“Soonﾅyou will again decide who will be your government ﾖ FNM or PLP; Hubert Ingraham or Perry Christie. Next time that is the choice you will have to make,” he said.
Accusing the Christie administration of being an “amateurish, unprofessional and incompetent bunch” that continues to “mishandle and mismanage the (nationﾒs) affairs,” Mr. Ingraham sought to show exactly why the PLP does not, in his view, deserve a second term.
Highlighting what he saw as major differences between the PLP and the FNM, Mr. Ingraham delivered a scathing critique of the Christie administrationﾒs record on tourism, immigration and the public service, among other things.
“The stark difference between us and them is that we didnﾒt just go all over the place signing heads of agreements before lights and cameras; we actually delivered new developments,” Mr. Ingraham said.
He highlighted the Sun/Kerzner development on Paradise Island ﾖ which Mr. Christie recently called the single greatest development in Bahamian tourism. Mr. Ingraham also mentioned container transshipment (the Hutchison-Whampoa container port in Freeport), mega-yacht and ship repair and refit in Freeport.
“Yes, the FNM government didnﾒt only talk and sign heads of agreements, we delivered and we stand ready, willing and able to pick up where we left off on that train of deliverance,” he said.
The former prime minister accused the Christie administration of telling outright lies about its record on immigration, and sought to compare the record of the two parties on what some have called “the most vexing question” facing the Bahamas today.
Mr. Ingraham insisted that the PLP government under Perry Christie “has never repatriated on an annual basis the number of illegal immigrants repatriated annually” by the FNM government.
Referring to recent remarks from Immigration Minister Shane Gibson ﾖ whom Mr. Ingraham labeled an “out-of-controlﾅJohnny-come-lately” ﾖ about the PLP repatriating more immigrants than the Ingraham government, he said “the FNM repatriated a minimum of 5,000 illegal immigrants every year of its administration.”
He contrasted that figure with the numbers of illegals repatriated so far under the Christie administration: 4,642 in 2003; 3,034 in 2004; and 5,543 in 2005.
Mr. Ingraham, leader of the Official Opposition, charged that “illegal or undocumented persons continue to provide services in [the governmentﾒs] low-cost housing construction programme,” and decried what he termed the “complicity of certain PLPs in the work permits rackets.”
He challenged the PLP to explain how PLP governments “failed to keep the craft and equipment of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in good order.” He also asked the government to explain “chronic shortages of funds for essentials,” and “the purchase of an aircraft supposedly for patrol that sits idle at the airport.”
Mr. Ingraham also claimed that Prime Minister Christie knows that “successive PLP administrations have been indifferent to the growing presence of illegal immigrants in (Bahamian) communities, particularly those from Haiti who provided cheap labour.”
In contrast with the PLPﾒs record, Mr. Ingraham claimed that the FNM improved “the control of the grant and renewal of work permits,” expedited the consideration of immigration status for undocumented immigrants, some of whom had been resident in the Bahamas for 30 years, improved vigilance at The Bahamasﾒ borders, and the conclusion of the most recent immigration accords with both Haiti and Cuba.
Referring to the recent fracas over the 11-month-long detention of Cuban dentists Marialys Darias-Mesa and David Gonzales, Mr. Ingraham insisted that his government “never used (bilateral) agreements to excuse or to hide behind doing what was right and what was best for The Bahamas.”
He also mentioned the plans left in place for a new docking and holding facility at Inagua “which would allow us to hold immigrants detained at seaﾅMr. Christieﾒs government has failed to move on the construction of this much needed facility.”
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell told the Journal recently that the Christie administration had been attempting to get the U.S. to split the $35 million to $50 million the Inagua facility would cost to construct.
Regarding the spate of escapes from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, Mr. Ingraham remarked: “When there was a breakout from the Detention Centre on our watch, Perry Christie said we let them walk out. Now theyﾒve had four breakouts from the centre. They canﾒt even keep women in the centre.”
Mr. Ingraham also ripped into Minister Mitchell over the ministerﾒs recent explanation that the Bahamas voted for Cuba to ascend to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the advice of a civil servant.
“What can we say about their lack of understanding of public administration and good governance when the Minister responsible for the Public Service exposes his junior staff to criticism on the floor of the House of Assembly?” he asked.
“They would have us believe that they voted for Cuba to become a member of the (U.N.) Human Rights Council because a junior officer recommended it. Whatever happened to ministers taking responsibility?”
He said he supposed that Mr. Mitchell would “at some point” be “man enough to apologize to the officer and to the Bahamas Ambassador at the United Nations.”
Mr. Ingraham said the FNM is “in the advanced stages of designing innovative strategic plans and programmes to carry (The) Bahamas to greater heights economically and socially.”
The FNM is also “in the advanced stages” of identifying and settling on its slate of candidates for the next general election, which he said would be drawn from all segments in society and are in some cases already introducing themselves to their communities as potential candidates.
Mr. Ingraham also took a shot at the Christie government on its professionalism.
“I hear apologists for this regime complain that the poor prime minister is not helped by all those weak and lazy people around him,” he said.
“Who put them there? Who keeps them there? Didnﾒt you hear the prime minister say they were the most qualified to serve in a Cabinet in the history of the Bahamas?” he demanded.
His closing salvo was an encouragement to register and vote in the next general elections.
“If you do not register, you cannot vote and if you do not vote, you cannot determine who the next government of the Bahamas will be,” he said.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
