HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Former leader of the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP), Marc Bean, has described as an “example of creating negativity, strife, and confusion” the announcement by the Bermuda government that it is seeking full membership of the regional integration movement (CARICOM).
In an op-ed published in the Royal Gazette newspaper on Wednesday, Bean, who served as the PLP’s leader from 2012-16, said that it would not be the first time that the present David Burt administration has sought to distract the minds of the population from the pressing issues of the day.
Last month, the government said it is moving ahead with plans to join CARICOM after being given the green light from the United Kingdom to do so.
Deputy Premier Walter Roban, in a statement to Parliament, said discussions had been held between Premier David Burt and the Governor of this British Overseas TeCARICOM.
Bermuda became an Associate Member in July 2003. It is one of five Associate Members of CARICOM, the others being Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Governor Rena Lalgie, delivering the traditional Throne Speech setting out the government priorities for the year, said,” The vision of former Premier…. Dame Jennifer Smith was for Bermuda to strengthen its historical, familial, and cultural ties to the Caribbean.
Premier Burt told a news conference afterward that Bermuda had “broad benefits” to gain from seeking full membership of CARICOM, even as he acknowledged it “is not something that has been on the front burner.”
He said at the last CARICOM summit held in Trinidad and Tobago, which he attended, “there were several other Caribbean Overseas Territories…who had expressed their desire to go ahead and advance for full membership.
But Bean said regarding CARICOM and the Caribbean, a distinction must be made as to the intent and purpose of such relations, as the latter is much greater than the former.
” Therein, can we identify the potential cost and benefits of pursuing such engagements? Such distinctions should be determined through economics, culture, and politics.
“I will state from the onset that if the basis of such relations is economic and cultural in scope, then I am 100 percent in support. But if they are focused on the political, which is what CARICOM represents to this government, then I am not.”
In explaining his position, Bean said on the economic and cultural side that Bermudian business must urgently engage the Caribbean for “our individual and collective benefit.
“I will use the example of one business group representing the absolute best we offer: the Gibbons family and their presence in the region. I am trying to remember this group being the source of complaints from their customers or employees, as they provide top-class, international standards for products and services.
“Their reward for “getting it right,” among other things, is profits, and rightly so. In turn, they provide goods/services that people need/want, substantial local employment within the countries in which they operate, and tax revenue for the respective governments.
“The profits are their reward for participating in what amounts to be a mutually beneficial relationship, and since we are discussing the Gibbons group, have you noticed the cultural impact through sport as the primary sponsor of West Indies cricket? Leadership by example can be replicated by other Bermudian businesses!”
Bean said other companies from Bermuda are similarly engaged, “allowing all of us to participate” and that “there are many others, too, that are engaged to some degree or the other across the region, some within CARICOM members states and some outside.”
He said contrary to the prevailing narrative, Caribbean-based firms are similarly involved in extending their financial and human capital into Bermuda.
“The most notable that springs to mind is Michael Lee-Chin, the billionaire Jamaican businessman with a large stake in Clarien Bank. This is evidence that, just as we have much to offer the region, the region also has much to offer us regarding commercial activities.”
But he said he wanted to “emphasize one indisputable fact: in terms of economics, Bermuda’s commercial engagement with the Caribbean is being accomplished without full political membership into CARICOM.
“On the other hand, there is no denying that such membership can potentially enhance Bermudian businesses’ entry into many regional countries.”
He acknowledged the role culture and sports play in regional integration, dismissing those “claim that we are not located within the Caribbean, neither is the Bahamas or Turks & Caicos, as geographical location does not negate the value of Caribbean culture within our product.
“The point that I am seeking to drive home is this: Caribbean engagement’s economic and cultural benefits exist in abundance, but they are not dependent on full membership in CARICOM.
“There is, however, one key area that provides benefits that may accrue from full CARICOM membership, which must be addressed, and that is the free movement of persons, Bean said, adding, “I cannot think of another issue that has exposed the rank hypocrisy of our country more than this, and it applies to both sides of the debate.
“As much as we love to sit on the proverbial high horse as it relates to the Caribbean, and other regions for that matter, we should hang our heads in shame.
“Yes, I understand the tribalism at play; it is nothing new. In the southeast, Bajans think they are the best thing since sliced bread, while Bahamians think they are better because their bread is whole wheat. Yet we in Bermuda think that we are the best because we have raisins in our bread”.
Bean said that he too agrees with the need to increase Bermuda’s “but when the idea of joining the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), which would entail the free movement of persons between Bermuda and CARICOM…we are subjected to arguments that are opposite to what they have been advocating for decades, a complete departure from openness towards one of protectionism and xenophobia.
“What is even more egregious are the weak rationales submitted, which, upon deeper analysis, can be reduced to age-old attitudes of a seemingly bygone era. While I don’t engage in such thinking and actions, it is no great surprise as to why race has been a convenient and constant political tool used by the PLP to significant effect. It is a tool that this government uses but not one that the PLP created.
“Let me be clear on this point: if you don’t like race-based politics being deployed as a strategic weapon, you must first put these tools away into the dustbin of history, and that can be accomplished only by changing your attitudes, especially in terms of what you think, speak and act upon. Nothing has exemplified this cancer more than this particular discussion on the free movement of persons granted by the CSME,” Bean wrote in his OP-Ed.
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