Dear Editor,
What the New Day Government is doing to our nurses is disheartening and unacceptable.
A local nurse, recently interviewed by Eyewitness News, stated that she and other nurses who graduated in 2023—young, bright professionals who answered the call to serve this nation—are still awaiting their appointment letters to confirm their employment within the public healthcare system, as well as outstanding stipend payments. Yet, they have been met with silence and unfulfilled promises.
Where is the Minister of Health and Wellness, Michael Darville? Why isn’t he addressing this critical matter? Once again, he is missing in action. While he recently spoke about the construction of a new $290 million hospital in New Providence, why push forward with such projects without having the trained and skilled professionals needed to run these facilities? It makes no sense.
The government is completely betraying the Bahamian people. This PLP administration has once again demonstrated a lack of real care for our nurses and, by extension, the Bahamian people. The PLP has become expert at PR, making it appear as if they are “for the people,” but their actions reveal otherwise. Let us not forget, this is the same administration that tried to sneak through the mooring deal in Exuma and the $183 million roadworks contract in Freeport—only to backtrack when the public caught wind of their actions. But when it comes to hardworking Bahamian nurses, they continue to delay and deflect. If they want to sneak things through, let them sneak appointment letters and payments into the hands of these deserving nurses.
Countries like Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom are actively recruiting our nurses with offers of double or triple the pay and far better working conditions. And yet, as one local nurse recently said in an interview, she and her colleagues want to stay and serve their country. But it is this careless governing that causes nurses to leave their country for a better life. Who feels it, knows it—and our nurses have been feeling it every single day.
I urge the government to show Bahamian nurses the same love, respect, and support they show foreign hires.
Give them their letters. Give them their payments. The time for empty talk is over. The time for real action is now.
This administration has once again proven itself bad for nurses, bad for the Bahamian people, and bad for The Bahamas.
D’Angelo Ferguson
