Recent press reports regarding the hair braiders on Prince George Wharf repairing and painting their workstations is heart warming and the individuals involved deserve a rousing round of applause.

The hair braiders’ commendable efforts are a notable departure from the traditional bellyaching of the straw vendors and fish vendors known for lack of appreciation for the premises provided them with taxpayer money. However, tired of waiting for their landlord (the Government), the industrious hair braiders decided it was in their best interest to clean and paint their work area recognising that: “Tourists wouldn’t come here because they saw that it was so dirty and they wouldn’t want to sit or be served in a dirty place.”

Government as landlord, should be held to the same standards as a private lessor.

� Capitalism v/s Socialism

Sir Winston Churchill made a prescient comment in the House of Commons in October 1945, which graphically illustrates these two examples. He said: “The inherent vice of Capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

The hair braiders on Prince George Wharf are the industrious capitalists recognising the requirements for success, whereas the Potter’s Cay fish vendors are missing the boat and sharing equally in their miseries whilst waiting for the State to do the clean up.

� Cruise Visitor Terminal

Adding to the eyesore at the Prince George Wharf is the still uncompleted Cruise Visitor Terminal. Government correctly realised the old Customs “Sheds” could serve not only as premises for Customs and Immigration but is also an ideal location to display Bahamian Arts and Crafts.

Approximately forty-eight months later the Cruise Visitor Terminal is still incomplete and tenants for the stalls have not been publicly identified. Could it be the landlord (the Government) is awaiting the next general election to decide who gets what and where?

Hopefully history will not be repeated again. The stalls should be sold or leased to the vendors with conditions attached. If the premises are allowed to fall into disrepair, the offending tenant should be ejected and replaced by someone with the initiative of the hair braiders.

� Road to success – private initiative

In the same article, the Hair Braiders are imploring the Government to repair the roof. Instead of waiting for the Government it would be ideal if they should become owners and pay for the repairs themselves as outlined above. The solution is to give the hair braiders a market incentive to repair the facility…the Government should sell or lease the premises to them so they will have to maintain it to preserve a market value for themselves and their children.

Should this happen, the country will have a positive model for turning the other existing tax funded premises into private businesses. Maybe, this example will prove that initiative, not dependency, is the road to success. The hair braiders have shown they have the guts and muscle to get things done.

Using taxpayer dollars to subsidise premises for anyone is bad policy.