“Will we have the audacity to do something suitable for Shaunae Miller?”
MOYSC minister says govt “exploring” ways to demonstrate appreciation to athletes
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Senator Ranard Henfield has suggested that the government rename Prince Charles Drive after two-time 400m Olympian champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
Henfield made the suggestion during Thursday’s sitting of the Senate as he commended both Miller-Uibo and 400m Olympian champion Steven Gardiner for impressive performances at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and for bringing the country together again.
“It’s one thing to cheer for them and have all that Bahamian pride as national leaders and Bahamains when they won, but now what?” he said.
“We were all together last week, but now what? Will we as a people and as a government have the audacity and the gratitude to rename a major street after Shaunae Miller, who is now a two-time Olympic gold medalist, or will we say to her, by our inaction, “you are not worthy just yet”?
“At the very least, a major thoroughfare, a major road should be renamed after Shaunae Miller-Uibo.”
Henfield joked that given that Miller-Uibo graduated from St Augustine’s College, the government should rename Village Road after the SAC alumna, “for the sole purpose of every time someone from Queen’s College goes to school, they will be reminded that this is a SACer”.
Both schools, located on Bernard Road and Village Road respectively, have a longstanding rivalry during the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ Track and Field (BAISS) competition.
Henfield noted, however, that “that wouldn’t be the right thing to do” and instead suggested the government follow suit in its removal of Queen Elizabeth II from the Bahamian $100 bill — which is being replaced by the late Arthur Hanna — when choosing which street to rename.
“I publicly recommend that we remove Prince Charles from Prince Charles Drive and rename that Shaunae Miller-Uibo Drive,” Henfield said.
“Will we have the audacity to do something suitable for Shaunae Miller, a two-time Olympian?”
Miller-Uibo, Gardiner and the Bahamas Olympic team were welcomed home to a celebration on Thursday by supporters and executives of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.
The 400m Olympic-winning pair was also inducted onto the Wall of Champions at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).
On Wednesday, during the morning sitting of Parliament, Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Iram Lewis applauded the athletes for their performance and defended the government’s assistance and recognition of Bahamian athletes.
Lewis noted that his ministry provided a financial grant of $100,000 to the Bahamas Olympic Committee — double the amount of its previous contribution.
He insisted that The Bahamas is one of the top countries to significantly award its medal-performing athletes when compared to others such as Jamaica, which awards their athletes $10,000 per gold medal; Canada, which awards $16,000; and the United States, which awards $37,000.
The Bahamas awards its athletes $40,000 per gold medal, $30,000 per silver medal and $15,000 per bronze medal.
“Though we are guided by policy, the government is exploring in what other way we can demonstrate our appreciation of the magnitude of the accomplishments of the athletes,” Lewis said.
He also advised that the Cabinet has successfully concluded the necessary approvals to complete the infrastructural works at “Olympia Heights”, the site of the properties gifted to top Bahamian athletes.
