Senate Opposition Leader Tommy Turnquest on Wednesday demanded that the Christie administration say which recommendations made by the Wreck Commission are being implemented, if any.
That commission was appointed by government to look into the fatal collision in 2003 of the United Star and the Sea Hauler, which resulted in four deaths and 25 other people injured. The commissionﾒs objective was to conduct a formal inquiry into the collision, and to make recommendations that would minimize the likelihood of similar occurrences.
Reading from the report of Justice Joseph Strachan, the Wreck Commissioner, Mr. Turnquest noted that the justice had concluded that the consequences of the casualties caused by the collision were still unfolding.
The senator quoted Justice Strachan as saying that an exhaustive list of recommendations and suggestions had been given to the government, which the justice believed could convert the collision into a stimulus for reform.
“On behalf of the Bahamian people, I ask which of these recommendations have the government implemented, and in those cases where they have not been implemented, what are the governmentﾒs reasons for not doing so?”
“Where is the reform that Justice Joseph Strachan and his fellow commissioners spoke about?”
Mr. Turnquest charged that the governmentﾒs purported failure to implement the recommendations of the Wreck Commission ﾖ or even to table that commissionﾒs report ﾖ is a signal to the Bahamian people that the commission was a waste of time.
Mr. Turnquest continued to upbraid the government for apparently not wanting to make tough decisions, something he said was the governmentﾒs job ﾖ a job the Christie administration, in his opinion, does not seem to want to do.
The senator recalled that as Minister of Public Works under the Ingraham administration he had made some tough calls ﾖ such as the Goodmanﾒs Bay development and the ramp at Goodmanﾒs Bay for jet-ski operators to offload their craft in safety.
“All weﾒre asking the PLP government to do is to carry out on behalf of the Bahamian people those hard decisions that need to be made,” Mr. Turnquest said.
“We want them to stop profiling, and get on with the serious business of governance. Stop saying that things are better, and work to make it better so that people can actually feel the benevolence of government.”
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
