Bahamas – Page 3 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Bahamas

Bahamian Diaspora: Not the ‘Panacea’

Posted on September 4, 2017 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

We wish the best to the new Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Dr. Hubert A. Minnis, whose government came to power on May 10, 2017. He was thrust into power by a mandate of the Bahamian people; their demand for a change.

But we take issue with Dr. Minnis looking to the Bahamian Diaspora as the panacea, the “cure-all” for that change; it is a flawed strategy. There is no “there” there. See the news article of his remarks to the Bahamian Diaspora in Atlanta in the Appendix below.

This has been a consistent theme from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The criticism has been leveled against every Caribbean member-state hoping that their Diaspora – those who had fled, being “pushed” or “pulled” away from their homeland – would invest back in their country. This strategy double-downs on the failure of why the Diaspora left in the first place. A previous commentary explained:

The subtle message to the Caribbean population is that they need to leave their homeland, go get success and then please remember to invest in us afterwards.

… It is so unfortunate that the people in the Caribbean are beating down the doors to get out of their Caribbean homeland, to seek refuge in these places like the US, Canada and Western Europe. And yet it seems like the Chief Executive of this Caribbean country is encouraging more of it – there is a similar sentiment in the rest of the Caribbean member-states. As a result, we have such a sad state of affairs for our Caribbean eco-system as we are suffering from a bad record of societal abandonment.

See the Appendix VIDEO where the functionality of the Diaspora is discussed as a Caribbean standard.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. The book asserts that the region must work to hold on its populations – especially the professional classes – not see them leave for foreign shores. To accomplish this objective, this CU/Go Lean roadmap presents these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book aligns with the Prime Minister (PM) of the Bahamas in its desire to reform and transform Caribbean communities and attract more Direct Foreign Investors. While the PM’s scope is only the 320,000 population of the Bahamas, the CU/Go Lean roadmap targets all 30 member-states and their 42 million people. That different scope requires different strategies. By doing a better job of leveraging the size of the whole regional market, a lot of new solutions – size does matter – come to the fore; consider one example:

Media products would have an enlarged market size of 42 million in-country and the 20 million Diaspora.

Catering to the full size of a Caribbean Single Market is better than catering to the Diaspora of one particular country; this can reform and transform all Caribbean societal engines.

Yes, there is a panacea of Caribbean ills; but it is not the Diaspora alone; it is an interdependence of the Caribbean member-states; (including in-country populations and regional Diasporas). This was an early motivation for the CU/Go Lean roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13) of the book:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the regional collective of Caribbean society.

There is a place for the Diaspora, but it must be the collective Diaspora. Economies-of-scale and regional leverage applies there too, as the total Caribbean Diaspora as been estimated at 10 to 20 million people. Why so vast a range in the count?

That is the problem with Diasporas. Their loyalty – and that of their progeny – shifts to their residential country. See how this thesis has been developed in other blog-commentaries with this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11420	‘Black British’ avoiding the Caribbean ‘Less Than’ Label
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10820	Miami: Dominican’s ‘Home Away from Home’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10657	Stay Home! Outreach to the Diaspora – Doubling-down on Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10494	Ending the American Military Draft – Sent a ‘Welcome Sign’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9219	‘Time to Go’ – When Progeny No Longer Identifies Culture
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866	Switching Allegiances: Athletes representing other countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547	Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure

As related in these submissions, growing the Diaspora is bad for the Diaspora and bad for the Caribbean. The Diaspora should not be viewed as the panacea for Caribbean ills. No, the quest must be to make the homeland a better place to live, work and play so that our citizens do not leave – prosper where planted – and join the Diaspora in the first place. 🙂

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix: Bahamian Diaspora to be mobilized, says Minnis

ATLANTA, Georgia – Prime Minister, Dr. Hubert A. Minnis on Saturday encouraged the international Bahamian Diaspora to “consider new investment opportunities in The Bahamas” in areas ranging from tourism, to aquaculture, to the maritime sector.”

Minnis said the Bahamian Diaspora is a “major talent and investment pool that The Bahamas must tap into”.

The prime minister said his administration intends to help create a global network of Bahamians to help boost national development and to create a 21st century Bahamas.

“I invite my fellow Bahamians overseas, those of you of Bahamian heritage, and friends of The Bahamas, to consider new investment opportunities in The Bahamas in areas ranging from tourism, to aquaculture, to the maritime sector,” Minnis said.

“The Bahamas has a highly favorable investment regime. We are cutting the red tape and too often long waiting times for international investment projects to be vetted and approved.

“Like other countries that have successfully done so, my government will cultivate and utilize the energy of the Bahamian Diaspora,” Dr. Minnis said. “Working with our foreign missions, we will create a database of Bahamians overseas who the country may tap into as potential investors and consultants.

“For example, if there is not a domestic Bahamian consultant available in a given area, the priority will be to locate a Bahamian overseas, instead of first using a non-Bahamian consultant.”

Prime Minister Minnis said his administration is also giving consideration to the establishment of an overseas council of the Bahamian Diaspora, that will utilize social media and a dedicated website to help to produce a database and platform for communication of Bahamians overseas.

The prime minister said such a council could also promote investment and job opportunities for Bahamians wishing to return to and/or work in The Bahamas.

“The council may also promote ways that Bahamians overseas can network and help with educational and community-minded projects that will benefit The Bahamas, especially young Bahamians,” Minnis said.

Addressing a cocktail reception for Bahamians living in Atlanta and “friends of the Bahamian Diaspora”, Minnis said the government of The Bahamas has undertaken a program of long-term, economic growth in order to reduce unemployment and to move the Bahamian economy onto a more sustainable path since coming to office on May 10, 2017.

Minnis told attendees that his administration is also dedicated to stabilizing public finances, reforming government and addressing official corruption.

The program of reform and transformation, Minnis said, includes new thinking about the role of government “as we create new and innovative partnerships for national development”.

Minnis also invited those in attendance to consider lending their talents and resources in areas such as youth development and community service.

“God has blessed The Bahamas with many gifts. As a people we have always been blessed with an abundance of talent way beyond our relatively small population. This includes the Bahamian Diaspora,” Minnis added.

Source: Posted and retrieved September 4, 2017 from: http://www.thenassauguardian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75958&Itemid=2

———–

Appendix VIDEO – CBNS101: Caribbean Diaspora – https://youtu.be/bnizsn7pdW0

Published on Apr 19, 2013 – Courtman, Sandra. Beyond the blood, the beach & the banana: new perspectives in Caribbean studies. Kingston: Ian Randle, 2004. Print.   Harney, Stefano. Nationalism and identity: culture and the imagination in a Caribbean diaspora. Kingston [Jamaica: University of the West Indies ;, 1996. Print.    Mohammed, Jennifer. Caribbean Studies: Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) : for self-study and distance learning. S.l.: [Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC)], 2004.

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A Lesson in History – ‘4th of July’ and Slavery

Posted on July 4, 2017 in Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Today is a special day in the United States, it is the 241st anniversary of their Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. This day will be celebrated all over the country with parades, picnics, music and fireworks.

The celebrations of this day is a BIG deal!

What is buried in this annual celebration is the stark and sharp contrast on the different sides in the conflict of July 4, 1776. There were the British loyalists on one hand and those seeking freedom from the British, the patriots, on the other hand; see the opposing sides here:

Title #1: What two sides emerged in response to the Declaration of Independence? What did each side favor?

Answer:
The Patriots and Loyalists; Patriots favored independence and Loyalists favored staying as a British colony.

Explanation:
Tensions were simmering prior to the start of the Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 formally broadcasted to all that the United States was a new and independent nation. This led to two factions being formed: Patriots and Loyalists.

Patriots believed that the United States should be an independent nation separate from Britain. They felt that they were being treated unfairly as a colony and that their basic rights were being trampled upon. It was their view that the time for compromises was over and that the colonies needed to leave the British Empire.

Loyalists thought that the colonies were better off staying with England. Some did this out of loyalty for the king, but others feared instability and anarchy in the event of a change in government. In addition, many feared that the economic fallout with the mother country would destabilize the American economy.

All in all, these were the two groups that were formed, and as you know, the Patriots emerged as successful and formed a new nation.

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: https://socratic.org/questions/what-two-sides-emerged-in-response-to-the-declaration-of-independence-what-did-e

The patriots get to celebrate the 4th of July every year. But as there were 2 sides of this conflict, we sometimes forget the loyalists side of the conflict. They did not simply go away; they remained vocal and loyal to the Britain’s Crown.

The category of loyalists have a big bearing on the history of the Caribbean. Of the 30 member-states that caucus as the Caribbean, 18 of them have British heritage. Many of these were impacted by the American Declaration of Independence; many loyalists fled America and relocated to these British West Indies. Consider these notes:

When their cause was defeated, about 15% of the Loyalists (65,000–70,000 people) fled to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to British North America (now Canada). …

The wealthiest and most prominent Loyalist exiles went to Great Britain to rebuild their careers; many received pensions. Many Southern Loyalists, taking along their slaves, went to the West Indies and the Bahamas, particularly to the Abaco Islands. – Source: Wikipedia

Great Britain also responded … formally. See details of the response here:

Title #2: The British Reply

When Great Britain first received the Declaration of Independence, the country was silent. To them, this was another annoyance from the colonies. The colonists had sent previous letters to King George III that had been ignored, but this was the first time that they had declared themselves free from Great Britain. You know how you feel when a little child continues to ask you for the same thing over and over again, and eventually, you stop listening? This was how King George III viewed the colonies. They were a nuisance, but relatively harmless. Or so he thought.

The government hired John Lind, an English politician and pamphleteer, to write a rebuttal to the declaration. He wrote Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress, a reply that tried to pick apart the Declaration of Independence. Lind focused on the issue of slavery, saying that the colonists were actually angry that King George III had offered freedom to the slaves. Lind even mocked the writers for stating, ‘All men are created equal…’, yet they allowed slavery. Of course, all of this was just a distraction. The colonists really paid no attention to the pamphlet.

Following this, King George III officially declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. By August of 1776, the King ordered troops to the colonies.

Once the Revolutionary War began, the citizens of Great Britain became more concerned about the colonies and their fight for independence. In October, King George III addressed Parliament, hoping to ease some of the concerns. He opened the address wishing that he could inform them that the troubles were at an end and that the people had ‘recovered from their delusion’ and ‘returned to their duty.’ However, the colonists continued to fight and even ‘openly renounced all allegiance to the Crown.’ King George III accused the colonists of treason, but reassured the Parliament that England was still united.

The King ended his address singing his own praises saying, ‘No people ever enjoyed more Happiness, or lived under a milder Government, then those now revolted Provinces.’ Everything that the colonies have—their land, sea, wealth, and strength—was because of him. His desire was to return the colonies as a part of the British Empire and end the war.

As we know, King George III’s desire to end the war and keep the colonies did not go as planned. The Revolutionary War, the war for American Independence, continued until 1783, ending with more than 50,000 deaths, and the colonies freed as a new country, the United States of America.

…

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/british-reply-to-the-declaration-summary-analysis.html

As related, slavery was not the cause of the US War of Independence … entirely. But the notion that “all men are created equal” was a laughable American hypocrisy. The continuation of slavery in the wake of a trend of liberalism in England became a boiling point of contention. In fact as reported here, many African Americans – 12,000 or so – fled to the side of the British for the promise of freedom:

Title #3: Slavery and Black Loyalists

As a result of the looming crisis in 1775 the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation that promised freedom to servants and slaves who were able to bear arms and join his Loyalist Ethiopian Regiment. Many of the slaves in the South joined the Loyalists with intentions of gaining freedom and escaping the South. About 800 did so; some helped rout the Virginia militia at the Battle of Kemp’s Landing and fought in the Battle of Great Bridge on the Elizabeth River, wearing the motto “Liberty to Slaves”, but this time they were defeated. The remains of their regiment were then involved in the evacuation of Norfolk [(Virginia)], after which they served in the Chesapeake area. Eventually the camp that they had set up there suffered an outbreak of smallpox and other diseases. This took a heavy toll, putting many of them out of action for some time. There was a slave by the name of Boston King who joined the Loyalists and wound up catching smallpox. Boston King and other soldiers who were sick were relocated to a different part of the camp so that they did not contaminate the healthy soldiers. The survivors joined other British units and continued to serve throughout the war. Black colonials were often the first to come forward to volunteer and a total of 12,000 African Americans served with the British from 1775 to 1783. This factor had the effect of forcing the rebels to also offer freedom to those who would serve in the Continental Army; however, such promises were often reneged upon by both sides.^[31]

African Americans who gained their freedom by fighting for the British became known as Black Loyalists. The British honored the pledge of freedom in New York City through the efforts of General Guy Carleton who recorded the names of African Americans who had supported the British in a document called the Book of Negroes which granted freedom to slaves who had escaped and assisted the British. About 4,000 Black Loyalists went to the British colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where the British promised them land. They founded communities across the two provinces, many of which still exist today. Over 2,500 settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, instantly making it the largest free black community in North America. However, the inferior grants of land they were given and the prejudices of white Loyalists in nearby Shelburne who regularly harassed the settlement in events such as the Shelburne Riots in 1784, made life very difficult for the community.^[32] In 1791 Britain’s Sierra Leone Company offered to transport dissatisfied black Loyalists to the British colony of Sierra Leone in Africa, with the promise of better land and more equality. About 1,200 left Nova Scotia for Sierra Leone, where they named the capital Freetown.^[32] After 1787 they became Sierra Leone’s ruling elite. About 400 to 1,000 free blacks who joined the British side in the Revolution went to London and joined the free black community of about 10,000 there.

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)#Slavery_and_Black_Loyalists

Wow, what a notion! An argument can be made that for the Black population – the majority ethnicity for 29 of the 30 Caribbean member-states – their celebration of the 4th of July should have been … for the other side!

Intriguing!

This is the lesson in history for the Caribbean; American historic accomplishments are NOT historic accomplishments for the majority of Caribbean people. Poor race relations tarnished so much of American history, that the country continues with this societal defect … even to this day.

This lesson from America’s initiation is presented by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – which serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This book features a declaration of its own, a Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 13):

Preamble: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to unite with others so as to connect them together to collaborate, confederate and champion the challenges that face them, we the people of Caribbean democracies find it necessary to accede and form a confederated Union, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, with our geographic neighbors of common interest.

While the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle us to form a society and a brotherhood to foster manifestations of our hopes and aspirations and to forge solutions to the challenges that imperil us, decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that we declare the causes which imperil us and incite us to unite to assuage our common threats.

And while our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny. …

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on this roadmap, on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

“Lessons in History” are a familiar theme for these Go Lean blog-commentaries; consider this sample of previous submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12274	A Lesson in History – Spanish Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11870	A Lesson in History – Indian Termination Policy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10933	A Lesson in History – White is Right – Not!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10733	150 Years of Historically Black Colleges & Universities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9151	The New Smithsonian African – American Museum
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8767	A Lesson in History – Haiti 1804
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7769	History’s Effect of the Current Caribbean Disposition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7738	A Lesson in History – Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	A Lesson in History – Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971	A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451	CariCom position on Slavery/Colonization Reparations

There are so many lessons that we, in the Caribbean, can learn from this history of the initiation of the United States; the role of slavery was integral to the whole fabric of American society. Repercussions and consequences of this societal defect reverberated from those events in July 1776 right down to our day. In many ways, these repercussions and consequences are responsible for our region’s poor performance in our economic, security and governing engines. Our society was created as parasites of the American- European (British) eco-system, rather than protégés of these advanced economies.

It is time for this disposition to end! It is not 1776 anymore; we must make the societal progress that 241 years of lessons should have taught us. America has reformed and transformed … some, but still needs more progress. But our goal is not to reform and transform America; our target is the Caribbean … only. We hereby urge everyone in the region – people, institutions and governments – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap.

We can do this, we can declare our interdependence and make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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UPDATE: Understand the Market, Plan the …

Posted on May 11, 2017 in Government, Locations, Planning, Social

Update – Go Lean Commentary

“The Prime Minister bet his administration on the prospect of Carnival and now, its election time.” – Previous Go Lean commentary.

It’s official, that bet has failed! The Prime Minister (PM) of the Bahamas and leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) – Perry G. Christie – has been defeated. See full story here (posted 05/11/2017):

PLP Feel The Heat In FNM Landslide Win

New Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis

Out with the old, in with the new!

This commentary has observed-and-reported on the Bahamas for the last 5 years and the “bet” that the PM made was related to more than just Carnival; he also bet on:

Music Festival-Event – The Fyre Festival event was a fiasco; it went up in flames on April 28, 2017 after getting government permissions and support beforehand. The mass population of Bahamian stakeholders – other than the government – knew nothing of this event until it was an international embarrassment – a “Black-eye”.
Value-Added Tax – New 7.5% Sales & Use tax implementation increased the tax burden on the poor more than the rich.
Baha Mar Resort & Casino – $2 Billion Resort & Casino stalled due to government meddling in the Developer-Banker conflict.
Grand Bahama (Freeport) – 2^nd City economic progress stalled; decisions on extending Investment Tax Credits were inexplicably stalled and extended for 6-month intervals, until it was finally granted for a reasonable period.

So when the outgoing PM dissolved Parliament on April 11, 2017 and called elections for May 10, it was the only chance for the people to vocalize their displeasure. They shouted an almost unanimous veto of Christie’s policies and administration, giving the Opposition Party (Free National Movement) 35 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly – see Polling Results in Appendix B below. (We wish all success to the new government of Dr. Hubert Minnis, but our plan is different, better, as it relates to the full region of all 30 Caribbean member-states, not just the Bahamas alone.)

It is obvious that the outgoing PM also failed in the primary functionality of any Planning apparatus:

Understand the Market; Plan the … [Enterprise]

This point is detailed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean as a necessary responsibility for the new Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is presented as a technocratic solution to the societal defects for the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean – 30 member-states in total. The book quotes (Page 57):

What are the Agents of Change that will affect our customers [citizens] and our competitors in the future?

Shakespeare described change as “an undiscovered country”. No one knows exactly what will happen next and when. The best practice is to monitor the developments in the marketplace, adapt and adjust as soon as possible. This description of a nimble response is the purpose behind “Agile” project management and other Lean management methodologies.

The CU will be lean.

Assuming a role to “understand the market and plan the business” requires looking at the business landscape today and planning the strategic, tactical, and operational changes to keep pace with the market and ahead of competitors. Strategic changes that must be accounted for now, includes: Technology, Aging Diaspora, Globalization and Climate Change.

Understanding the market means taking an accurate assessment of the status quo. What truly are the needs and wants of the community; and how much solution can we really provide, so as to balance our promises? This is Planning 101; understanding the market and planning the business, planning the security apparatus, planning the government, planning the Federation.

Federation?

This is the quest for the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This Federation is an initiative to bring change and empowerment to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play. This Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety for all Caribbean stakeholders and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book features 144 different missions; all centered on a technocracy to elevate the societal engines of economics, security and governance. This is not easy; in fact the book describes this quest – unifying of the region of 42 million people into one Single Market – as heavy-lifting; paralleling the CU effort as a Caribbean version of the American Moon Shot in the 1960’s (Page 127). See this quote here:

The Bottom Line on Kennedy’s Quest for the Moon
On 25 May 1961, US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for the American Space program’s “Apollo” missions and redefined the ultimate goal of the Space Race in an address to a special joint session of Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”. His justification for the Moon Race was both that it was vital to national security and that it would focus the nation’s energies in other scientific and social fields. ^[10] This quest was succeeded. At 10:56 pm EDT, on 20 July 1969, the first human (American Astronaut Neil Armstrong) ventured out of the Apollo 11 landing craft and set foot on the Moon declaring: “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind“. ^[11]

Other countries have had subsequent moon landings. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO – The History of: The Apollo Space Program – https://youtu.be/kAxWaqM5M80

Published on Apr 27, 2014 – The History Of series intends to inform and entertain viewers about recorded events in human history.

Support this channel: http://www.patreon.com/RobertDavis

For more information about the Apollo Space Program visit the Wikipedia page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_p…
Music: Hans Zimmer – What Are You Going To Do When You Are Not Saving The World (Man of Steel Soundtrack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpBnx…

Thanks for watching.

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This commentary is all about the functionality of planning. Drawing reference to the Go Lean book’s treatment of planning, Page 125 listed this preface:

Planning
The Caribbean Union Trade Federation roadmap catalogs where we are as a region and where we plan to go. This section drills down on the advocacies important for planning the future of the Caribbean.

The issues identified in this section will be incorporated in the CU Treaty with member-states and then in the subsequent constitution, (after an organized Constitution Convention).

Scriptural Quotation – Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version):

Where there is no vision, the people perish …

The book then proceeds to list these chapters on planning for the Caribbean stakeholders to consider:

The topics in the photo depict a community ethos – the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people – of learning from other societies who have succeeded and failed at the planning-governing process. This vision was anticipated from the beginning of the Go Lean book, opening with these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations, Egypt and the previous West Indies Federation. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities like New York City, Germany, Japan, Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.

There is planning first … and then there is delivery.

Planning and delivery are 2 separate and distinct functionalities, but one drives the other. The Go Lean movement, with the branding of Lean in the name is all about the art-and-science of project delivery. The book explains (Page 4) that the Caribbean Union Trade Federation considers the word lean to be a noun, a verb and an adjective. It considers lean as a “core idea to maximize value while minimizing waste. Simply [put], lean means creating more value for stakeholders with fewer resources. A lean organization understands value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer/constituent/beneficiary through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.”

With confidence we can declare that the CU will “understand the market and plan the delivery”. Truly, then …

… “a Change Is Gonna Come”!

The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place there must first be an adoption of new community ethos. The roadmap was constructed with the new community ethos in mind (see Page 20), plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to deliver on the plans for an elevated Caribbean.

Yes, this plan, the Go Lean roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can make the Caribbean region – all 30 member-states – better homelands to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————-

Appendix A – Cited Footnote References

10 – Kennedy, John F. (25 May 1961). “Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs”. Historical Resources. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2010.

11 – Murray, Charles; Catherine Bly Cox (1990). Apollo: The Race to the Moon. New York: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster). ISBN 0-671-70625-X.

————-

Appendix B – General Election 2017

Commonwealth of The Bahamas – *OFFICIAL RESULTS*

Note: Her Excellency Dame Marguerite Pindling, Governor-General of The Bahamas, has invited Prime Minister-elect Hubert Minnis to be sworn in at Government House at 5 pm [on May 11, 2017].

—–
Free National Movement (35 seats)
✔Hubert Minnis (Killarney)
✔K. Peter Turnquest (East Grand Bahama)
✔Adrian Gibson (Long Island)
✔Brensil Rolle (Garden Hills)
✔Brent Symonette (St. Anne’s)
✔Carlton Bowleg Jr. (North Andros & the Berry Islands)
✔Desmond Bannister (Carmichael)
✔D. Halson Moultrie (Nassau Village)
✔Darren Allan Henfield (North Abaco)
✔Dionisio D’Aguilar (Freetown)
✔Donald L. Saunders (Tall Pines)
✔Duane Sands (Elizabeth)
✔Elsworth Johnson (Yamacraw)
✔Frankie Campbell (Southern Shores)
✔Frederick McAlpine (Pineridge)
✔Hank Johnson (Central & South Eleuthera)
✔Iram Lewis (Central Grand Bahama)
✔James Albury (Central &a South Abaco)
✔Jeffrey Lloyd (South Beach)
✔Lanisha Tolle (Sea Breeze)
✔Mark Humes (Fort Charlotte)
✔Marvin Dames (Mount Moriah)
✔Michael Foulkes (Golden Gates)
✔Michael Pintard (Marco City)
✔Miriam Reckly-Emmanuel (MICAL)
✔Pakeisha Parker-Edgecombe (West Grand Bahama & Bimini)
✔Reece Chipman (Centreville)
✔Renward Wells (Bamboo Town)
✔Reuben Rahming (Pinewood)
✔Rickey Mackey (North Eleuthera)
✔Romauld “Romi” Ferreira (Marathon)
✔Shenendon Cartwright (St. Barnabas)
✔Shonel Ferguson (Fox Hill)
✔Travis Robinson (Bain’s & Grant’s Town)
✔Vaughn Miller (Golden Isles)

—–
Progressive Liberal Party (4 seats)
✔Phillip Davis (Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador)
✔Picewell Forbes (Mangrove Cay & South Andros)
✔Glenys Hanna-Martin (Englerston)
✔Chester Cooper (Exumas & Ragged Island)

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UPDATE: Bad Week for Bahamas Events

Posted on May 1, 2017 in Economics, Government, Industries, Locations

Update – Go Lean Commentary

When it rains, it pours!

Event planners put on 2 events in the Bahamas this past weekend where things went from ‘bad to worse’ … fast. See the details in these news articles:

Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival opening event in Freeport experienced poor turn-out, 1/10^th the support of previous years – This commentary had related how the flawed decision-making for the 2017 event called for a postponement of the event, but then the government rescinded and returned to the original dates, except for in Freeport where they did delay the event 1 week, for this past weekend (April 28/29). Instead of the usual 5,000 in attendance, the numbers reported in near 500.
Fyre Festival Chaos In Exuma – The inaugural music event, dubbed the Fyre (diverse spelling of the word “fire”) Festival went up in flames, at the expense of the Bahamas brand/image. This event was an “Epic Fail” with media outlets internationally jumping on the pile in lambasting Bahamas Tourism officials and event planning. This event priced ticket and travel packages up to $12,000 for the April 28 – 30th weekend and all the country has to show for it now is a “Black Eye” – see Appendix VIDEO’s below.
Fyre Festival Organisers Apologise And Praise Bahamian Government – An old adage relates that “you do not get a 2^nd chance for a first impression”. Yet still, the Fyre Festival organizers plan to do the heavy-lifting to reboot their unique music festival event; only this time, they will do it in the US. This means no chance for redemption for the Bahamas. See the press statement here:
“Then something amazing happened: venues, bands, and people started contacting us and said they’d do anything to make this festival a reality and how they wanted to help. The support from the musical community has been overwhelming and we couldn’t be more humbled or inspired by this experience. People were rooting for us after the worst day we’ve ever had as a company. After speaking with our potential partners, we have decided to add more seasoned event experts to the 2018 Fyre Festival, which will take place at a United States beach venue.”

As noted in these published reports, the Bahamas is getting slammed in the international press and on social media. This is a consequence of the emergence of New Media, the world of Internet & Communications Technology (ICT), where one celebrity – dubbed “influencers” – may have millions of followers.

On the surface, onlookers consider Event Tourism to be so easy, but truth be told, it requires heavy-lifting. It requires the coordination of the economic, security and governing engines of a society. This was the declaration from this previous blog-commentary from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. The assessment was that touristic events appear to be lucrative, but there was so much heavy-lifting involved with an implementation, that unless there was a whole-souled commitment by the full community, it would be very hard to find success; chaos ensues.

The movement behind the Go Lean book has repeatedly related that there is a need for new stewardship of the Caribbean tourism apparatus. The world has changed. There is no longer the need for tourism stewards to just “rub shoulders” with travel agents, but rather, now they must write computer programming code, optimize Search Engines and execute events with technocratic deliveries.

Out with the old, in with the new.

This previous blog-commentary (from September 15, 2015) related these details:

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the engines of commerce so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The category of “play” covers the full scope of tourism, which is the primary economic driver for our Caribbean region; the book estimates 80 million visitors among the region. (Since that number includes cruise passengers that may visit multiple Caribbean islands on one itinerary, each port is counted separately; without cruise passengers, a figure of 68 – 69 million is perhaps more accurate).

This commentary is a consideration of tourism, not travel. Tourism is a subset of the travel eco-system, so any Agent of Change in the world of travel must be carefully considered on tourism, on Caribbean tourism. …

The Go Lean book considers these Agents of Change (Page 57) that have dynamically affected the Caribbean economic eco-systems:

Technology

Globalization

Aging Diaspora

Climate Change

This first one, technology, has had a most shocking effect on this travel/tourism industry. We can conclude that the days of [Travel Agent] Thomas Cook are over. It is no longer convenient for tourism industry stakeholders (transportation lines, resort properties, etc.) to acquiesce to travel agents; they are no longer needed to find passengers-guests-travelers-tourists.

(The industry for travel agents has now effectively disappeared [in importance]).

Technology, the Internet-Communications-Technology (ICT) in particular has furnished alternative and better options for travel enterprises to find passengers-guests-travelers-tourists…. Travel agents are now inconsequential….

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the underlying movement seeks to re-boot the strategies and tactics of tourism marketing for the entire Caribbean region. The book asserts Caribbean member-states must expand and optimize their tourism outreach but that the requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state … alone. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book thereafter introduces the CU and provides a roadmap for its implementation into a Single Market for the Caribbean economy … and tourism marketing.

The goal of the CU is to bring the proper tools and techniques to the Caribbean region to optimize the stewardship of the economic, security and governing engines. The book posits that the economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, with technocratic management and stewardship better than the status quo. While the goal of the roadmap is to pursue a diversification strategy, the reality is that tourism will continue to be the primary economic driver in the region for the foreseeable future. The publisher of the book Go Lean…Caribbean convenes the talents and skill-sets of movers-and-shakers in electronic commerce [and project management] so as to forge the best tools and techniques for this new ICT-based marketing.

Lessons need to be learned from the abominable planning and execution of this weekend’s events. The lesson: Event Tourism is not easy; but still, the heavy-lifting tasks must be mastered. This is the charter of the Go Lean roadmap, to deploy the technocratic administration to optimize Caribbean tourism. The Go Lean specifically details the community ethos that the region needs to adopt to consistently be successful in these types of events, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to ensure successful deployments; see a sample list here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art and Culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Agencies versus Member-State Governments	Page 71
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Ideal for Events	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons from Omaha – College World Series Model	Page 138
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Case Study: Sturgis Summer Festival – By the Numbers	Page 288

So now what? There are repercussions and consequences …

Fyre Festival Organizers Sued in $100 Million Fraud, Breach of Contract Suit. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/fyre-festival-organizers-sued-for-fraud-breach-of-contract-w479666

Expect more fallout … legally, socially (butt of the joke), commercially (marketing other events) and maybe too …

… politically, as these events are transpiring only days before the parliamentary elections in the Bahamas on May 10 (2017).

When a community puts all its “eggs in one basket”, as in Caribbean tourism, any failures tied to event planning weighs heavily on the economic output for that society. This is not fair … to the community, to the people that need optimized economic engines to support their livelihood.

The Go Lean roadmap is different … and better.

It seeks to diversify the regional economy to create new jobs – 2.2 million in total, with only 30,000 direct jobs in direct touristic activities; see Go Lean book Page 257.

Yet still, project delivery is very important as an “art and a science”. Applying advanced project management methodologies does help with the execution of event tourism … and many other industrial endeavors.

These issues are not just important for the Bahamas, but instead for the entire Caribbean region, since the economic structure is the same for most of the 30 member-states. The book relates this in the opening overview (Page 3):

The Caribbean has tried, strenuously, over the decades, to diversify their economy away from the mono-industrial trappings of tourism, and yet tourism is still the primary driver of the economy. Prudence dictates that the Caribbean nations expand and optimize their tourism products, but also look for other opportunities for economic expansion. The requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

Now is the time for all stakeholders in the Caribbean – governments, residents, event planners, participants and tourists – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. We can do better; we can make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. This quest is conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix VIDEO 1 – Luxury music festival turns to chaos – https://youtu.be/kzRMCEP3OIU

Published on Apr 29, 2017 – Inaugural Fyre Festival in the Bahamas postponed after attendees reported dilapidated accommodations, and top-billed performers pulled out.
To read more: http://cbc.ca/1.4090271

————

Appendix VIDEO 2 – Announcing Fyre Festival – https://youtu.be/mz5kY3RsmKo

Published on Jan 12, 2017 – This is the original Promotional Advertising.

Category: People & Blogs
License: Standard YouTube License

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ENCORE: PM Christie and Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival

Posted on April 7, 2017 in Economics, Government, Social

Update – Go Lean Commentary

Talk is cheap! Results, on the other hand, are hard-fought and expensive.

This is the post-analysis of the plans for Junkanoo Carnival in the Bahamas, after 3-years of planning and execution. The results have indeed been hard-fought, expensive and … “not so successful”.

Told you so…

This was the declaration from this previous blog-commentary from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. The assessment was that the Carnival product appeared to be lucrative, but there was so much heavy-lifting involved with an implementation, that unless there was a whole soul commitment by the full community, it would be very hard to find success.

Now there are new developments…

Article Title: ‘Blindsided’ By Carnival Delay
By: Ava Turnquest, Tribune Chief Reporter

LESS than a week after officials announced the event’s line-up, Prime Minister Perry Christie confirmed yesterday that the 2017 Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival has been postponed until after the general election.

The news has “blindsided” key stakeholders and vendors, who decried the confusion, likely damage to brand and reputation and potential financial losses resulting from the date change.

The Tribune understands the event has been pushed back from May 4-6 to May 18-20 in Nassau. The new date was also circulated in a flyer by Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival’s Instagram account last night.

It is unclear whether the Grand Bahama-leg of the festival, slated for April 28 and 29, has also been pushed back.

Mr Christie was asked about the postponement on the sidelines of a ceremony to rename thoroughfares at the University of the Bahamas, after a report published in The Nassau Guardian indicated that the government had decided to delay the event.

Mr Christie said: “I’m advised that the Carnival Commission has met and agreed that because of the impending possibilities, to suspend or extend the date of (Junkanoo) Carnival. I don’t know the dates they had chosen but it is my understanding that that has been done.”

Up to press time, the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) had not released a new date for the event, or an official statement on the postponement.

When The Tribune contacted BNFC Chairman Paul Major, he said: “What we know is that we’re not going to conflict with the final say of Cabinet – once an official election date is set, then our dates are subject to change.”

Last Thursday, the BNFC announced Trinidadian singing stars Machel Montano and Bunji Garlin as event headliners. It was also confirmed that the event will be streamlined compared to past years because of financial constraints.

The government will reduce its subsidy to the festival by as much as 50 per cent over last year, when taxpayers contributed about $8 million, officials said. The 2016 event brought in $578,342 in revenue, costing more than $9.8m overall.

In 2015, the government spent $11.3m on the inaugural festival, going over its initial budget of $9m, with the rest covered by sponsors. The first Junkanoo Carnival cost $12.9m overall.

Mr Major and BNFC CEO Roscoe Dames declined further questions, and advised that the commission would release further information today.

The Office of the Prime Minister, in a press statement on Sunday, announced that Parliament will be dissolved on April 11.

According to the Parliamentary Elections Act, an election must be held 21 to 30 days after election writs are issued, meaning the next vote will likely be held in early May.

The last election was held on May 7, 2012.

In 2015, the inaugural festival took place on May 7-9 in New Providence, and the 2016 Junkanoo Carnival kicked off on April 15-16 in Grand Bahama and on May 5-7 in New Providence.

In February, Free National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader K Peter Turnquest called for the government to postpone or delay the festival until after the general election, warning that the event could only be perceived as “vote buying” if staged during the election cycle.

The Tribune reached out to Bahamas Carnival Band Owners Association (BCBOA) President Dario Tirelli for comment on the matter; however, Mr Tirelli declined comment until an official government statement was released.

Mr Tirelli told The Tribune that the news had “blindsided” his association.

Stephan Rolle, owner of Bluemonkey Bahamas, told reporters that any date change would negatively impact his business, the Bahamas Carnival Cruise, which has booked more than 100 carnival-goers on an all-inclusive weekend cruise from Miami to Nassau.

He challenged Mr Christie to give the festival the same level of respect as the annual Junkanoo parades.

Source: The Tribune Daily Newspaper (Posted 04/04/2017; retrieved 04/05/2017) – http://www.tribune242.com/news/2017/apr/04/blindsided-carnival-delay/

The Prime Minister bet his administration on the prospect of Carnival and now, its election time. He declared that the Parliament will dissolve on April 11, 2017. Under the Westminster structure of Parliamentary government, elections of a new Parliament must take place within a month after that date. So now the expectation is that elections will be conducted “smack in the middle” of the 2017 Carnival activities.

The solution? The PM postpones Carnival!

From a strictly Carnival perspective, this is a Big Mistake! See here the reaction of the festival stakeholders:

VIDEO – Unhappy over Carnival situation – http://youtu.be/f5zoG6yiS9E

Uploaded on Apr 4, 2017 – One of many online videos featuring complaints about the postponement of Carnival.

In this previous Go Lean blog-commentary – being ENCORED below – the prospect of Junkanoo Carnival was analyzed … before-hand, then subsequent blogs also examined the results after the 1^st-year and 2^nd-year events, as follows:

Post-Mortem of Inaugural Junkanoo Carnival – May 14, 2015
Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – Long road to Legacy – May 8, 2016

The appeal was made in all of these commentaries for the strategies, tactics and implementations of the Go Lean roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This involved the heavy-lifting to marshal the entire community to ensure for Event Tourism, and profit from it. See the original blog-commentary here below.

Also, see a related story from April 4, 2017 detailing the challenges of a new schedule-date: Festival To Be May 18-20 As PM Confirms Move (The Tribune Daily Newspaper; retrieved 04/05/2017)

————–

Blog Title: PM Christie responds to critics of Bahamian ‘Carnival’

Head –> Heart –> Hands.

This is the physiological process to forge change, described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 20). As experienced on a daily basis by people attempting to “quit smoking”, change is near impossible without engaging those three body parts. The book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) describes the linked application of those three symbolic body parts, as follows:

Head – Plans, Models and Strategies
Heart – Community Ethos
Hands – Actions, Implementations, Advocacies

According to the below news article, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas wants to forge change in his homeland. He wants to incorporate a new festival, based on the model of Carnival and Madri Gras, so as to glean some of the massive economic harvests around those events in the Caribbean and other Western Hemisphere destinations.

Since initiating this plan in Spring 2013, cyber-space and public commentary have been awash with feedback: some in favor; most opposed.

Albeit he is inspired by good motives, the publishers declare that something is missing in the Prime Minister’s plans: Best practices.

Excerpts from original source article: PM Christie responds to critics of Bahamian ‘Carnival’
Date: April 25, 2014
By: Erica Wells, Managing Editor

Prime Minister Perry Christie has assured critics of the Government’s plan to create a Bahamian Carnival or Mardi Gras that the festival will be “essentially” Bahamian and that a special committee will be appointed to prepare the country and the world for the initiative.
…
The government, Christie says, sees the festival as both a major economic intervention and a cultural expansion.

“It will be essentially Bahamian but also include thousands of visitors who will be attracted by what will be an absolutely fabulous affair,” said Christie.

Anthropologist and author Dr. Nicolette Bethel, who is also a former director of culture, has been one of the biggest critics of the proposed festival.
…
Prime Minister Christie said for the groups to be licensed, they would have to form themselves into a company and operate as a business.

“This is a massive undertaking which will receive very careful consideration of the government,” he said.

“This is very necessary as the corporate groups will be advertising abroad and inviting persons to purchase costumes online as well as from store fronts in a cultural village or elsewhere.”
…
The prime minister said carnival is part of a worldwide masquerade industry.

He said the industry has been successful in attracting costume makers, wire benders, painters, designers and performers at some of the largest festivals in the world.

“It has an export dimension. We know of major festivals in Trinidad, Brazil, Toronto, Barbados, New York, Miami and London. Carnival in the diaspora generates hundreds of millions of dollars and creates many jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

“It is big business and it requires business planning, management, marketing of products and organizational structure,” said Christie.

Prime Minister Christie said costumes from carnival inspired designers show up in New York, Toronto, Notting Hill, London, Miami and many other centers in the U.S.
…

Source: The Nassau Guardian Online. Posted 06/22/2013; retrieved 04/24/2014 from: http://www.thenassauguardian.com/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=40021&Itemid=59

The Go Lean roadmap is different! It employs best practices for assessing, strategizing and implementing change. The book commences with the practice to assess current landscapes; this is what strategists call “Understand the market / Plan the business”. Page 44 presents these questions:

• Who are our customers and what exactly do they want?

• Who are our competitors; how do we stack up against them?

The book then proceeds to answer these and other strategy queries, accordingly.

Events/festivals are paramount in the Go Lean roadmap: the optimization of existing events and the introduction of new events. This advocacy is detailed on Page 191 as being supplemental to the goal of enhancing tourism (Page 190).

What are the prospects for this new Bahamas Carnival/Lenten festival?

On the surface, it seems far-fetched, as the Bahamas does not have a Lenten ethos. All the competitive destinations (Rio De Janeiro, New Orleans and Trinidad) have elevated lent habits (Ash Wednesday to Good Friday), so that Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday actually has significance in preparation of this hallowed Lenten season. Without this ethos, it is hard, though not impossible, to forge a new tradition, festival or business model. But the mediocre financial investment, announced in the foregoing article – $1 million as opposed to $3 million, makes the success of initiating and promoting a new event an insurmountable obstacle.

The publishers of the Go Lean roadmap wish the Prime Minister good fortune with his plans, but this execution does not appear to be lean, within “best practices”. More is needed; much more! There should be more focus on “Head, Heart & Hands” principles. As a contrast, notice the detailed strategies, tactics, actions and advocacies for new events in the Go Lean roadmap:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non Government Org’s.	Page 25
Impact the Future	Page 26
Foster Genius – Performance Excellence	Page 27
Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Business Community	Page 47
Strategy – Customers – Visitors / Tourists	Page 47
Strategy – Competitors – Event Patrons	Page 55
Separation of Powers – Emergency Mgmt.	Page 76
Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotion	Page 78
Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture	Page 81
Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Admin.	Page 83
Separation of Powers – Turnpike Operations	Page 84
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering	Page 182
Ways to Improve [Service] Animal Husbandry	Page 185
Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Ways to Improve Emergency Management	Page 196
Ways to Impact Hollywood [& Media Industry]	Page 203
Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Ways to Promote Music	Page 231

In summary, festivals/events are important, so they require lean administration and executions. They empower economics and fortify cultural pride. In all, they make the Bahamas, by extension the entire Caribbean, a better place to live, work, and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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More ‘Bad News’ for Freeport

Posted on February 12, 2017 in Ethos, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Change has come to tropical resorts – hotels with casinos. They do not seem to work anymore. It is a failing business model. This is Bad News for some communities.

Casinos are especially failing. Why so? Well, for the many resort guests that come from North America (US & Canada), they now have abundant access to gambling – lotteries, casinos and pari-mutuel betting (horse racing, greyhound racing and Jai Alai). These establishments, especially casinos as of late, have popped up in many cities all over the region, plus on many Native American reservations. Plus there is the eco-system of Casino Riverboats and Cruise Ships leaving major US ports; many of them heading to the Caribbean.

Lastly, the ubiquity of the internet has furnished endless online gambling options.

The previous casino hot spots of Las Vegas and Atlantic City have thusly had to reform and transform their product offering.

Somehow, the Caribbean region “has not gotten the memo”.

This is sad, as one community after another in the Caribbean are having to endure the “bumps and bruises” of a failing economic engine in their neighborhood.

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood …” NOT!

See this reality – Bad News for one city – in this Press Release statement here:

Corporate Statement: Sunwing vacates Memories Grand Bahama

February 1, 2017 – In 2013, the Sunwing Travel Group forged a partnership with the Government of The Bahamas and in 2014 began to operate the Memories Grand Bahama Beach & Casino Resort on Grand Bahama Island. Concurrently with Sunwing’s opening of the Memories Resort, Sunwing began weekly flight service from eight cities in Canada and daily flights from a variety of U.S. cities in the ensuing summer. The opening of the 492-room Resort coupled with Sunwing’s tour operator and airlift support, led to the revitalization of the Grand Bahama tourist economy, over 100,000 incremental tourists annually arriving on new flying programs from Canada and the Eastern United States, the creation of over 1500 jobs on the Island, and an annual economic contribution exceeding US $140 Million.

On October 6th of 2016, Hurricane Matthew caused significant damage to the Memories Resort and forced its closure. Despite an immediate response from Sunwing Travel Group and the Government of The Bahamas to secure alternative accommodations, protect flying, and expedite the necessary repairs, the Hotel’s owner, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, did not agree to requests to restore the Memories.

Since this event, the Sunwing Travel Group has taken on the significant financial burden of compensating and re-protecting customers as well as running an air program with limited accommodation options as a demonstration of goodwill and commitment to the people of Grand Bahama Island.

In January, it was reported in the Bahamian press that the Government and Sunwing had agreed to co-invest sums to restore the Memories and secure its earliest reopening. Sunwing sought the hotel Owner’s consent for such restoration but regrettably, the Owner attempted to impose exorbitant conditions that were totally unacceptable to Sunwing and would be to any other potential tenant.

The Sunwing Travel Group is very proud of the partnership it has forged with the Government and the people of Grand Bahama and very saddened to report that we were required to vacate the Memories Resort premises on January 29, 2017. Accordingly, we are making arrangements to pay out applicable redundancy pay for our employees and will be reaching out to our employees in the coming days.

Sunwing intends to continue supporting Grand Bahama Island and its tourism economy, including its hotels, through its tour operators, Sunwing Vacations and US-based Vacation Express as well as by continuing its airlift programs from Canada and from the United States in the summer, subject to conditions we are discussing with Government.

We are also pleased to advise that as part of our ongoing commitment to Grand Bahama and its people, we are already developing plans in concert with the Government to return to Grand Bahama Island as a hotel operator and are optimistic that we will be in a position to announce details shortly.

We are very appreciative for the support we’ve received from the Government and the wonderful people of Grand Bahama. Thank you for your continued support and understanding,

Sunwing Travel Group.

————-

Source: The “Bahamas Weekly” News Source; posted Feb 3, 2017; retrieved Feb 8, 2017 from: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/grand-bahama-bahamas/Sunwing_vacates_Memories_Grand_Bahama52338.shtml

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VIDEO – Memories Grand Bahama Beach & Casino Resort – Grand Bahama, The Bahamas | Sunwing.ca – https://youtu.be/qLo3puqnIis

Published on Apr 15, 2014 – Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino Resort offers the perfect vacation escape for all types of travelers. Guests can indulge in a variety of first-class amenities, gourmet dining, unlimited beverages, onsite golf and non-stop activities.

The foregoing press release – about Freeport, the 2nd city in the Bahamas – aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean, which calls for the elevation of Caribbean economics. This quest means first accepting the reality of the current assessments; then forging the necessary change.

What is the assessment? The region is in crisis!

Alas, the Go Lean book declares “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) with the charter to effectuate change in the region with these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and marshal against economic crimes.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Looking at the foregoing news story, Freeport has a crisis. There is a need to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize the engines of commerce so as to make Freeport, Grand Bahama, the whole Bahamas and the entire Caribbean, better places to live, work and play. This news story relates that the tourism product in Freeport, the mainstay of Caribbean economy, is in turmoil. The Go Lean book asserts that this is where the region must start in the effort for turn-around: the region can no longer afford to be a “one-trick pony”. The opening page of the book states:

The Caribbean has tried, strenuously, over the decades, to diversify their economy away from the mono-industrial trappings of tourism, and yet tourism is still the primary driver of the economy. Prudence dictates that the Caribbean nations expand and optimize their tourism products, but also look for other opportunities for economic expansion. The requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the … CU.

The CU Trade Federation is a technocracy, empowered to reboot the economic engines of the member-states, by fostering new industries (new “purse”) across the entire region and deploying solutions to better exploit the opportunities of the global trade market. Thus generating all new revenues; with no need to re-distribute any existing “purse” among the member-states. …

There is an apropos proverb: “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Starting here and now, the Caribbean starts its planning for success; to snatch “victory out of the jaws of defeat”. Failure is just too familiar. Already we have member-states … on the verge of a Failed-State status… These states are not contending with the challenges of modern life: changing weather patterns, ever-pervasive technology, and the “flat world” of globalization. To reverse the fortunes of these failing states, and guide others in the opposite direction to a destination of prosperity, the Caribbean must re-boot the regional economy and systems of commerce.

Early in this book, the responsibility to monitor, manage, and mitigate the risks and threats of job killing developments, (such as the reporting in the foregoing press release), was identified as an important function for the CU with this pronouncement in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 13):

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries… In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism… – impacting the region with more jobs.

So what is next for Freeport?

The urging to this community is to “be afraid; be very afraid of maintaining the status quo”. It is past time to reboot Freeport. (See the foregoing VIDEO advertising the Memories Grand Bahama Resort).

This commentary previously related details of the status quo for Freeport and the strong recommendations to forge change. Consider this list of previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10309	Time to consider “Secession”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10140	Lessons Learned from Detroit: Demolish abandoned structures!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7528	A Vision of Freeport as a Self-Governing Entity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5542	Freeport’s Bad Ethos of Rent-Seeking
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4185	Freeport: A Ghost Town Happening
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4037	How to Train Your ‘Dragon’ – Freeport Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	Freeport’s Musical Roots: A City ‘Built on Rock-n-Roll’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2585	Parallel of Freeport’s History: Concorde Supersonic Transport
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=300	Freeport’s Failing Status: ’10,000 Bahamians Living in Darkness’

The problems in Freeport are indicative of many other failing Caribbean communities, especially those overly dependent on tourism. Tourism can be a great economic engine, if managed properly … and diversified to hedge risk.

But, the executions have been faulty. Many communities have been plagued with “economic sores” for inadequate management of their tourism products. The issue of declining growth or failing business models is an important discussion for this roadmap. This commentary previously related details of these dysfunctions in these earlier Go Lean blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8381	A Lesson in Economic Fallacies – Casino Currencies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7082	The Art and Science of ‘Play’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6680	Vegas Casinos Place Bets on Video Games
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	Tourism Dysfunctional Stewardship — What’s Next?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4145	A Better Model for ‘Art’ Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3225	Caribbean tourism less competitive due to increasing aviation taxes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2571	Sharing Economy: There is a winning model for Caribbean Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2207	Hotels are making billions from Resort Fees; Bad Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1984	Casinos Failing Business Model
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1943	The Fading Future of Golf; Vital for Tourism?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=798	Lessons Learned from the American Airlines Delivery Arts & Sciences
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=235	Tourism’s changing profile

According to the foregoing press release, the closing of this one property, Memories Grand Bahama, will directly impact over 600 jobs. In economics, there is the study of in-direct jobs that are facilitated by an economic engine. The Go Lean book details (Page 260) the principle of job multipliers, how certain industries are better than others for generating multiple indirect jobs down the line for each direct job on a company’s payroll. (Tourism’s job multiplier may be in the 2.0 to 3.0 range, while other industries, like automotive manufacturing, have a job-multiplier rate of 11.0)

The closing of this one property is more dire for Freeport; it’s an island with only few other non-tourism economic options. This city should be desperate to reform/reboot. Their economy needs to diversify … to industries with high job-multiplier ratios. (The Go Lean book suggest an automotive manufacturing business model for some communities in the Caribbean region; and a shipbuilding focus for Freeport). In order to “dream such a dream”, there must first be the adoption of specific community ethos to diversify the economy. (This is defined as the underlying spirit-attitude-sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society).

Is Freeport ready to start the journey for a new destiny with the adoption of the new community ethos? How about the rest of the Caribbean?

The book details the community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster a diversified economy:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens – Anticipate Natural Disasters	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Integrate Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy	Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Regional Tourism Promotion	Page 78
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Reboot Freeport – Only City identified in Roadmap	Page 112
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Better Job Options	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Example of a Failing City	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class	Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to foster industrial developments to diversify communities from tourism. We do not want to “abandon” tourism, just diversify it.

“Abandon” is a good word, because abandonment is what is happening in these failing Caribbean communities that have not diversified nor grown their economies. The disposition is so bad that the region sports a 70 percent abandonment rate among the educated classes.

This is truly a crisis; but one not to be wasted. All Caribbean stakeholders in the region – residents, institutions, businesses, Diaspora and trading partners – are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. This plan is conceivable, believable and achievable.

Yes, we can … make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Bahamas Welcomes the New University

Posted on November 17, 2016 in Economics, Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

Dateline Thursday, November 10, 2016 – It’s a BIG moment for the Bahamas; its Charter Day; their College of the Bahamas (COB) has now graduated to the University of the Bahamas (UB). This is a B.H.A.G. (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)! Congratulations! We welcome this new University.

VIDEO – Bahamas Welcomes First University – https://youtu.be/g7sxdmrj1bM

Published on Nov 10, 2016 – Evening Newscast from ZNS Television – Bahamas State-own TV and Radio Network – on Charter Day.

This B.H.A.G. was the plan “all the while”. In 2014 when COB published their 2025 Master Plan, this commentary chimed in. Our conclusion:

The institution was only reaching for the lamp-post. (The commentary preferred that COB “reached for the stars”).

We received feedback-criticism for that assessment. We heard specific responses like:

“Not Accurate! The Go Lean commentary ignored the real world constraints that COB must manage”.

This commentary is a response to that response.

After 2 years of reflection, it is our conclusion that the COB Master Plan 2025 was indeed a “good start”. The previous assessment was that the College-University Master Plan was deficient, that it did not “stretch” far enough to address the Agents of Change (globalization and technology) affecting the Caribbean and the educational needs of this island-nation. But now, after 2 years of “observing and reporting” on the effort to reform and transform failing communities, we have come to appreciate that some changes must be evolutionary as opposed to revolutionary. That 2014 blog was extremely insightful; it accurately described “what” was needed in the arena of tertiary education in the Bahamas (and other Caribbean member-states), but it too was deficient …

… it did not stress the “why”, “how” and “when”. Let’s do that now; this is an update to that previous submission:

Why?

Answering all the questions of “why”, “how” and “when” is reflective of the comprehensiveness of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap assesses that the Caribbean – Bahamas included – is in crisis.

Why a crisis?

There is a dire problem with societal abandonment. Even students are guilty of blame. Many times they leave their Caribbean homeland to matriculate abroad and never return. In general, the region’s abandonment rate among tertiary educated citizens is reported at 70%.

So there needs to be a viable alternative to studying abroad. There needs to be a good local educational institution. This is what was expected in the COB-UB Master Plan in 2014 and what is expected today. As the sole tertiary education institution in the Bahamas, it would be expected that a Master Plan would have better addressed this crisis. As this is bigger than just academics; this addresses all societal engines. The CU/Go Lean roadmap embeds concern for all these engines in its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

This prime directive relates to universities as well. They can effect change in their community; see Appendix-VIDEO below. The Go Lean book posits that the Caribbean’s crisis is a “terrible thing to waste”. Therefore the roadmap seeks to change the entire eco-system of Caribbean education. This vision is defined early in the book (Page 13 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores…

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

Universities play an important role in cementing the societal fabric of their communities. In a previous blog-commentary, the American experience was detailed; the number one employers in each state were listed. In 16 of the 50 states, the largest employer was an entity within that State’s University System. The following intelligence was gleaned:

The education eco-system is important for more than just enrolled student bodies; whole communities are affected. Just consider the California example … indicative of all the other states where a University System is the largest employer: The University … system, which has campuses in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, Merced, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Francisco, is the largest employer in the state. The university network also includes the UCLA Health System, which consists of 5 medical centers, and three national laboratories.
Jobs come from disruptive systems of commerce – Big-Box retailer Walmart has undermined the business models of the previous delivery solutions for food, clothing and shelter (home goods). They are now the largest employer in 19 states.

So … how and when?

How? – 10 Ways to Improve the University

What should have been featured in a Master Plan/roadmap for effectuating change in the tertiary education landscape for the Bahamas? The following community ethos, strategies, tactics and implementations from the Go Lean book (in the order of appearance in the book) depict how to improve a Caribbean university eco-system for the educational charter:

Ways to Impact the Future – Forward focus, not legacy; Future success is not guaranteed; must be fostered	Page 26
Ways to Foster Genius – Identify them early and foster/protect them through out their development	Page 27
Ways to Impact Research & Development – Size does not matter; commitment does	Page 30
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Invite other universities for Healthcare and specialty Campuses	Page 105
Ways to Improve Education – Manage Brain Drain as an enemy; with a comprehensive Battle Plan	Page 159
Ways to Impact Student Loans – People cannot repay if they are not around; conditionalize all grants	Page 160
Ways to Empower Immigration – Import the skills (teachers and students) we do not have	Page 174
Ways to Impact Public Works – Need cutting edge campuses to attract and retain stakeholders	Page 175
Ways to Improve Libraries – Outreach into neighborhoods; bring the learning to the people	Page 187
Ways to Foster Technology – e-Learning makes for virtual campuses; keep rural people at home	Page 197

How? – 10 Ways the University Can Impact the Community

As conveyed in the Appendix VIDEO below, universities usually have an effect on their communities above-and-beyond academics. There is the concept of the Company town, or in this case University town, in which one or more universities may be the primary economic driver. The US has many such towns, think Gainesville-Florida, Tallahassee-Florida, Athens-Georgia, Lincoln-Nebraska, Ann Arbor-Michigan and others.

How can an education institution in the Caribbean region execute a plan to impact the economic, security and governing engine of its community?

The Go Lean book details these community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster peripheral benefits for all who live, work and play in the Caribbean region. See sample here of peripheral-auxiliary benefits from the Go Lean book (in the order of appearance in the book):

Ways to Help Entrepreneurship – Models abound where Incubators started on University Campuses	Page 28
Ways to Promote Intellectual Property – Respect for Other People’s IP must start with the Intellectuals	Page 29
Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide – Campuses should lead this revolution	Page 31
Ways to Impact Social Media – .EDU (Education) websites should dominate traffic	Page 111
Ways to Foster International Aid – Need Visiting Faculty and Exchange Students	Page 115
Ways to Benefit from Globalization – Need foreign students here, not just local students going abroad	Page 187
Ways to Impact Housing – Model of Ann Arbor shows Mixed-Use Developments embedded in “Cityscape”	Page 160
Ways to Improve Communications – Common strategy for Campus “Public” Radio and TV	Page 185
Ways to Promote Fairgrounds – CU built Stadia/arenas; Intercollegiate Sports only missing landlords	Page 194
Ways to Improve Sports – Foster an Intercollegiate Sports eco-system in the region with other colleges	Page 229

How? – Models

Education initiatives are a familiar feature of the Go Lean movement. Consider the many previous blog-commentaries relating lessons-learned (good and bad) and models on education reform from other communities. See the sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8669	Detroit makes Community College free
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7806	Skipping School to become Tech Giants
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6269	Education & Economics: Welcome Mr. President
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5482	For-Profit Education: Plenty of Profit; Little Education
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4487	FAMU – Finally, A Model for Facilitating Economic Opportunity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2183	Lessons Learned from Textbook Price-gouging
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171	Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709	Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers

When?

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This Big Deal for the region leads first with economic empowerments, including education solutions.

Wake up all you teachers
Time to teach a new way
Maybe then they’ll listen
To what you have to say.
Song: Wake Up Everybody; performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1975)
Source: Retrieved November 2, 2016 from: http://www.metrolyrics.com/wake-up-everybody-lyrics-harold-melvin-the-blue-notes.html

This Go Lean book is not the COB/UB Master Plan; the institution must address their own planning, but ultimately the requirements detailed in the book are what the Caribbean are relevant for the region: better education options, better jobs, better entrepreneurial opportunities, better economic growth and better prospects to live, work and play in the Caribbean. The Bahamas in particular, and the Caribbean region as a whole, needs the deliveries of this roadmap from Go Lean … Caribbean.

This roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable. Let’s all lean-in.

Let’s all lean-in now!

Congratulations … and welcome to the new University of the Bahamas. Welcome to the fight!

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———-

Appendix VIDEO – Rodney Smith – Address at the Bahamas Business Outlook – https://vimeo.com/118522660

Rodney Smith – Address at The Bahamas Business Outlook Jan. 29th, 2015 from University of The Bahamas on Vimeo.

Jan. 29th, 2015 – University President Rodney Smith addresses the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce in preview of the new University of the Bahamas.

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Bahamas Issued US Travel Advisory Citing Police Violence

Posted on July 11, 2016 in Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The news in the below article is common … the other way around.

The United States government frequently post Travel Advisories for tourists to foreign countries, even the Caribbean in general and the Bahamas – the country of focus – in particular. But this time, the tables are turned. See the Travel Alert preceded by a related news article here:

Title: The Bahamas Just Issued A Travel Advisory For The U.S., Citing Police Violence
By:Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News Reporter

Sub-title: “Young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational.”

The Bahamas on Friday issued a travel advisory [as follows] for citizens planning to go to the United States, warning them about the tensions in some cities over the shooting of young black men.

“Do not get involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances and avoid crowds,” the government warned.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration specifically warned young males to be aware of how they interact with U.S. police officers, telling them to “exercise extreme caution.”

“In particular, young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police,” the advisory states. “Do not be confrontational and cooperate.”

The advisory comes after five officers in Dallas were shot and killed Thursday by a sniper targeting police. Seven other officers were injured in the attack.

About 800 protesters were marching in the Dallas after police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. On Friday, protests against police violence against black men also occurred in Atlanta, New York, and Phoenix.

The warning from the Ministry of of Foreign Affairs was also posted on the government’s Ministry of Environment and Housing Facebook page, and Consulate General’s New York website, and its own Facebook page.

The U.S. issues similar advisories when violence has broken out in other countries. For example, the State Department issued travel advisories for France after the terror attacks in Paris, in Bangladesh after 20 hostages were killed, and Mexico during a wave of drug cartel violence.

While some countries have warned its citizens about crime in foreign cities, a warning about possible unrest in the U.S. is uncommon.

An official with the U.S. Department of State declined to comment on the warning issued by the Bahamas.

———–

Alert!

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Issues Travel Advisory for Bahamians traveling to United States of America

For Immediate Release

8 July 2016

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has taken a note of the recent tensions in some American cities over shootings of young black males by police officers.

At the commencement of the Independence holiday weekend, many Bahamians will no doubt use the opportunity to travel, in particular to destinations in the United States.

We wish to advise all Bahamians traveling to the US but especially to the affected cities to exercise appropriate caution generally. In particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational and cooperate.

If there is any issue please allow consular offices for The Bahamas to deal with the issues. Do not get involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances and avoid crowds.

The Bahamas has consular offices in New York, Washington, Miami and Atlanta and honorary consuls in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and Houston.

Their addresses are on the Ministry’s website – mofa.gov.bs

Pay attention to the public notices and news announcements in the city that you are visiting.

Be safe, enjoy the holiday weekend and be sensible.

Source: Posted July 8, 2016 from: http://mofa.gov.bs/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-immigration-issues-travel-advisory-for-bahamians-traveling-to-united-states-of-america/

——————-

VIDEO – Officer lashes out at ‘racist’ cops in viral video – http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/07/09/officer-lashes-out-racist-cops-viral-video-newday.cnn

Cleveland police officer Nakia Jones posted a video on Facebook strongly criticizing “racist” police officers. Source: CNN

This is not a “cry wolf” scenario; there have been some real tragic episodes impacting the American social order… especially this week. Consider this recap:

A Facebook video vent viral showing white police officers killing a black man, Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday.
A Facebook video vent viral showing a white police officer killing a black man, Philando Castile, in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday.
On Thursday, a sniper – Micah Johnson, a Black man – opened fire on white police officers protecting a protest rally in Dallas, Texas by the Black Lives Matter movement, killing 5 officers and injuring 7 others, claiming to be enraged by the Cop-on-Black killings above.

Yes, there is the need for this unprecedented* advisory.

According to the book Go Lean…Caribbean, advisories of this sort need to be permanent, not just temporary. This is due to the many societal distresses incurred by Bahamians and Caribbean citizens traveling to the US for permanent residency; these ones should be warned. This book posits that it is easier for the Black-and-Brown populations of the Caribbean to prosper where planted in the Caribbean rather than fleeing to the US for refuge.

Neither societies are perfect! But the Go Lean book asserts that the societal engines in the Caribbean are easier to optimize than the societal defects in the American homeland.

The Go Lean book and movement serves as a roadmap for the introduction of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). With the word ‘Trade‘ in the CU‘s branding, obviously the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment; but the truth of the matter is that the security dynamics of the region are inextricably linked to this economic endeavor. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean roadmap posits that the Caribbean region must work to optimize its society. So the request is that all Caribbean member-states form and empower a federal government to execute a limited scope on Caribbean nations and territories. The goal is to confederate under a unified entity for both economic and security causes. The Caribbean’s public safety must be holistic!

The Go Lean roadmap puts the focus on the Greater Good. This is defined as “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong.” – Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832).

The US has bad actors.

The Caribbean has bad actors.

The Bahamas has bad actors.

The book contends that bad actors emerges just as a result of economic success. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The Caribbean appointing “new guards”, or a security pact to ensure public safety is a comprehensive endeavor, encapsulating the needs of all Caribbean stakeholders: governments, institutions and residents.

As the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs give a travel advisory to Black Bahamians (90% of population) traveling to the US to avoid danger in interacting with the US police establishment, the planners for an elevated Caribbean society, the Go Lean movement, give warning that the presence and practices of our American neighbors are not always benevolent for us in the Caribbean.

This is a mission of the Go Lean roadmap, to dissuade the high emigration rates of Caribbean citizens to the American homeland.

Why do they flee?

“Push” and “pull” reasons.

Where as “push” refers to the societal defects in the Caribbean that moves people to want to get away, “pull” factors, on the other hand, refer to the impressions and perceptions that America is better.

These travel advisories now say to Caribbean people: America could be harmful to your health and welfare!

Touché …

Let’s hope these advisories lower the “pull” factors.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide better optimized Caribbean life (economic and security concerns):

Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Tactical – Confederating a non-sovereign union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – CU Federal Agencies -vs- Member-states	Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Foreign Policy Initiatives	Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives	Page 103
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Big Ideas – Regional Single Market	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage the Caribbean Image	Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering/Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters – Many flee after disasters	Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories	Page 244

If only we had Caribbean member-states giving travel advisories to Caribbean citizens in the past; with warnings like:

Caution: Abandoning your homeland is bad for you … and your homeland.

… or …

Caution: The grass is not greener on the other side.

This subject of “push and pull” has been frequently blogged on in other Go Lean commentaries; as sampled here with these entries muting American “pull” factors:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8202	Respect for Minorities: Lessons Learned from American Dysfunction
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8200	Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8099	Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	Street naming for Martin Luther King unveils the real America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7204	‘The Covenant with Black America’ – Ten Years Later
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6189	A Lesson in History – Hurricane ‘Katrina’ exposed a “Climate of Hate”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5527	American Defects: Racism – Is It Over?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5333	Racial Legacies: Cause and Effect
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304	Mitigating the Eventual Abuse of Power
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4863	Video Evidence of American Injustice
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360	Dreading the American: ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020	A European Sport’s Problem with Blatant Racism – Also Relevant
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=546	American Model: Book Review – ‘The Divide’ – … Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=341	Hypocritical US slams Caribbean human rights practices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Don’t Want from the US: Racism against immigrants

Underlying to the prime directive of elevating the economics, security and governing engines of the Caribbean, is the desire to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play. We know “bad actors” will emerge – they always do – so travel advisories will continue to be issued on both sides: Caribbean and American. We want proactive and reactive mitigations to ensure our Caribbean communities are safe for our stakeholders (residents and visitors). We entreat the American forces to work towards ensuring safety for our Caribbean citizens when they are visiting or studying in the US. We do not want “bad actors” in either homeland disrupting the peace.

The Go Lean roadmap was composed with the community ethos of the Greater Good foremost; “the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few” (Page 37). All Caribbean stakeholders are hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

—————

* Appendix – Unusual Advisories on Travel to the United States

News Article Title: 25 Unusual Foreign Travel Warnings for Visiting the U.S. By: Shaunacy Ferro

What do foreign tourists worry about when they visit the U.S.? Expensive emergency healthcare, overly sensitive attitudes towards nude sunbathing, and gross tap water, apparently. That’s according to travel warnings for potential U.S. tourists from around the world. These government-issued advisories can seem like common sense for Americans, but they also reveal significant cultural differences between the U.S. and other countries.

Most countries warn their citizens of America’s high rates of both firearm possession and crime. Don’t anger Americans, several countries subtly hint, lest they have a gun. Many warn visitors to get travel insurance since, unlike at home, they won’t be covered by a national healthcare system should they get injured. Others provide even more specific advice to avoid certain neighborhoods and businesses. Here are 25 unexpected travel warnings from around the world aimed at those visiting the U.S. [(Click here for the actual details of each of these headlines)]:

1. DON’T GET RIPPED OFF AT AN ORLANDO GAS STATION (UK)

2. TAKE CARE OF THE FLOWERS (CHINA)

3. DO NOT USE HOTMAIL OR GMAIL (AUSTRALIA)

4. DO NOT STALK ANYONE (GERMANY)

5. WATCH OUT FOR GUNS AT NIGHTTIME (CANADA)

6. STAY AWAY FROM THE EAST COAST (CHINA)

7. REALLY, WATCH OUT FOR GUNS (GERMANY)

8. DOORS MIGHT BE CLOSED (RUSSIA)

9. DO NOT INSPIRE ROAD RAGE (CHINA)

10. DO NOT TALK TO PROSTITUTES (GERMANY)

11. DON’T PEE IN THE STREET (SWITZERLAND)

12. DON’T JOKE ABOUT BOMBS (UK)

13. TRY TO AVOID BEING NAKED (GERMANY)

14. FEEL FREE TO SHACK UP (AUSTRIA)

15. DON’T CUT IN LINE (CHINA)

16. DON’T EXPECT AIR TRAVEL TO BE SAFE (CANADA)

17. VACCINES DON’T CAUSE AUTISM (MEXICO)

18. THE TAP WATER TASTES GROSS (AUSTRIA)

19. THE AMERICAN DREAM ISN’T REAL (RUSSIA)

20. EXPECT HARASSMENT IN ARIZONA (MEXICO)

21. YOU MIGHT GET EXTRADITED (RUSSIA)

22. WATCH OUT FOR EXPENSIVE DOCTOR VISITS (AUSTRALIA)

23. DON’T LEAVE TRASH IN YOUR CAR (CANADA)

24. TAXI DRIVERS KNOW NOTHING (RUSSIA)

25. PAY YOUR TRAFFIC TICKETS (GERMANY)

Source: Retrieved July 9, 2016 from: http://mentalfloss.com/article/68276/25-unusual-foreign-travel-warnings-visiting-us

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Bahamas, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Power, Security

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Referendum Outcome: Impact on the ‘Brain Drain’

Posted on June 2, 2016 in Government, Social, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean … Caribbean seeks to elevate society in the entire Caribbean homeland. The book, serving as a roadmap with turn-by-turn directions, seeks to transform – remediate and mitigate – the engines of regional economics, security and governance. This means optimizing justice institutions to ensure “liberty, equality and justice for all”.

Here’s a question for the Caribbean in general, and considering the subsequent news article, the Bahamas in particular:

Do minorities have any rights if the majority do not accord them?

Bahamas Parliament – House of Assembly – Nassau

This is a serious issue!

This relates to the June 7th, 2016 referendum in the Bahamas. The measure listed 4 bills for constitutional amendments relating to Gender Equality, designed to correct some inequities in the legal structures of the country. The following summaries apply:

BILL 1: Would allow a child born outside of the Bahamas to a Bahamian mother and a non-Bahamian father to have citizenship.

BILL 2: Would allow a foreign man married to a Bahamian woman to seek citizenship.

BILL 3: Would allow an unmarried Bahamian father to pass his citizenship to a child born to a foreign mother.

BILL 4: Would end discrimination based on sex.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamian_constitutional_referendum,_2016 )

Update June 8, 2016: The Referendum failed in every constituency and every precinct. The ‘No‘ Vote movement succeeded overwhelmingly; see a related article here.

Like most societies, there are males and females, majorities and minorities. So an even more grave issue is brought to mind:

Human / Natural Rights of Men versus Women and Majorities versus Minorities

The Human Rights premise is: for those people who are not treated equal in a society, their rights should NOT be dependent on some popularity contests among the majority. No one should have to seek someone else’s permission to be happy. This is easier said than done, as our Caribbean is notorious for repression for those who do not conform with the majority.

This commentary asserts that natural rights / human rights should be accorded, no matter the results of some referendum.

The disposition of the Bahamas “lay in the balance” from this referendum. What message has been sent to the world: inviting or disinviting?

The book Go Lean … Caribbean addresses these issues, from the perspective of economics and nation-building. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); the purpose of which is to elevate Caribbean society, for all 30 member-states. The book stresses the need to guarantee human rights protections for all Caribbean people (Page 220), recognizing that the region is diverse in ethnicities and cultures.

Can’t we all just get along?! – Rodney King 1994

If we fail to try, or send the wrong message as to our inclusiveness, we suffer a dire consequence – “brain drain”. This is also the strong point made by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation in the following news article:

By: Neil Hartnell, Business Editor, The Tribune Daily Newspaper
(Source: Posted May 6, 2016; retrieved June 2, 2016 from: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2016/may/06/referendum-outcomes-brain-drain-impact/)

The upcoming constitutional referendum’s outcome could have far-reaching consequences for the Bahamian economy and its ability to reverse the “brain drain”, a senior private sector executive warned yesterday.

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the four Bills that Bahamians will vote on have profound implications beyond gender equality.

Depending on the outcome, Mr Sumner said the referendum may impact the Bahamas’ ability to retain – and attract – the ‘best and brightest’, including future generations of entrepreneurs and managers, given that it would affect how citizenship is bestowed.

“The Bahamas already complains, as does the region, about there being a ‘brain drain’,” he told Tribune Business, referring to how many college and university graduates elected to remain abroad after completing their studies.

Most cited the lack of opportunity, and economic diversification, as the reasons behind this choice, but Mr Sumner warned that this trend could be exacerbated depending on which way Bahamians vote.

The Bills, as designed, will enable a child born outside the Bahamas to automatically become a Bahamian citizen at birth if either of the parents was a Bahamian citizen at birth.

They will also “enable a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man to secure for him the same entitlements to citizenship that a Bahamian man married to a foreign woman already has under the constitution”.

The Bahamian father of a child born outside of marriage will be able to pass on his citizenship to that child if the third Bill is approved by the electorate, while the fourth Bill effectively enshrines gender equality as a fundamental right under the constitution.

Mr Sumner said that, viewed strictly from an economic and workforce perspective, the Bills would eventually have major ramifications for the Bahamas’ ability to expand its labour and entrepreneur pools, plus its attraction for investors.

Making it easier for children born to Bahamians in the circumstances outlined by the Bills to obtain citizenship/status, he added, would be key to ensuring these people became positive contributors to the Bahamas’ economic development and growth

“Those born to a Bahamian parent outside the outside the country, or born outside marriage, may find themselves in a precarious position where they are not Bahamian, and have no more entitlement to become Bahamian,” Mr Sumner explained.

“We want to retain as much of our intellectual capital in the Bahamas as possible to help us grow the economy, the education system, the infrastructure of the country.

“It has to be one of those situations where they must see the benefits in coming to the Bahamas, getting their citizenship here, and helping to build the country and the economy.”

Mr Sumner also warned that Bahamian employers needed to “pay attention” to what happens with the Bills and the referendum, given that the outcome might impact employee workplace relations and hiring practices.

Given that the constitution “trumps all legislation”, he added that the Employment Act, Industrial Relations Act and other labour legislation might be impacted by the referendum.

So voting wrong on the referendum could exacerbate the “brain drain”? Yes! Justice for all? No!

Public referendums are a product of a democratic process. But there is something else more important: rule of law or a constitution. This normally defines the moral code by which a society is to judge “right from wrong”. For many Caribbean nations, their constitutions embed principles from the Judeo-Christian principles – from the Bible. But does that mean they are “Christian nations”. Just consider the comments of one of the founding fathers of the Bahamas, Arthur D. Hanna. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Hon. A. D. Hanna debunks the “Christian nation” myth – https://youtu.be/0q0o2-4t3UI

Published on Nov 15, 2014 – Founding Father, framer of the constitution and former Governor-General Arthur Dion Hanna makes it abundantly clear that the Bahamas is NOT a Christian nation. (recorded at the Bahamas Historical Society, 13th November, 2014)

A Christian character is preferred for the individual; a “Christian nation”, not so much. A Christian nation would impose orthodoxy and dogma, prohibiting gender equality and establishing men as the “head” in their families and communities; plus a Christian nation would prohibit the activities of the LGBT communities, due to the religious orthodoxy. This orthodoxy premise often lead victims to flee their homeland to find refuge abroad, exacerbating the “brain drain” further.

So what principle would be recommended for a Caribbean nation or the region as a whole? The Go Lean book (Page 37) answers: the Greater Good:

“It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

The Go Lean book (Page 20) advocates for all of the Caribbean the community ethos of the Greater Good – “fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society”. But respect for the sovereign territories of each member-state mandates that we respect the individual laws enacted there. (Though we can use peer-pressure to foster change).

The Go Lean/CU roadmap employs a tactic of a “Separation-of-Powers between CU federal agencies and Caribbean member-state governments”; so the limitations of national laws in a member-state does not have to override the CU. The CU constitution would apply to the installation of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and Self-Governing Entities (SGE) that operate in controlled bordered territories like campuses, industrial parks, research labs and industrial plants.

This roadmap brings hope to assuage the Caribbean orthodoxy.

The CU – applying the Greater Good principle – would facilitate the regional prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines, specifically in EEZ’s and SGE’s.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, with the appropriate separation-of-powers, to support these engines.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that CU controlled territories – like EEZ’s and SGE’s – can be strategic, tactical and operationally efficient for elevating Caribbean society and mandating “justice for all”. These sites can serve as peer pressure on the rest of the region. These points are pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12), including these statements:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xiii. Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states … will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The subject of optimizing justice institutions and the “truth and consequences” of justice failures have been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8099	Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7989	Political Transformation results in “free money”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7628	‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ – Inevitable for the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7490	Push Factor: Interpersonal Violence / Domestic
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	Push Factor: Caribbean Unjust LGBT Treatments – ‘Say It Ain’t So’!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304	Mitigating the Eventual ‘Abuse of Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4840	Caribbean Orthodoxy: Jamaican Poll – ‘Bring back the British!’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4240	Bad Policy – Immigration Policy Exacerbates Productivity Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2994	Justice Strategy: Special Prosecutors … et al
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2709	Caribbean Study: 58% Of Boys Agree to Female ‘Discipline’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=695	Help for Abused Women Depicts Societal Defects

The Go Lean book itself details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to mitigate the “push and pull” factors that imperil our Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Witness Security & Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Trade Federation with Proxy Powers of a Confederacy	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and Foster Local Economic Engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect Stakeholders with Vigorous Law-and-Order measures	Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department	Page 77
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives	Page 103
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ – Security – Interdictions	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Security and Justice	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – For oppressed minority groups	Page 115
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Measures for the Rich and Poor	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Law Enforcement Oversight	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order needed for progress	Page 142
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220

The Caribbean is comprised of males and females, majorities and minorities. Everyone must be afforded every opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But “push and pull” emigration factors are real and important considerations for the Caribbean. The standards of justice – or lack there-of – have and can contribute to the “push” factors for people abandoning their homeland.

The foregoing news article depicts the crisis for the Bahamas.

The strong references to “brain drain” in the foregoing article and this commentary indicate that many in the community have felt oppressed or repressed, and have thusly “taken their talents to South Beach” or South New York, or South Toronto, or South London, etc. Since we need our talented human resources to build-up our own communities, we must examine all the debilitating factors – societal defects – in our homelands. We need to do better. The Caribbean in general and Bahamas in particular needs to send this message to the world that in our homeland, the legal premise must be:

… liberty, equality and justice for all.

The Go Lean … Caribbean roadmap seeks to employ strategies, tactics and implementations to dissuade the societal abandonment, invite the Diaspora to repatriate and further to recruit empowering immigrants to join us in our quest to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Bahamas, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Gender

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ENCORE: Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – Long road to Legacy

Posted on May 8, 2016 in Economics, Government, Social

On the occasion of the 2nd Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – concluding on Saturday May 7, 2016 – this commentary encores the Post-Mortem Analysis from the inaugural event in 2015.

2 years and counting …

… the officials here* in the Bahamas are taking the “long” view: that it might take some time – 5 years or more – to establish this event as a cultural legacy, “building the Junkanoo Carnival brand into the future“.

See here for the lessons learned from Year 1. As for Year 2, we say: Ditto!

* – Assessing from the Bahamas; here to “observe and report”.

===================
Go Lean Commentary

May 14, 2015 – The Bahamas held their inaugural Junkanoo Carnival this past weekend. How did they do? How was the execution, compared to the planning? How much money was spent? How much return on investment was recouped?

Title: Carnival Fever: Organisers Hail A ‘Cultural Revolution’
By: Rashad Rolle, Tribune Staff Reporter
The Tribune – Daily Bahamian Newspaper. Posted 05/11/2015; retrieved from:
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/may/11/carnival-fever-organisers-hail-cultural-revolution/

An “unprecedented” number of people descended upon Clifford Park, the Western Esplanade and Arawak Cay to participate in the inaugural Junkanoo Carnival events between Thursday and Saturday, completing what officials say will become a permanent fixture on the Bahamian calendar that will jumpstart the country’s cultural economy.

Officials yesterday said it was too early to say exactly how many attended or participated in the event or to assess its overall economic impact.

However, it’s estimated that at the event’s peak, more than 15,000 attended Friday’s Music Masters concert – the “largest gathering of people” ever in The Bahamas, some said.

Last week, Mr Major estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 people would attend Junkanoo Carnival adding that the festival could bring in $50m to $60m.

The event – filled with food and arts and crafts – was bolstered by a well-received mixture of Bahamian and Soca music.

There were “no major (disruptive or criminal) incidents” and “no complaints” about security, Police Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Leon Bethel told The Tribune.

The event, which had faced months of criticism, “proved naysayers wrong,” Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe told this newspaper.

He noted that the government, the National Festival Commission and workers in the Tourism and Youth, Sports and Culture Ministries have now put on two major, successful events within the span of a week, proving that the country must add a “label of excellence” to its brand.

“Certainly by all that developed,” he said, “it proved that carnival does have a place in the Bahamas and it can be a unique festival celebrated in a traditional Bahamian way with the inclusion of Junkanoo, highlighting the many talented Bahamians, whether it’s the entertainers, the artisans who produced costumes, the vendors out there with their fine cuisine or the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the entire national security team that worked to turn the place into a spectacular village.”

“While there were those who prayed for rain, the place poured and rained with people,” Mr Wilchcombe added. “We must appreciate that for all the naysayers and those who opposed to the event, the Bahamian people spoke. No one stopped anyone from saying what they wanted to say or from criticising the event, but we stayed focused.”

“Each success, be it the IAAF World Relays or be it carnival, it tells you that collectively we know who we are as a people and what we are capable of.

“We did not let the invited guests dominate the occasion,” he said, reflecting on a prior concern that the event would not be Bahamian-centric.

Mr Wilchcombe added that he wished Bahamian singers ‘KB’, who has flip-flopped on his support for the festival, and ‘Geno D’ had been involved.

“They are two of the best musicians in the country, but in the future I think we are going to see more and more Bahamian artists coming out. What you are now going to see is that Abaco, Eleuthera, Bimini all will want to be a part of this fantastic event.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Festival Commission Chairman Paul Major also said the event exceeded his expectations.

“The spirit of the event, the number of spectators, the number of participants, it was awesome,” he said. “I think we are witnessing a cultural revolution. It’s an economic stimulus.”

Nonetheless, some critics said that while the event seemed to be a big hit among Bahamians, it did not attract the number of tourists needed to provide a major economic boost to the economy as hoped.

Mr Wilchcombe, however, disputed this and said the event will only grow following its successful launch.

Asked about this, Mr Major said: “(That claim) is not true. We were busing tourists from east and west of this venue and continued doing so throughout the event.”

Still, he conceded that the event could have been promoted more internationally. He said the fact that a headliner was not finalised until weeks before the Music Masters concert affected promotional work.

“We will start marketing for the next event as early as September of this year. We may have to look for another venue. This venue may not be big enough to host next year’s event,” Mr Major added.

As for the security of the event, ACP Bethel said the conduct of those attending was “top notch.”

“We had no resistance in terms of security measures. The security was elaborate with many layers in and around the event and we worked hand in hand with the organisers, private security, (and) the Defence Force.”

VIDEO: 2015 Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Closes Out – https://youtu.be/IR0mGpAd47A

Published on May 10, 2015 – After three days of excitement the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival came to an end with many already looking forward to next year. News coverage by local network ZNS TV.

It time now for a post-mortem analysis; borrowing this practice from medical science.

Medical science can teach us a lot. The purpose of the practice of medicine is to protect and promote health and wellness. But when there is a failure in this quest; when someone actually dies, another resource (medical doctor called a pathologist) adds value with a post-mortem examination (autopsy) — a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death, evaluating any disease or injury.

This medical practice aligns with the process to forge change, as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 9). The book performs a careful post-mortem analysis of the Caribbean’s eco-systems. The conclusion of that analysis was that the region is in crisis. But alas the book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. The roadmap then provides for a turn-around, with turn-by-turn directions on how to elevate the economic, security and governing engines to make the homeland better to live, work and play.

One mission is to optimize events. The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is typical of the type of events that the roadmap projects to elevate the region’s societal engines. As detailed plans of this inaugural Carnival were published, this commentary applied analysis comparing the Go Lean baseline. Now that the event has transpired and Go Lean promoters were there to “observe and report”, these are now the lessons-learned; the post-mortem analysis:

Regionalism embraced … at last – Carnival is an international brand. One cannot expect to shove a Bahamian-first ethos into the Carnival brand; see Appendix B below. Many people in-country complained that international artists had to be brought in, and “cuddled”: Big Paychecks, amenities, etc; see Photo here of Trinidadian Soca Music Artist Marchel Montano. The Go Lean book/blogs calls for the embrace of the regional Single Market for all of the Caribbean.

Fostering genius … at last – The Bahamas has been notorious for their policies advocating egalitarianism. The concept of Carnival requiring artists to compete for top prizes is 100% divergent from that ideal. Yet, this approach of fostering the musical genius in the country is essential for growing the regional/national economy. We must “hitch our wagons” to the strong, talented and gifted “horses”, as was the case for Bob Marley. See Photos here of the Bahamian Headliner and also of one of the Junkanoo Carnival “Music Masters” event finalist; see Appendix A – VIDEO below. Go Lean calls for formal institutions to develop and monetize musical genius in the region.

Carnival is a Stimulus (GDP) not an investment (no ROI) – Gross Domestic Product is calculated as C + I + G + (X – M) or private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports). So the Bahamas government spending $9 million to facilitate the inaugural Carnival did stimulate additional economic activity; (actual results still spending). The foregoing article quotes a $50 to $60 million impact on GDP. This is highly possible based on this formula. Go Lean plans many economic stimuli from Events.
Mass attendance is assured – but monetizing is the challenge – Other news reports reflect that vendors and merchants did not get the final returns they had hoped. The Go Lean roadmap calls for the embrace of fairgrounds so as to better monetize event revenues; think parking, hospitality tents, campgrounds (RV’s).
Main Street not fully engaged – Bigger Carnival events (Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, etc.) are successful for their inclusion of floats and trinkets thrown to spectators. The embrace of this strategy would allow Main Street businesses or NGO’s direct participation with sponsorship, advertising and float construction. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to create 2.2 million new jobs in the region by embedding large, medium, small businesses and NGO’s in the development of trade and commerce.

Sample Float from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Bahamas Carnival’s “Road Fever” Winners

Carnival and religion do not make good dance partners – Carnival, by its very nature and history is not a religious event. It does not attempt to honor or worship the Christian God; therefore there should be no attempt to reconcile the two; see Photo here. The Bahamas event avoided planning Sunday activities as an acquiescence to religious leaders; thus missing out on prime weekend availability for visitors and locals alike. The Go Lean roadmap promotes a religiously neutral technocracy – better!

Need an earlier date for Snow-birds and Spring-breakers – A typical Carnival pre-Ash Wednesday date would have been February, ideal for extensive outdoor activities in the Bahamian Heat. On the other hand, the 2^nd weekend in May is virtually summer and therefore dis-inviting for northern visitors – the classic tourist market. The previous commentary had identified that the Bahamas does not have a Lenten ethos, so a March date would be better all-around for better weather, plus an appeal to Snow-birds and Spring-breakers. The Go Lean roadmap focuses on technocracy not religion.

The Go Lean book prescribes events/festivals as paramount in the roadmap to elevate the regional economy (Page 191). There are many ways for the lessons learned in this year’s inaugural Junkanoo Carnival to be better applied in the execution of the roadmap for the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean. There are dimensions of these type of events that hadn’t even been experienced by the region … as of yet, namely security. No “bad actors” have emerged to exploit the event for terroristic activities. Yet the Go Lean roadmap fully anticipates this reality. These are among the many strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies for best-practices:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 23
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non Government Organization	Page 25
Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Ways to Foster Genius – Performance Excellence	Page 27
Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Business Community	Page 47
Strategy – Customers – Visitors / Tourists	Page 47
Strategy – Competitors – Event Patrons	Page 55
Separation of Powers – Emergency Mgmt.	Page 76
Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotion	Page 78
Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture	Page 81
Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Separation of Powers – Turnpike Operations	Page 84
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis – Surveillance	Page 182
Ways to Improve [Service] Animal Husbandry – For Event Security	Page 185
Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Ways to Impact Hollywood – Media Industry	Page 203
Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Event Model: Sturgis 10-Day Festival	Page 288

The publishers of the Go Lean roadmap applaud the current Bahamian Government officials for their commitment to fully commit to this Event Tourism strategy for future growth. This administration is hereby urged to lean-in to the Go Lean roadmap for clear directions (turn-by-turn) on how best to elevate Bahamian society to being a better place to live, work and play. In fact, the entire Caribbean region is hereby urged to lean into this roadmap.

The success of this roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable.

Caribbean events are promotions of our unique culture to a world-wide stage; yet they can fortify economic efficiency as well.

So the world is watching…

See how the world marks the manner of our bearing – verse from Bahamas National Anthem.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A – VIDEO: Bahamas Carnival (Junkanoo Carnival) by Sonovia Pierre – https://youtu.be/5OyhOTBDFAA

Published on Dec 15, 2014 – Singer and songwriter Sonovia Pierre, affectionately called Novie, was destined to have an interesting musical life. She holds a Bachelorʼs of Arts in Music Education from Florida Atlantic University. In 1990 she joined one of the most successful Bahamian bands, Visage as a lead vocalist. She has written and recorded several songs on five of the group’s albums and has collaborated with several other leading Bahamian artists. She is widely known for her hit songs including, “Still need a man” and “Man bad, woman bad”.

License: Standard YouTube License

———-

Appendix B – Caribbean Carnivals – (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Carnival)

Approximate dates are given for the concluding festivities. Carnival season may last for over a month prior to the concluding festivities, and the exact dates vary from year to year [depending on the Judeo-Christian Passover/Easter calendar].

Anguilla – Anguilla Summer Festival, early August^[1]
Antigua and Barbuda
- Antigua – Antigua Carnival, early August^[2]
- Barbuda – Caribana, early June^[3]
Aruba – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[4]
The Bahamas – Junkanoo, late December/early January^[5]; first Junkanoo Carnival inaugurated in May 2015.^[63]
Barbados – Crop Over, early August^[6]
Belize – Carnival, September^[7]
Bonaire – Carnival, February Ash Wednesday^[8]
British Virgin Islands
- Tortola – BVI Emancipation (August) Festival, early August^[9]
- Virgin Gorda – Virgin Gorda Easter Festival Celebrations, late March/early April^[10]
Cayman Islands – Batabano, late April/early May^[11]
Cuba
- Cuba – Carnival of Santiago de Cuba, July^[12]
- Cuba – Havana Carnival, July/August^[13]
Curaçao – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[14]
Dominica – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[15]
Dominican Republic – Dominican Carnival, February, Dominican Independence Day^[16]
Grenada
- Carriacou – Carriacou Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[17]
- Grenada – Spicemas, early August^[18]
Guadeloupe – Carnaval – February, Ash Wednesday^[19]
Guyana – Mashramani (Mash), February 23, Guyanese Republic Day^[20]
Haiti – Kanaval, February, Ash Wednesday^[21]
Jamaica – Bacchanal, late March/early April^[22]
Martinique – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[23]
Montserrat – Montserrat Festival, early January, New Year’s Day^[24]
Puerto Rico – Carnaval de Ponce, February, Ash Wednesday^[25]
Saba – Saba Summer Festival, late July/early August^[26]
Saint-Barthélemy – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[27]
Saint Lucia – Carnival, July^[28]
Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Kitts – Carnival, December/January^[29]
- Nevis – Culturama, late July/early August^[30]
Saint-Martin – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[31]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Vincy Mas, late June/early July^[32]
Saint Eustatius – Statia Carnival, late July/early August^[33]
Sint Maarten – Carnival, late April/early May^[34]
Trinidad and Tobago
- Trinidad – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[35]
- Tobago – Tobago Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday^[36]
Turks and Caicos – Junkanoo, late December/early January, Three King’s Day^[37]
United States Virgin Islands
- Saint Croix – Crucian Festival, late December/early January Three King’s Day^[38]
- Saint John – St. John Festival, June through July 3 & 4, V.I. Emancipation Day and U.S. Independence Day^[39]
- Saint Thomas – V.I. Carnival, April through early May^[40]

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