Early yesterday morning, Fred Mitchell—Chairman of the “New Day” Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and part-time narrator of political ghost stories—decided to warm up the country for the government’s latest borrowing binge: a tidy $201 million for a new “speciality hospital.” And, of course, in classic Mitchell fashion, he also attempted to predict the Opposition’s objections… because nothing says “transparent governance” like a pre-emptive blame-fest.

So out came the same old tale he dusts off whenever he needs to scare Bahamians into line: the spooky story of how the Free National Movement (FNM) once opposed “advancements in healthcare.” According to Mitchell’s folklore, the FNM didn’t just oppose NHI—they single-handedly strangled it, suffocated it, and left Bahamians to hold cookouts for medical expenses.

It’s the same script, just with a new dramatic reading.

What he didn’t tell the people—because why let reality ruin a perfectly good scare tactic?—is that the PLP absolutely did pass NHI… without the small technical detail of how to pay for it. Funding mechanism? Too risky before an election. So, the great PLP “healthcare revolution” stalled—not because of the “vicked FNM,” but because the PLP didn’t have the courage to stand behind its own tax implications.

But, again, why tell the truth when blame is free?

And then there’s the FNM’s actual historic position on NHI, which Mitchell selectively forgets every time he speaks:

FNM’s actual concerns about the 2006 NHI Bill:
• They supported the principle of healthcare access
• They opposed a poorly drafted, cost-mystified, last-minute plan with no transparency
• They objected to zero consultation, sloppy legislation, poor administrative capacity, and bad timing
• And yes—the bill was so full of errors it needed editing, not applause

But fast-forward to today, and the New Day government has discovered its new scarecrow: “If you don’t support borrowing $201 million, you’re against healthcare.”
How convenient.

Prime Minister Philip Davis is now using the kind of crafty language that makes Gambier House proud—framing this loan as the ONLY sane path to healthcare salvation, while hoping no one remembers that the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) is already undergoing massive renovations and new construction works.

Renovations which began under the previous FNM government.

Renovations which seemed to have been reviewed, stalled, and seemingly cancelled under the  New day PLP government.

Renovations for which funding was left in place.

So the real question is:

What happened to the money that was already allocated to modernize PMH?

Because somehow the funds that could have continued or completed the PMH upgrades have magically transformed into a $201 million-justified loan for a brand-new specialty hospital. A specialty hospital, by the way, that does not even meet the needs of a full major medical facility—but sure, let’s mortgage the country anyway.

And yet, the Prime Minister insists that “incremental fixes” are not working.

Yes, Prime Minister—“incremental fixes” do not work.
But the FNM was not doing incremental fixes. They were doing full-scale renovations, expansions, and modernization of the national hospital you now pretend does not exist.

Cherry-picking language does not make your argument clever—it just makes it crafty. And that is exactly the kind of wording that the New Day relies on to guide the unsuspecting into thinking this $201 million loan is the only path forward.

As for the article trumpeting the big loan:

“The government intends to borrow $201 million from the Export-Import Bank of China to construct a hospital… Considering the state of PMH, it is abundantly clear that a new facility was needed.”

Needed? Or politically convenient?

Because here’s what’s actually abundantly clear:

The New Day government is pretending PMH’s upgrades do not exist so they can justify a loan they’ve already decided to take.

They tout a new 200-bed women’s and children’s hospital with “green spaces for holistic healing”—lovely, peaceful, and utterly irrelevant to the critical needs of a national hospital bursting at the seams.

And still not a word—not a syllable—from the Prime Minister about:

• What will happen to the massive PMH works already underway
• Why those works were slowed, altered, or cancelled
• What happened to the money allocated for those upgrades
• Why borrowed funds couldn’t finish PMH
• Why the country must instead commit to a loan for a facility that cannot replace PMH’s capacity

Instead, we get theatrics, ghost stories, revisionist history, and a “New Day” government hoping that a shiny new project will distract from old, uncomfortable questions.

Questions like:

Why are we borrowing $201 million for a specialty hospital for a few while ignoring, delaying, or cancelling the modernization of the national hospital we already have for the many?

But I suppose when you don’t want to answer the real questions, a spooky story about the FNM is easier to tell.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END