Davis blames govt. for rise in unemployment figures

Davis blames govt. for rise in unemployment figures

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) sounded off on government Monday, in response to the latest labour statistics which revealed that unemployment had increased.

“It’s clear from statistics that government is still dragging behind. Unemployment is still rising, from 10 per cent to 10.7 per cent; which means that enough jobs are still not being created,” said PLP leader Philip Brave Davis.

“Government has contributed to this unemployment malady by them, embarking themselves, on separating people from their jobs. So, they still aren’t doing sufficient.”

Davis attributed the growing numbers in unemployment to the “visionless leadership” of the Minnis administration.

“If you have no plan and no vision, the one way of trying to get it right is to attempt to connect with the people and understand their aspirations and their expectations of you; but, unfortunately government was elected to office with no plan and vision and that was exasperated by their incompetence and lack of appreciation for what governance is all about and it has caused a major fall-out with the electorate today,” Davis opined.

He also sacked government for not providing equal job opportunities for females in a heavily male-dominated workforce.

Labour statistics indicate that unemployment among women reached 11.3 per cent in November, compared to 10  per cent for men.

“They have to have some overall plan as to how they are going to deal with unemployment among women. The stats speak to the fact that government is not doing enough for women and the plight they face in the employment arena,” he said.

The PLP leader pointed out that government has embarked on a number of initiatives which were aimed at increasing employment numbers nationally; but suggested that those attempts have failed.

“Any initiative that is designed to get people to work, I embrace, but whether it is enough; we will only know once they have a plan as opposed to the knee-jerk responses that they have to situations,” he said.

Davis’ scathing remarks came on the heels of a rally held at the party’s headquarters last week where the opposition called for Bahamians to cast a no-confidence vote in the Minnis administration.

About Theo Sealy

Theo Sealy is an award-winning journalist who serves as senior broadcast reporter and weekend TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. He has achieved several career milestones, including his work as a field contributor with CNN, his coverage of four consecutive general elections, his production of several docuseries and his Bahamas Press Club Awards win for “Best Television News Story” in 2018.