Is the BVI ignoring the global economic crisis?

Now in the height of a global recession, the quiet in our halls of government could not be more deafening.

While indeed we have not yet suffered any major job losses, it is evident that both our primary indutries are suffering from revenue shortfalls, which by all accounts are adversly affecting the government's revenues. It should not take rocket science to connect the dots. Strangely though there is nary a discussion on these matters, unlike Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Lucia and almost every other country in the region. As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, the Right Hon. Hubert Ingraham announced recently that his country has to date experienced a $100 million shortfall in projected revenues and that there will be no additional funding from government resources for unemployment benefits once the intitial $20 million have been exhausted. Mr. Ingraham has come before the people of the Bahamas no fewer than four times in the last six months, advising them of the country's economic status and the initiatives being undertaken by his government to address the challenges the country now faces and is likely to face in the coming months and possibly the next two years.

Rather than address the issues front on, we have been dancing around them, merely touching the surface and in so doing, many of our people are ill informed about what is really happening in the BVI as a result of the global economic crisis. How do we assist those among us who may lose their jobs or businesses and may be unemployed for an extended period of time? Will we be implementing some sort of unemployment benefit program or food assistance program? What monies do we have available for capital projects to create much needed jobs? How are we seeking to diversify our economy in light of a decreasing demand in tourism and a possible decreasing demand for our financial services? While it is true that the recession will not last forever, it is evident that not even the brightest economist knows when the current crisis will end.

So, in the meantime, we must put on our collective thinking caps and determine how we will again be ahead of the game.