We are now at a crossroads in the governance of our nation as we are being confronted with mounting issues of varying levels of complexity.  Unfortunately at this critical time, our country is suffering from a lack of leadership as Prime Minister Perry Christie and his PLP Government, despite having held office for some 18 months, have shown the Bahamian people their obvious failings and weaknesses.

At this juncture in our country’s history we are in desperate need of solid, articulate and fearless leadership, rather than one which is hapless and without direction.  Having recognized this void, I have decided that the FNM will hold weekly press conferences so that we might bring the myriad of issues to the attention of the Bahamian people and in the process offer the quality leadership that is so woefully lacking in Prime Minister Christie and his PLP Government.

The island-wide blackout which occurred last week Thursday created major hardship and inconvenience for all Bahamians.  But this blackout was symbolic of the existing PLP Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Christie as it has proven itself to be a Government in the dark; totally lost in terms of outlining a roadmap to growth and development.  Rather, for the past 18 months, our Bahamas has been drifting aimlessly in a state of stagnation and without imagination.  It is obvious that our country needs an FNM Government to show it the light to an economic path, which is bright and filled with real hope and prosperity.

The strategy of appointing commissions and committees one after the other has been tried and it has failed miserably, having exposed Prime Minister Christie as long on words and rhetoric, but short on action.  However, it is action that is required by our people.  We need action.  Actually, we need a plan of action, which will properly and effectively reduce our double-digit rate of unemployment, which represents the highest rate of unemployment that our country has seen in almost 10 years.  The PLP needs a clear, coherent and decisive plan of action to bring our rate of unemployment down to single digits, with Bahamians having jobs and job opportunities made available to them.

We call on the PLP Government to produce a plan of action which will tackle and arrest the present crime problem which is worsening, with the drug trafficking trade appearing to be on the increase and once again destroying our country.  We call on the PLP Government to produce a plan to improve the quality of life, which our children can enjoy and to which all Bahamian children are entitled.

The PLP Government and its leader, Prime Minister Perry Christie needs to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk.  They need to realise that the world in which they live today is far different than the world in which they lived as young people.  Bahamian people have become tired of just ceremony and the superficial and instead are anxious to embrace a leader who is action-oriented, a leader who is able to lead and not let his party run wild like chickens without their heads.

Sadly, Prime Minister Christie is out of touch with reality, having seen what today’s world looks like, he has chosen not to lead, but to run, hiding behind committees and commissions, plunging his head into the sand.  This will not do the job demanded by the Bahamian people. It is this gap in leadership and action, which, God willing, I and my FNM Government will fill and in the process, return our country to strength and achievement and prosperity.
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During questions…
We definitely think that there needs to be a clear, coherent national development plan outlining the economic strategy, outlining education and health care… We hear over and repeatedly (sic) of all these investment projects, but again, that’s just what they are; just approvals.  We also hear how difficult it is for potential investors to get answers to their investment proposals and so we’re not seeing these investment proposals translate into actual projects and jobs for our people…

We think that the Government must take absolute responsibility for the blackout.  We were promised in the early summer by the Minister responsible that there would be no more load shedding; that BEC was able to handle all of our electrical needs.  He then went on to talk about the lowering of our electricity rates… well obviously our bills are going to be lower, because we don’t have the power.  The power’s not on for the meters to run and so again, we’re not going to be able to have a fair comparison of what our bill is last month compared to this month.

FNM Chairman Carl Bethel in question and answer…
…too many decisions are deferred or delayed.  A good case in point is in the area of investor approvals where there are many complaints from many major law firms that they cannot get approvals approved; that they cannot get there applications for their clients to buy or develop land considered in a timely manner and approved by the Government and this is a problem because it is these sorts of things - procedural matters - that are the essential building blocks of economic development and if a government is not performing its day to day duty… they have instances where Ministers have had meetings set with potential foreign investors where they’ve not turned up or turned up with the most breeziest of excuses and it is causing serious problems in terms of the Bahamian economy…

There’s another issue, there’s a concern… the Government recently announced that one investor seeking to run the LNG pipeline from Grand Bahama to Florida has evidently been paying for site visits by members of the Government, including Ministers and in our view this is not appropriate.  If a Minister of The Bahamas Government wants to go and visit the site of a potential investor, he does so at the expense of the Government of The Bahamas.  The Bahamian people are not beggars.  These applicants have to come to the Government to get approval for their investments and they’re often competing against other investors who are often looking for the same thing.  How does it appear for one applicant to be paying for the Minister who has to give his opinion on behalf of the people about whether or not to approve…That was admitted by the Christie Government two days ago in respect of the Tractor Bell application and the FNM says that that is wrong, it is ethically wrong, it is unacceptable for a Minister of The Bahamas Government to place himself and the Government in such a nefarious position.  The Government has to have a full enquiry, the Bahamian people have to know under what circumstances, whether Cabinet approval was given prior to this series of visits paid for by Tractor Bell that Cabinet has announced. What are the circumstances because, at the end of the day, it seems to violate every conception of ethics, at least the ethics that the Free National Movement had when the FNM was in power. (Aside… ) That ain’ going on ZNS no how…