With some Ministers in the government of Prime Minister Perry Christie still trying to find where the pencils are in their ministries, an impatient Bahamian public is being harsh in grading their performance over the past 12 months.
Politicos and analysts selected from both sides of the political divide have submitted findings on the performance of Ministers in an unscientific report card initiated by the Bahama Journal.
The Ministers were graded in four main areas – capacity to serve, productivity, effectiveness and public relations.
After scores were tabulated based on an agreed formula, the analysts agreed that on balance the Christie government earned “C” for effort in the past year.
The grade comes as some senior government officers complain that some of their ministers are not performing effectively because of lengthy and frequent Cabinet meetings, sometimes on what amounts to trivia.
“The PLP was clearly not prepared to govern at this time,” an analyst who worked closely with the Hubert Ingraham Administration said. “The PLP had to discard the perspective or outlook of the Official Opposition and take on the mantle of government. This was a difficult challenge.”
But in other circles, the PLP Government is being roundly applauded for its accomplishments over this past year.
PLP National Chairman Raynard Rigby agreed that the government did not deserve an overall ‘A’. But he feels the administration of Perry Christie was not far behind that grade.
“I give the government a ‘Bt’ because it has exercised fiscal prudence, because of the economic approach that has been unveiled and the focus that has been given to ensuring that sustainable development is on most of the Family Islands,” Mr. Rigby told the Bahama Journal. “The future of The Bahamas is bright. This PLP Government is on course.”
But the FNM analyst said there is no sense of a coherent national plan. “One gets the sense of a somewhat disjointed, almost ad hoc strategy, if one can call it that,” he said. “There is a genuine desire in the case of some Ministers to achieve certain goals. However, the lack of coordination around a central theme is likely to plague the administration throughout the term.” He gave the government a ‘C’ for effort.
“But the coordination is terrible,” he added. “They need to operate as a unit. At the moment, each Minister is doing his or her own thing.” The analyst said “nothing unique has emerged from the administration.” “The appointments of Commissions are an over-reaction to what they thought was insufficient consultation with the Bahamian people. You cannot run a country by commissions. If you are going to wait for commissions to report, you will miss the boat…The public is not paying them to come back to ask the public what to do. They pay them because they thought the government could come up with the course of action to be pursued.”
Former Attorney General Sean McWeeney told the Bahama Journal that over the past 12 months, the country has been witnessing “the beginning of a significant paradigm shift in the governance of The Bahamas.”
Mr. McWeeney said the country is moving away from an autocratic model to an infinitely more democratic model.
“The leading edge of this paradigm shift is reflected mainly in the many diverse commissions that have been appointed over the last 12 months,” he said. “I for one am supremely confident that as a result of these commissions, a solid and more rational approach to policy formation is being laid.”
He reminded that during the year that the PLP has been in office, the global economy has been extremely volatile, and has either been in or bordering on recession.
“Inevitably, that external environment has had a depressant effect on the Bahamian economy and by extension has limited the expansion of employment opportunities for Bahamians,” Mr. McWeeney said. “This has indicated a certain level of disillusionment with the government by a great many people.
“It has to be borne in mind that no government has a magic wand that can instantly cure a case of the economic doldrums.”
Mr. McWeeney said the immediate challenge for the Christie government is to bring greater efficiency and speed to the processing of applications by investors, whether foreign or Bahamian.
“There is simply too much lethargy and inefficiency in the national bureaucracy,” he said. “Innovative steps must now be aggressively taken to ensure that new capital for the further development of the touristic and financial services industries can be pumped into The Bahamas within the shortest possible period of time. In this regard, the prime minister and his Cabinet must take the lead.”
He gave the government and overall ‘B’ and added that it was “a year of reorientation to a new style and system of governance, the fruits of which are not yet evident, but will become more manifest in the years ahead.”
The Bahama Journal
