“If we are to address these many crises, then I say again, we need all hands on deck”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis once again defended the rationale behind this week’s Cabinet appointments as seven parliamentary secretaries were sworn in and received their instruments of appointment during a ceremony at Baha Mar yesterday.
Those new appointments are in addition to the 20 Cabinet ministers sworn in earlier this week, along with the deputy prime minister, who was sworn in on Saturday, and the prime minister, who was sworn in last week Friday.
In his address during the ceremony, Davis said he has every confidence that each of the appointments will serve the Bahamian people faithfully and well, and help to bring about the “new day” promise his party campaigned on.
He said he will seek to lead an administration that works in partnership with the Bahamian people and will ensure the concept of servant leadership is a “living, breathing reality”.
The prime minister has insisted that the large number of appointments are necessary given the state of the country and the enormous task of governance at hand.
“Our country is in crisis. These challenges are unprecedented in scale and scope, in breadth and depth,” he said.
“Experience in government has taught me how easy it is to get caught up dealing with what is urgent, because of the need to address the day-to-day priorities.
“The result is that, if you are competent, you just solve the present problems.
“In our present situation, doing just this will be no easy feat. But in solving the day-to-day problems, the bigger things are left undone.”
Davis insisted that those challenges are multifaceted and multilayered, pointing to the health crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, along with an ongoing and growing housing crisis.
“As I have said on many occasions, we do not flinch from these challenges. We are prepared to face them head-on but we need the resource, especially the human resource, to do it,” he said.
He also pointed to the challenges in education, the state of the infrastructure with the roads; Bahamas Power and Light (BPL); the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC); and public finances, with the country being nearly $10 billion in debt.
“We need to rescue our economy from the edge of this fiscal cliff,” Davis added.
“If we are to address these many crises, while at the same time creating the opportunities and implementing the fundamental change that we have been mandated to by the Bahamian people, then I say again, we need all hands on deck.”
The latest swearing included:
- North Andros & the Berry Islands MP Leonardo Lightbourne in the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Mangrove Cay and South Andros MP Leon Lundy and North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish in the Office of The Prime Minister.
- Bains and Grants Town MP Wayde Watson in the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- Central & South Abaco MP John Pinder in the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation.
- South Beach MP Bacchus Rolle in the Ministry of Works & Utilities.
- Nassau Village MP Jamahl Strachan in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
