Entertainers Call For Greater Presence In Mega Developments

The government has said it has attracted $11.6 billion in investments since 2002, and officials say they have made it a point to ensure that investors make as many opportunities available as possible for Bahamians.

But some entertainers feel that not enough is being done.

Fred Ferguson, a former member of the Grammy-award winning group Bahama Men, said it is necessary for musicians to be a part of the upcoming developments in New Providence, Paradise Island and the Family Islands.

"I think that is something that needs to be a part of the heads of agreement," Mr. Ferguson said. "Entertainment is very important for any vacation experience and it provides employment for those Bahamian citizens who are striving to be musicians."

Mr. Ferguson added that presently there are not enough Bahamian artists being featured at the resorts.

"We don’t have the hotels like we used to," he said. "In the years gone by, we used to have specific locations on the property as clubs. Those clubs were designed for local entertainment for guests."

Mr. Ferguson pointed out that tourists in the main come to the Bahamas to have an indigenously Bahamian experience.

"There are jobs that are around the pool area, but they need to create shows, and clubs on the properties and outside the properties so that persons who are visiting the Bahamas can get a taste of what our culture is all about," he added.

Isaiah Taylor, founder of Bahama Men, shared similar views.

"It is the worst; entertainment overall is horrible," Mr. Taylor said. "The musicians and entertainers are not being treated fairly in this country. We are not being paid fairly and it is difficult for us to survive. I would love to see them improve."

However, some hotel officials said that they do feature as much live entertainment as possible in their resorts.

"We feature anyone from pianists to [other] musicians to dancers at our hotels," said Omar Armbrister, director of Entertainment at the Cable Beach Resorts.

He said, however, that more Bahamian entertainers are needed at the properties.

"Guests are not only visiting for sand, sun and sea, but to explore the cultural differences between each country and by featuring these artists we are allowing [our guests] to do that," he added.

He mentioned that there is a club that features live local bands at the Nassau Beach Hotel called Da Island Club.

Darnell Ward, director of Entertainment at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, said that the resort employs about 13 live bands.

"We have lots of live bands, but we could always use more dancers," she said. " I think that we have the large majority of the best bands that are around here that come here weekly."

She explained that because a significant portion of the Atlantis Phase III project is timeshares, the resort probably would not hire any more local musicians.

"Usually at a timeshare you might have one person maybe around the pool, but most of the entertainers would be in the Phase I and II sections," Ms. Ward said.

But entertainer Kirkland Bodie, who is better known as "K.B", said places like Atlantis need to have more than 13 bands.

"As big as Atlantis is, I don’t think that 13 bands is enough," he said.

Mr. Bodie called upon the government to "step in" to assist musicians.

"I think the government needs to step in to really cement our culture in these hotels because besides the [Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union] no one is really fighting for us," he added.