By Neil Hartnell

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas “has regressed over the last ten years” due to the National Development Plan (NDP) being “shelved”, its vice-chairman asserted yesterday, resulting in the country “standing still” while other nations progress.

Gowon Bowe, vice-chairman of the newly-appointed steering committee charged with the Plan’s implementation, told Tribune Business that its reformation is “only the first step on a long journey” to revive an initiative largely neglected during the nine years since the ‘State of the Nation’ report was produced in 2016 under the last Christie administration.

Suggesting that successive administrations and “all political parties are responsible” for that outcome, he warned that the international community will not wait for The Bahamas to catch up and prove it has a development strategy not solely reliant on its US proximity and “the belief that we’re being looked after by the Almighty”.

The Plan was designed to create an enduring, non-partisan road map or guide for The Bahamas’ short, medium and long-term economic and social development, while setting out a series of benchmarks and milestones - together with associated timelines for their attainment - to measure progress.

To move it forward, Mr Bowe told this newspaper “there’s going to have to be maturity by the political class” to treat it as a national, rather than partisan, development tool. And he suggested that, to-date, the major political parties have deliberately “shied away” from implementing the Plan for fear it would hold them “accountable” for their achievements and failings while in office.

“What has been re-engaged is only the first step of a long journey,” the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said of the revived steering committee, which held its first meeting on Friday, October 3. “Some may take a bit of offence to me saying this, but the country has regressed over the last ten years as a result of the shelving of this particular plan.

“By that I mean there have been external factors like COVID-19, Hurricane Dorian, a haphazard US economy and the like, but the reality is we have not progressed [in the absence] of the National Development Plan.” As an example, he cited the “severely challenged” Bahamian public healthcare system, and the fact it seems “not much further ahead in bricks and mortar”, but also access to and quality of medical care, than it was in 2016 when the ‘State of the Nation’ report was released.

“In education, have we seen any progress in exam results and competencies coming out of high school? The answer is no,” Mr Bowe added. “If you look at our social challenges they have actually worsened in terms of the proliferation of gang culture and, in terms of socio-economic aspects, if it’s more profitable to live a life of crime than live as a law-abiding citizen, then that’s the natural draw.

“When we look at our economy, do we have a clear idea of the extent of our progress economically. Our two main industries are tourism and financial services. Has there been any clear strategy for tourism and financial services? We promote a lot, but do we have a strategy where these are the jurisdictions, countries we are targeting? Do we have an idea of our customers.. high-end? Low-end? There’s no documented strategy.

“On the environment, which is the other pillar, it’s almost a national disgrace when we talk about the state of our road infrastructure, it’s almost a national disgrace the level of government buildings that are dilapidated with some still being used in a dilapidated state,” Mr Bowe added.

“We know we are short in ports, airports and seaports, but we haven’t identified the hubs for a hub and spoke system. Do we need seaports in every island? Maybe not, but do we have hubs to ship to and then deliver to the smaller islands? We talk about the ‘blue economy, blue carbon credits, but all of it is being done on a http://192.168.2.148/i4/IDSN/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataid=1927483 reactive basis. When I say regressed, I think the world as moved forward as we have stood still, which means we’ve moved backwards.”

Suggesting that both major political parties must accept their share of blame for this, Mr Bowe told this newspaper: “All political parties are responsible for that. The change in 2017 [to the Minnis administration] led to pieces of the plan being taken up, but not in a holistic approach. And the current administration did not embrace it until the end of their term.”

The Davis administration announced its intention to give the National Development Plan legal standing during the late 2023 ‘Speech from the Throne’ that opened the current legislative session of Parliament. However, it has taken a further two years to reappoint the steering committee, and a general election is now less than a year - and possibly months - away.

“All the political parties have shied away from it for probably one reason: Accountability,” Mr Bowe said, explaining that the Plan would provide a tool for the Bahamian people to measure and judge the success/failure of government policies, programmes and decisions. “In the absence of it, we’ve regressed,” he added.

“That means, in and of itself, if we do not get it done we will continue to move backwards by virtue of the rest of the world moving forward and us standing still. The importance of the plan can never be over-stated because the confidence society had gained by its drafting and work that had been done going back 20 years - the 2016 report was part of the work put in. If we sit here with the viewpoint that the developing world will wait on us to respond we’re going to be sorely disappointed.”

Mr Bowe pointed to the Seychelles, Singapore and Jamaica (pre-Melissa at least) that have benefited from a national development plan and its implementation, with the latter’s fiscal consolidation process having been a part of its own.

“The importance of this is that if we even want to remain relevant in a global context, we have to meet fire with fire and demonstrate we have a strategy that does not live off the gains of our location and the belief we are being looked after by the Almighty,” he added. “Faith without work is dead. We are very much a Christian nation and have to put that into action. We have faith we excel as a country, but if we don’t do the work to bring it to fruition, it will all be for nought.”

Mr Bowe said the steering committee has already hired two economists to update the data, statistics and information contained in the 2016 ‘State of the Nation’ report, which was designed to provide a foundation that informs the Plan. Its successful implementation, he added, requires the provision of financing and resources for its efforts by the Government as well as buy-in by key stakeholders, politicians from all sides, and wider Bahamian society.

“It’s not to suggest that funding and resources be unlimited, but it’s the capacity to engage secretariat staff, hire experts and fund research that will be necessary,” he added. “It’s not from the viewpoint that there be a blank cheque book, but there has to be financial resources.

“It’s also going to require the support and maturity of the political parties. There’s going to have to be maturity by the political class which says this is a national initiative and not a political platform to say who’s shelved it, who’s stopping it, who’s benefiting, who’s not. That’s not only on the current government but the Opposition.”

Besides Mr Bowe and Felix Stubbs, as vice-chair and chairman respectively, the National Development Plan steering committee members also include ex-Cabinet minister and MP, Loretta Butler-Turner, and former political candidates such as Drumeco Archer. Joseph Curry is executive director, with Dr Anthony Hamilton, head of Civil Society Bahamas, and Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, also included.

Three current and former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce chief executives are included in the shape of Dr Leo Rolle, Jeffrey Beckles and Edison Sumner. Also present on the committee is Samantha Rolle, the Small Business Development Centre’s chief.

The National Development Plan, which was conceived and put together during the last Christie administration, was intended to be a cross-party, non-partisan and non-political effort to develop a ‘road map’ that would guide the country’s direction and progress The Bahamas towards the kind of nation its citizens desire.

It represented the first ever co-ordinated effort to plan the Bahamas’ development in a systematic manner using empirical data and analyses, and input was sought and obtained from multiple stakeholders including the private sector, civil society groups, non-profits and the general public.

Labelled ‘Vision 2040’, it aimed to break with The Bahamas’ past ad hoc approach to national growth by setting a clear path towards a more sustainable future. Its ‘road map’ was designed to feature measurable goals and objectives for the Bahamas to attain, so that its progress towards achieving its development targets can be judged according to set timelines.

Vision 2040 focused on four main policy pillars - the economy, governance, social policy and the environment, both natural and built - in its first 400-page draft. However, despite seeking to be non-partisan, the National Development Plan appeared to be shelved under the Minnis administration, with little to no progress made as first Hurricane Dorian, and then the COVID-19 pandemic, dominated its tenure in office.