Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said the government “duped” trusting voters and has only met six of the 14 100-day promises contained in the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) Charter for Governance.
According to Minnis, the government has only lived up to its promises to revamp Urban Renewal; create a Ministry for Grand Bahama; re-establish the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments; reduce the maximum stamp duty rate from 12 to 10 percent on real estate transactions; impose a ceiling on the level of real property taxes and provide details on the upcoming referendum on gambling.
Minnis said the PLP’s “most egregious failure” was its inability to live up to its campaign promise to double the nation’s investment in education and training.
In the PLP’s charter, the party promised to “prioritize” the doubling of this investment within its first 100 days.
“This has most definitely not been done,” said Minnis at a press conference at the party’s headquarters.
He was flanked by past FNM Chairman Carl Bethel and FNM Deputy Chairman Dr. Duane Sands.
“Of all those ministers and MPs who have made some effort to sound as if they are doing something new by making communications to Parliament, the Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald has been conspicuously silent,” Minnis said.
Minnis said there is no government activity or budget allocation that signifies any doubling of education investment and training.
Minnis questioned what real work the new Ministry for Grand Bahama has accomplished and charged that the Minister of Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville has “no specific portfolio apart from public relations and jobs for the boys.”
He added that the core functions of the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments are performed in the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Prime Minister.
Although Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis unveiled details of a mortgage relief plan last Wednesday, another 100-day promise, Minnis said the plan is a shell of what the PLP promised to launch before the election and will not help everyone facing foreclosure.
Minnis said the government has not introduced an Employees Pension Protection Act, although such a Bill was tabled in Parliament this month, and has fallen short of its promise to renew the nation’s commitment to National Health Insurance (NHI).
Halkitis recently tabled a bill meant to reposition the Bahamas Development Bank so the agency could create more jobs and expand businesses, another 100-day pledge.
However, Minnis said the legislation would only allow the bank to hire more people without the approval of the substantive minister.
Minnis said many of the government’s proposed policies for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and a plan to lower the cost of electricity were “repackaged” plans left in place by the Ingraham administration.
The government also pledged to bring together representatives from all sectors to launch a 40th anniversary Independence National Congress. Minnis said the government has only announced the appointment of two co-chairs of a steering committee for next year’s independence celebrations.
“Much more than this was promised by the PLP, false promises then and false initiates now with no prospect whatsoever of any real delivery,” Minnis said.
By Taneka Thompson,
The Nassau Guardian
