NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis said he is committed to formally establishing the National Development Plan, drafts of which were made after extensive consultation with stakeholders under the last Christie administration.
The NDP is intended to be a comprehensive roadmap for the country’s future, one that would guide policy initiatives and establish mechanisms for monitoring progress.
Prior to the 2017 general election, the Christie administration planned to pass a National Development Plan Bill but was voted out of office before it could do so.
It is not clear how the plan will be adopted by the current administration, but the prime minister said he is committed to getting it done.
His comment came during a lecture on the NDP at the Government and Public Policy Institute of the University of the Bahamas as part of a meet the policy-makers lecture series.
“The draft national development plan has been taking off the shelf and in very short order it is intended to have the committee reconvene to see how we could settle and not have a draft but a final national development plan for us all,” Davis said.
He added: “A timeframe hasn’t been set but…I did have a very brief conversation earlier this year with Dr (Nicole Virgil Rolle) when she paid a call on me and we just have to put those pieces together. There are a lot of things happening now and we need to prioritize.”
Rolle played the role organizing the plan under the Christie administration.
Davis discussed the contributions previous administrations have made to the country while contextualizing the challenges that lie ahead.
A questioner who asked him how his administration will take care of LGBT Bahamians jolted the audience after claiming the administration is among the queerest in Bahamian history. The comment sparked murmurs and gasps from the crowd.
“Well I’ll say…one thing, one, when I spoke, I did not speak about female or male, I spoke about Bahamians,” Davis said.
Later, a woman had the mic taken from her as she loudly argued that the government is not responsible for “the choice” of LGBT people.
This was clearly a plant by the PLP to advance their agenda.