Mr. Turnquest called a press conference at his party’s Mackey Street headquarters to formally react to what the prime minister had to say at the nationally-televised event held at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel downtown.
He said no matter what question was posed to Mr. Christie, he touched on the subject for an instant then launched into “rambling.”
According to Mr. Turnquest, Monday’s exercise was a “dismal failure” that lacked substance, but rather “launched into sweeping declarations” of philosophy.
“That will simply not do for an annual report to the Bahamian nation,” he said. “Indeed, the prime minister’s theatrical performance on Monday night could be considered insulting, and an attempt on his part to underestimate the Bahamian people’s intelligence and patience.”
The FNM leader believes that the prime minister should have provided greater details on the privatization of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company; the Korean fishing boats scandal; labour unrest; and the Bahamas Road Improvement Project.
“The matter of the Korean fishing boats, even as the prime minister spoke, the boats which he said would be forced to leave the country, remained defiant of his wishes…the people want to know about the New Providence Road Improvement Project for which money was being provided by the IDB…the people want to know when the privatization of BTC will take place,” Mr. Turnquest said. “Are there some members in the Cabinet against privatization and who are stalling the process?”
During his press conference, the FNM leader was flanked by Leader of the Official Opposition Alvin Smith; Party Chairman Carl Bethel; Deputy Leader Sidney Collie; and the Opposition Whip Brent Symonette and others.
Mr. Turnquest said the prime minister was unable to provide many meaningful answers to pressing questions that Bahamians have, including a breakdown of the specific stages of implementation of the $3 billion in investments and the 8,000 new jobs promised at his party’s last convention.
The FNM also scoffed at Mr. Christie’s answer to what he felt were his five major accomplishments since taking office.
“The answer was not plausible,” Mr. Turnquest said. “Instead, he noted that at the top of his list was making Bahamians feel proud to be Bahamians. The fact is that Bahamians have never been short on pride and the PLP has no monopoly on engendering patriotism.”
Mr. Turnquest said that the FNM government restored the good name of the Bahamas in international circles, got the country removed off the blacklist and gave Bahamians the ability to speak their minds freely through the opening of the airwaves.
“During his marathon press conference, Prime Minister Christie missed a golden opportunity to give Bahamians confidence that the ship of state was not rudderless under his leadership…while he spoke many, many words and he spoke them well, he did not provide many meaningful answers to the pressing questions that Bahamians have,” Mr. Turnquest said.
He pointed out that Bahamians are concerned about the economy and what the government intends to do about it.
“Jobs are needed and business growth is lacking,” Mr. Turnquest said. “Workers are restless and employers are anxious.”
In relation to crime, Mr. Turnquest said that with the greatest respect to the prime minister, the Farm Road Project has not fixed crime in that or surrounding areas and it cannot fix crime in the country.
“The FNM is acutely aware that Bahamians need more meaningful solutions,” Mr. Turnquest said. “The prime minister on Monday ranted and raved about our nation tolerating brutal crimes, yet again with the greatest respect to the prime minister, we are acutely aware that law-abiding Bahamians do no such thing.
“This nation wants more than inflated emotional words from the prime minister…this nation wants action, especially effective leadership action, which produces meaningful results.”
Mr. Turnquest encouraged members of the media to question the prime minister on a regular basis.
By Hadassah Hall, The Bahama Journal
