By SIMON

ARAWAK CAY and Fish Fry began with great promise. Some of the promised was fulfilled, with Bahamians flocking to the venue for “down home” Bahamian food and cultural events.

The highly successful Fish Fry at Arawak Cay was the creation of a Free National Movement administration. The idea was to create a Bahamian food and entertainment experience for Bahamians and visitors that would generate significant cultural and economic benefits.

Many had their favourite haunts for fellowship, eats, and revelry.  Bahamians repeatedly took their overseas guests there. The Ministry of Tourism and others hosted a broad showcase of events drawing thousands. Nearby Junkanoo practices suffused the area with a certain drumbeat and vibe.

Many businesses did well selling Bahamian seafood and side dishes, drinks, desserts, and other treats.

Once upon a time, the Fish Fry at Arawak Cay, as envisioned by such artists and imagineers as Jackson Burnside and others, was planned and intended to become a heartbeat of Bahamian cuisine, culture and entertainment that included a calendar of events and celebrations.

This included “Junkanoo in June,” the “Great Bahamas Seafood Festival,” and other forms of entertainment such as rake ‘n’ scrape. Suddenly, there were celebrity chefs and other luminaries visiting Arawak Cay, receiving substantial international publicity.

Still, the seeds of the decline of Fish Fry were germinating from its inception. Many of the grander plans for construction and governance, a number of which are still in the files at the Ministry of Tourism, were ignored, never realized.

Fish Fry succumbed to several of the deadly bad habits of our social culture and the entrenched dysfunction of government. Over time, there was illegal building, leases unpaid, health and safety standards ignored, and other symptoms of decline.

Despite the marketing hype, Arawak Cay was no longer world class in the hearts and minds of many Bahamians. It became a filthy, unhealthy, smelly, dilapidated, and dangerous place.  It became a symbol of the decrepitude and decline of much of New Providence.

Years after the creation of Fish Fry, many Bahamians now take their personal visitors to one of the two megaresorts, Atlantis or Baha Mar, instead of downtown Nassau or Fish Fry.

It should embarrass us as a nation that it is the foreign-owned hotels instead of the Bahamian-owned venues that are safer, better organized, and clean.

It became increasingly clear soon after the establishment of Fish Fry, that successive governments were not offering proper oversight of the venue, which kept expanding in a ramshackle manner.

Many existing establishments did not have to worry about lease payments, as long as they had the right government contacts. Quite a number had not pay attention to any building codes nor any of the required health, sanitation, and fire standards. They also could employ undocumented staff with impunity in their kitchens and for cleaning because they could hold them hostage on wages, salaries, and other terms and conditions.

With few notable exceptions, the Fish Fry at Arawak Cay became a race to the bottom in environmental conditions and service quality.

There are too many stories of buildings erected at Arawak Cay that were started simply with the encouragement of a Member of Parliament. Lease agreements and other prerequisites be damned. Many owners with the lowest-of-the-required approvals were suddenly the most belligerent, daring owners of the better-established facilities to report them.

“Gresham's Law” is a monetary principle in economics that states ‘bad money’ drives out good [money]. A form of Gresham’s Law took over at Fish Fry, with the bad driving out the good.

The fire at Fish Fry is a sad event. Many have lost their businesses and livelihoods.

How do we now overcome this loss and fulfil the early dreams and unrealized promise of what should be a prime food and cultural venue?

What is required is the quality of joint public and private leadership that combines vision, planning, discipline, and oversight that can give birth to something beautiful rising from the ashes of the fire. All of this is a tall ask, given the slack mindsets and poor values of much of our social culture and many of our political leaders and public officers.

One lesson that we should have learnt over the past approximately 35 years is that the government needs to get out of the Arawak Cay management business except as landowner.

Arawak Cay stands in juxtaposition to what we see happening nearly directly across from Junkanoo Beach on Paradise Island. The Government of The Bahamas decided that instead of developing Arawak Cay, it would allow cruise passengers to dock in Nassau and avoid Arawak Cay and the Western Esplanade, by enjoying themselves in the cruise ship’s private Royal Caribbean enclave.

This is helping to accelerate the deterioration of cruise passenger spending downtown, on Junkanoo Beach, and Arawak Cay.

Now cruise ships are earning revenue aboard their ships and earning money on the land on Paradise Island, money that would have otherwise been delivered to Bahamian establishments on Nassau. But, most of all, cruise passengers avoid being exposed to the deteriorating conditions of Arawak Cay.

To compound the problem, cruise ships do not stay any longer into the evening at Prince George Dock, once the very time of day when Arawak Cay really came alive. By 4:00 pm, downtown Nassau is dead.

Less shopping downtown. Less visits to the Straw Market and other retail experiences.  Fewer tours. Fewer visitors walking from the Port to Junkanoo Beach and Arawak Cay.

Cynics might suggest that allowing the deterioration of Junkanoo Beach to Arawak Cay, allowing the establishment of competing cruise experiences on Paradise Island, and curtailing the time in port for cruise ships were deliberate attempts to decimate the earnings of Bahamians businesses to the benefit of cruise lines.

A starker reality is likely the greed, capitulation, incompetence, and limited vision of certain Bahamian government officials, who lack the boldness and willpower to transform Arawak Cay, Fish Fry, Western Esplanade, Fort Charlotte, the Botanical Gardens, and downtown.

This prime minister and other prime ministers and Bahamian leaders have spoken incessantly of the need for greater Bahamian ownership of tourism venues and services. Many agree.

Then, why is it that a succession of governments has failed to ensure that what is already state-owned is beautiful, world class, properly regulated, well run, clean, and properly maintained!?

Why is it that the major hotels can offer a safe and clean environment while our local cultural venues and downtown continues to look like crap?

Why is it that simple things like the barriers on the road, the entrances to Fish Fry, and the low-lying white spikes in the ground with the black chains running alongside Goodman’s Bay cannot be refurbished or redone?

How is it that we can take pride in what Baha Mar and Atlantis have to offer, but show no-to-little pride in Bahamian-cum-state-owned venues?

Is the answer to these questions in great part an admission that foreigners have a greater commitment to, and sense of, how beautiful, magical, and well-maintained things can be in The Bahamas?

Why does Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, put Nassau to shame in terms of much of its downtown and tourist areas?

Until we answer these questions seriously, unlearn some of our worst cultural and governmental habits, and find the necessary leadership, the redevelopment of Fish Fry will be piecemeal and unrealized, with the area deteriorating again just like much of New Providence.

There is an alternative.

Can we seize the opportunity to reimagine and rethink the continued promise of Arawak Cay and Fish Fry?