Tonight, we meet against the backdrop of a depressed economy brought on by the failed economic and social policies and mismanagement of an incompetent government. A government which remains in denial about a deeply troubled economy, the role they played in getting us to this point and the pain, suffering and indignity being experienced by Bahamians everywhere because of it. We all know that the first step in addressing any problem is to acknowledge that it exists, but when you are in denial, you end up spinning wheels and doing things that cause more harm than good. The Cries of the People Tonight we have come to let this government know, that they could throw up as much smoke as they like, we know how the war set. The could stand in the House of Assembly and try to play like everything is alright, but on the ground we know better. Just the other day, I met a man I have known now for quite a few years, a wonderful family man, who has always provided for his family. He was walking along carrying two bags. He explained that his car had broken down that morning and he had spent his last few dollars having it towed home. Knowing where he lived, I believed he had a long distance to go and offered him a ride, he said, “Mrs. Griffin, I’m going right through the corner here, we had to move out of the house and put it on rent, so we couldn’t lose it. We now rent an apartment.” I thought that was such a bold step to take to protect his family’s assets. We will be surprised at the steps some people are taking to survive this crisis we are in.

Then there are so many people who came to see me or called to say that BEC had turned off their lights and even though they had paid something on the bill, they were required to pay so much more before they could enter into a payment agreement and they just didn’t have it. Some were without electricity for months and endured the indignity of some insensitive neighbours who threw jeers at them. Then there is the young girl who called to say her baby’s daddy had been laid off from work and they could not buy pampers or milk for their baby and the construction worker who couldn’t find work and said, “I will do anything, I just need to take care of my family”, and the young girl who said, “I’ve been laid off, my bills are piling up, Mrs. Griffin, I don’t want to return to the things I used to do to make ends meet.” The list goes on and on.

While the government is in denial, thousands are feeling it, deep in their empty pockets and cupboards and in our hearts when we have to tell our children, mommy and daddy can no longer supply their most basic needs. The old people used to say, “we living hand to mouth”. Our savings are depleted and we have robbed the grocery bill to pay the light bill, and the water bill to pay the school fees and skimmed off the mortgage or the rent and ducking the bank or the landlord, just so you could give the children lunch money and Lord help you the cable and telephone off, these are luxuries you can no longer afford.

You can’t even wash your clothes like you used to, you heard D’aguilar the other day, sales at his companies have dropped by 7 or 8%. Sadly, many of us are, “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, we are feeling the pinch, but this government would have us believe things are not as bad as we know. So they go to the House of Assembly laughing and grand standing while the citizens of this Country are hurting. How Did We Get Here? So I just want to put a few things in perspective tonight. First, we need to know how we got to this point. How did a country which was experiencing unprecedented economic boom, less than two years ago, arrive at the point where it is experiencing the worst economic hardship, since the Gulf War in the early 1990’s?

Secondly, we have to put in perspective these attempts by the government to make itself look like some kind of savior of the people, when in fact they are the ones who created the situation. Bahamians need to remember that when the FNM Government came to office on May 2nd, 2007, they met a Country with an economy so robust that for the first time in our history it was determined that it could be “decoupled” from that of the United States. This fact was noted by none other than Prime Minister himself. This meant that for the first time in our history when the U. S. caught its proverbial “cold”, The Bahamas would not have to “blow its nose”. For once, we had gotten to the place where any impact from economic difficulties experienced by the U. S. would be minimal. This was achievable based on the fiscal prudence exercised by the Christie Administration and the vast amount of direct foreign investment projects negotiated by the Christie Administration that were ongoing or pending. Say what you like, Perry Christie is a man with vision and a plan. All economic indicators were headed in the right direction on May 2nd, 2007.

In its 2007/2008 Budget Communication, the FNM Government said, “sound economic policy must be supported by sound fiscal policy.” They said, “We realize, and the Bahamian people realize, that confidence in the Bahamian economy, which generates employment and income, requires Government to pursue sound fiscal policies.” Yet, having come to office they promptly pursued policies to undermine the economy and blew our historic opportunity to withstand the economic storm in the USA. Very obviously, very drunk with the wine of victory, which they pulled out all the stops to get, they continued their vindictive ways from their first term in office. Under the pretence of reviewing them, almost every project or contract negotiated by the PLP Government was delayed or terminated. Under their policy of victimization, hundreds are left unemployed and buckling under the financial burden inflicted upon them, a policy I understand still continues today. Add to all this, the underhanded increase in taxes, ever increasing electricity and fuel bills, lay offs in the hotel industry, with two day work weeks for those who remain, straw vendors, who would have been in their new market by now, often go for days without making a sale. In fact, in Grand Bahama it is being reported that many straw vendors have stopped even going to their stalls, because business is so dismal. Taxi drivers are struggling to earn a dollar. I tell you, it’s a jungle out there and only God’s grace and mercy is keeping some of us sane.

How did we get here? We got here through the policies of a often mean-spirited and uncaring government. Those are not my words, those are the words of persons I meet on a daily basis who echo the statement, “they just don’t care”. Now, having created the problems, the government seems clueless as to how to solve them and they just won’t listen. During the Budget Debate, when I told them that a government should not be about creating a welfare state, they took offence. The long lines at the Social Services outreach centers tell the story. Most people want to work and be able to pay their bills when they work, unfortunately many now find themselves seeking social assistance for the very first time in their lives, all because of this government’s lack of vision and planning. During the Budget Debate when I asked the amount of the social assistance increases they announced, they could not answer. It took them three months to figure it out. Something that was approved from June to come into effect on July 1st. They then announced the increases again at the end of September as though it was some new relief package. These are the kinds of public relations games this government is playing with human suffering.

Now, I vaguely heard the Minister of State for Finance giving some lame excuse in Parliament that they needed three months to “calculate” the figures. Now I’m no finance person, but I do know that when you are presenting a Budget, your figures are calculated before the fact, not afterwards, that is normally how you know how much to budget. The fact of the matter is being the knee jerk, ad hoc, visionless government they are, all they knew was that they had become very unpopular in a very short space of time. They needed to do something to deflect from their victimizing ways. What do they do, just pull some figures out of the hat and say, oh we’ll make it fit later. That’s why the increases were late and done in such a manner that they created the long lines being experienced today. If they were done on time, as approved in the Budget, there would have been a smooth transition for existing clients and then the new clients could have been dealt with more expeditiously. The politics of the matter required it to be done the way it was done, so of course now we have persons having to endure the indignity of lines that extend outside buildings, into parking lots and in some cases extending out to the street. Then the already overburdened and overtaxed social worker, with the best of intentions trying to ensure that all the criteria for qualification is met, becomes overwhelmed and frustrated. To make matters worse, had the Urban Renewal case aides been in place, they would have assisted greatly in the whole exercise. We know their story and their struggle well, many of them have either been sent home or redeployed to other agencies, while a few have been absorbed at Social Services, which really could have used them all. These are the circumstances, that forced the workers in Grand Bahama to take industrial action, before they could get relief with additional personnel brought in from other government agencies.

We commend all the workers, especially those who came from other agencies to assist, but the fact is the Urban Renewal Case Aides, who worked in the communities would have been better equipped in the circumstances for more reason than one. First of all, they already know what to do and secondly, much of the duplication of assistance could be avoided because they know most of the persons from their respective communities. Talking about duplicate assistance, I was made to understand that there was a report on one of the radio stations this morning which indicated, and I am paraphrasing, that because Social Services was not computerized, special care had to be taken to avoid duplication of assistance payments.

While most persons seeking assistance are legitimate, there are those who will always try to scam the system so steps have to be taken to guard against duplication. When I left office, to my knowledge most of the outreach centers in New Providence were computerized in terms of the social assistance packages and work was in progress to expand the programme to the Family Islands. This was a joint project between the Ministry of Social Services, Microsoft and the Ministry of Finance’s Data Processing Unit. What has happened to that programme? Duplication should not be presenting a problem in New Providence.

Now during the Budget Debate, when Frank Smith told the Government that something wasn’t right about their figures, they wouldn’t listen. What resulted was increased taxes on over 1,500 items, on the backs of the Bahamian people in these tough economic times. When they were told that the stamp duty exemption for BEC would not reach the consumers, they did not listen. They didn’t listen until three months later, when we were already buckling under the weight of astronomical electricity bills and some 6,000 households had been plunged into darkness and our champion Perry Gladstone Christie had to intervene on our behalf.

Now don’t get me wrong, I support the relief programmes, it is what governments must do in times like these, the PLP did it during the Gulf War. We must be grateful, but we must be mindful that it is this government that created much of the problem in the first place, if they had not taken the course of action they took when they came to office, we would have been better equipped to withstand the economic woes of our neighbours to the north. Because they have no vision, because they have no plan, because they would not listen, because they think they know it all, we are where we are today.

But I want to encourage you tonight to hold on. God is still in control and He promised never to leave or forsake us. Continue to walk right, continue to do right, keep your families together, spend wisely and continue to pray. God will see us through. And listen, don’t mind the noise in the market your team is together and we are working on your behalf and guess what, our Leader has their waters on. They continue to try to conjure up problems in our Party to deflect from the problems they are having in their Party and their Government. But as Sir Lynden always used to say, “you can stand on the beach of progress, but you can’t hold back the tide.” Your PLP is on the march and with God’s help and yours, we will be back!
P L P!