCartney said he personally knew of several prominent, high-ranking persons - both Bahamian and expatriate - who had left this nation because they no longer felt safe.

“Many investors are not investing in this country, and I say this without reservation,” Mr McCartney added, “because they are not going to deal with the lack of accountability and transparency by this PLP Government.

“I’ve had huge investors meeting with me, and saying they will not invest in this country until after the next election and the PLP are out.”

The DNA leader said the Government had failed to heed warnings from the likes of the US and its Nassau Embassy, which had called for it to be more open and transparent in its commercial/investor dealings in the likes of its annual Investment Climate report.

“Put in layman’s terms: Stop your foolishness,” Mr McCartney told the Government. “I have met persons, both in the Bahamas and outside the Bahamas; groups of investors who are quite adamant about not investing in this country, and have really turned their backs on the Bahamas.

“They know this could be a good place, but because of the governance and way things are going, they are holding back. This affects each and every one of us as citizens.’

The DNA leader called on the Government to give Bahamians hope by attracting new industries and career opportunities, while simultaneously “reducing wastage” and “weeding out corruption” in the public sector.