The need for predictability and for
protecting reliance on settled rules is vital to promoting a vibrant investment
climate, stimulating economic growth, and creation of a vibrant opportunity for
employment. At the same time we must not become so rigid that we find ourselves
so unreasonably shackled by precedent that we cannot respond effectively to
crisis or new threats as they emerge.
The response to the existential threat
of HIV/AIDS at the end of the last century is a case in point. With the growing
awareness, that left unchecked, the HIV virus would wreak havoc on our society
it was evident that a new multifaceted approach was necessary to combat this deadly
disease. It was not just a health issue but an economic one as well, that
challenged the structure of our society and had grave national security
implications. We had to devise new
responses to check the spread of infection and decrease the mortality rate
caused by this unparalleled assault on the immunity systems of those that were
infected with the HIV virus.
New systems of free diagnosis,
confidentiality and free treatment were implemented for all and a public
information programme was launched to sensitize the public about sexually
transmitted diseases with an emphasis on the HIV virus. The programme has
evolved and continues to do so with some levels of success that is in large
part due to dedicated medical staff who are involved in the diagnostic,
counseling and treatment services to the Barbadian community.
Another seminal event in our recent
history was the financial shock following the attack on the United States on
September 11, 2001. Once again, the government of the day responded swiftly and
decisively. Immediately taking the whole nation into its confidence, a national
consultation was swiftly held to outline government’s immediate plans and to
facilitate inputs from a broad cross section of the community to generate a
response that would protect our key economic interests and prevent a collapse
of the economy. It acted with dispatch and transparency to analyze the
situation and develop solutions.
Alas, these past few years, as we have
endured the deepest global economic crisis in nearly a century, the
government’s response has been to largely ignore the severe recession and to
engage in series of bewildering responses to significant business failures that
largely consisted of corporate cronyism and significant dollops of corporate
welfare. The long delay in addressing the Clico affair with the collapse of CL
Financial and the gaps in supervision of the company in subsequent months as
well as the abnormally long delay in appointing a judicial manager are
inexplicable. It speaks of gross incompetence or worse.
The failure of the Four Seasons venture
has been another national nightmare with a slow bleeding of the public purse to
sustain a questionable business model at massive expense. Now there are calls
for government intervention in Almond Beach after years of mismanagement and
neglect.
The public good would have been best be
served by a quick response to protect the Clico customers and to allow failing
companies to go bankrupt.
There is a growing unpredictability in
policy formulation, and more importantly, its administration. It is
increasingly driven by ad hoc political expediency and political patronage rather
than by a consistent application of corporate law. This creates an environment
that extends the business community’s envelope of risk to unsustainable levels
and endangers our economic future.
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