PM: All islands except New Providence and Grand Bahama could have curfew removed
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As the Free National Movement (FNM) marked its fourth-year anniversary since assuming office, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said yesterday the government had to shift its priorities and deviate from its agenda in order to address both the catastrophic needs of the country brought on by two natural disasters and a health crisis, while still advancing the nation’s social development.
He said while it was “impossible to deal with all of what we promised within that one year”, the electorate can be “assured that all will be done”.
“We are well on our way in spite of the challenges; in spite of losing three years,” Minnis told the media after receiving his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.
[With] four years in power, you lose three — Irma, Dorian and COVID. The economy sank by 30 percent. Dorian caused $2.5 billion in destruction. In spite of all of that, we moved along on two parallel tracks to build The Bahamas and we have a lot more to go.”
The prime minister said his administration was challenged with Hurricane Irma in its first year in office; Hurricane Dorian, a record storm, in its second year; and the coronavirus pandemic, which brought the global economy to a standstill last year and continues to challenge countries around the world.
He also noted that his administration inherited a “disastrous economy”.
“We had to decide whether you just stop and deal with the catastrophic problems or are you a true government and run to parallel tracks — one track deals with the catastrophic problems that we face and another track to still move the country forward,” he said.
“We kept on course with moving the country forward.
“We had stated that‘s what we want to do — we want to ensure that each and every Bahamian is entitled to partake in the Bahamian dream.”
According to the prime minister, there were four components to this vision.
He said the first included free education for students at the University of The Bahamas (UB), the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) and the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI); free education for pre-school through grades three and four, with a component for the government to pay private schools to accommodate pre-school students; expanding and upgrading schools with grants of up to $25,000 each, of which 36 people took advantage; and improving the Grade Level Assessment Tests.
He said the government also rolled out its housing initiative, which centers around affordable housing, ranging from Carmichael to Prospect Ridge.
The prime minister has said the housing program is not a one-off exercise, but a policy targeted toward young professionals to make land and real estate more accessible.
Lots in Carmichael begin at $15,000, with valuations of over $70,000.
Similarly, approximately 250 lots in the Prospect Ridge area are expected to be priced at around $50,000, a two-thirds discount of the $150,000 the government will put in utilities infrastructure. The program also boasts exemption from value-added tax on the purchase price, savings on architectural fees, zero stamp tax and exemption from real property tax for at least two years.
“That’s what we’ve done and we have additional lands here to give away to the Bahamian populous,” Minnis said.
“We’re doing the same in the Family Islands. That’s component two.”
The prime minister said the government successfully implemented a vaccination program in the nation, managed the pandemic well and continued to reopen the economy to allow for more jobs to resume, with a possibility for all islands, excluding New Providence and Grand Bahama, to have their curfews removed.
“We’re opening up the economy and the jobs are returning,” he said.
On the health front, the prime minister said the government has continued to upgrade health infrastructure, expand telemedicine and advance the national health program across the archipelago.
The Minnis administration has been roundly criticized for failing to implement a number of key reforms that were promised during its term.
The FNM campaigned on both electoral and immigration reforms. It also promised anti-corruptive legislation, a recall system for MPs, term limits for prime ministers and campaign finance reform.
But these promises have yet to be fulfilled.
Yesterday, the prime minister said he remains a “strong advocate” for terms limits for prime ministers and that no prime minister should “go beyond two terms, 10 years”.
He said: “That’s still coming.
“I am still a strong advocate for fixed dates [for elections], but, as I’ve said, priorities had to be shifted because we had three years of destruction. We could have totally ignored the destruction and just stick to your program, but if you did that your country would be a disaster. We could have focused only on the cataphoric problems that we faced, but then what happens? Your country stagnates; it doesn’t move.”
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