The prorogation of the House of Assembly this past Saturday on 12th August 2023 as the government neared its 2nd anniversary in office was in keeping with a promise made by Prime Minister Davis to the Bahamian people.

 

The list of accomplishments in just 20 months was relatively impressive as the government addressed a number of pressing needs facing many Bahamian families. The government’s policy priorities were also consistent with commitments the party made in its Blueprint for change.

 

A snapshot is as follows:

• The government invested substantially in SME’s to expand Bahamian ownership in the national economy.

• Significant investments were made to improve the nation’s food security.

• Twenty labour agreements were executed in 20 months, adding more than $30 million to the take home pay of thousands of workers.

• A massive and long overdue promotion, increment adjustment and regularization exercise across the public service corrected and righted many of the wrongs and acts of injustice against many public servants over many years.  

• The reduction of VAT by 2% placed millions more in the pockets of consumers.

• Taxes were reduced on additional food items.

• The minimum wage was increased.

• Certain categories of persons received additional NIB benefits.

• Unemployment is reportedly at a 15-year low.

• Tourism arrivals and expenditure are at pre-COVID levels and in some cases, exceeding projections.

• Repairs were started on at least 41 of the more than 90 health clinics around the country and the government broke ground on a new multimillion dollar hospital in Grand Bahama, amended and modernized the mental health act and established a catastrophic healthcare fund.

• The government has begun work on the construction of a solar plant with the capacity to meet around 20% on the country’s electricity needs. This solar plant will not only reduce electricity costs, but assist in leading the way toward energy sector reform while taking the country a step closer to energy independence.

• The government has moved aggressively with its affordable housing program, inclusive of the promised ‘rent-to-own’ component.     

 

By any independent, objective or empirical measurement, the key performance indicators (kpi’s) for the country are moving in the right direction and the country is performing as well as could be expected, given the existential threats of COVID and other logistical and supply chain threats. 

 

Both local and foreign investors continue to repose their collective confidence in the national economy and the quality of superintendence of the same led by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip E. Davis.

 

To date, the Central Bank, the IDB, the IMF, the World Bank, Standard and Poors and Moody’s have not indicated that the policies of the Davis administration have adversely affected the country’s economic recovery, its future prospects and that of the Bahamian people.  

 

Having said that, in his comments on the prorogation of the House, Opposition Leader, Michael Pintard reportedly told the media that the Davis Government has failed the Bahamian people while offering no frame of reference or context. At the very least, Mr. Pintard could have provided a list of his government’s accomplishments in their first 20 months in office for an objective comparative analysis in support of his claim. 

 

Alas, this was not done but he still has an opportunity to do so. A debate on the objective facts will prove instructive. They always do because fact always matter.

 

The Opposition Leader also called for greater transparency and accountability, yet the government in which he served never bothered to explain the procurement process for any number of contracts they entered into and left well over 260 questions posed by the Opposition unanswered on the docket at the House of Assembly.

 

On his reported work as chair of the Public Accounts Committee, House records will also show that the government in which he served was not particularly cooperative with the Public Accounts Committee in answering questions and providing relevant documentation on the management of any number of public accounts.

 

At that time, Mr. Pintard never found his voice on any of these important matters of transparency and accountability which make for good governance.

 

Notwithstanding the voices of gloom and doom, I encourage Prime Minister Davis and his Cabinet colleagues to remain focused and vigilant in fulfilling the commitments he solemnly made to the Bahamian people in his party’s Blueprint for Change.