“Davis outlines agenda for 2023 – Economy, education, crime fight to receive priority attention, PM says” – The Nassau Guardian – January 20 2033

Excerpt from this article; “Though he provided no specifics, Prime Minister Philip Davis said yesterday that his administration will focus on education, growing the economy and tackling the scourge of violent crime in the country next year.

Davis who spoke at the 23nd annual Bahamas Business Outlook, said his government intends to deal with the high cost of living in the country.

We will continue to pursue growth in GDP and revenue, maximize the amount of investment in the country, and maintain efforts to reduce our debt,’ the prime minister said.

‘That said, we will put a particular focus on reducing the cost of living and making efforts to lift people out of poverty.

‘Even though the inflationary pressures are largely the results of global events and foreign economies, we will do whatever we can to ease the burden on Bahamian consumers.’

However the prime minister did not indicate what measures his administration intends to take to lift people out of poverty or ease the burden on consumers.”

Of course the prime minister cannot offer any specifics on how he “intends to lift people of the country out of poverty or ease the burden on consumers”; let me remind you that this is the very same prime minister whose government to date has lowered Value-Added Tax (VAT) to 10 percent but has added VAT to “breadbasket items and medications” which were once exempt but cannot show how this initiative has lifted persons out of poverty or even eased the burden of on consumers, while increasing taxes in other areas and considering even more tax increases.

This is also the same prime minister, who along with his Minister of Works and Utilities, through sheer incompetence and ineptitude allowed the “fuel-hedging” initiative left in place by the previous Free National Movement (FNM) government to expire with resulted in the increase to electricity rates.  Anyone knows one thing in doing business in this country or almost any place else; the cost of electricity drives your business cost and can actually stump economic growth.

Also, the prime minister is now saying that “the inflationary pressures are largely the results of global events”.  How can anyone take him seriously when he, while in opposition, CONTINUOULSY told then Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis that he could not use Dorian nor the pandemic for the state of the economy, but now he seeks to want us to excuse his government’s inability to do as promised because of “inflationary pressures”.  This reeks of pure and utter hypocrisy and duplicity.

And how does he only now seek to address the pressure of the economy after being in office for over a year?

What has his administration been doing for over a year?

“On the issue of crime, The Bahamas saw a 7.6 percent rise in murders in 2022 compared to 2021.

So far, there has been nine murders for 2023”.

Since coming to office the Davis administration has seen a steady climb in the violent crime rate and have had no solution, so now they promise to focus on “tackling the scourge of crime”; is this to say that for over a year that the New Day government has not had a plan for crime in the country?

Is this to say now that they may have a crime plan?

What has his administration been doing for over a year?

“On education, Davis noted that there is a need to address the learning loss caused by the pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education revealed that it engaged a US-based company to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the learning loss suffered by students during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide recommendations for accelerated learning recovery.”

This statement is very troubling because it was my understanding that the Minister for Education and Technical Training and Vocation; the Hon.  Glenys Hanna-Martin’s “efforts” to get students back into schools and back to “face-to-face” learning, would have been firstly met with an assessment of any “learning loss” and would at that time, given the educational system a course of action to take, if any was needed, over a year ago – why is this only happening now?

What I have found interesting that given the current concerns of the country today, there is no mention of prioritizing illegal immigration, I guess this is not a priority to this government and does not contribute in any way to any of the three issues that they wished to prioritize.

What has his administration been doing for over a year?

Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END

“Opposition on SDRs: Does the govt. have liquidity issues?” – The Nassau Guardian

 Excerpt from this article; “Pintard: What has arisen that they need to draw down on advance?

• Thompson: It does raise a red flag in terms of our fiscal position”

Opposition Leader Michael Pintard yesterday questioned if the government’s “rush” to utilize financing provided through the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) special drawing rights is a signal of a liquidity crisis for the Ministry of Finance.

The opposition held a virtual press conference yesterday to further hammer the Davis administration with claims of breaking the law in accessing $233 million through the IMF’s SDRs.

“What has arisen so suddenly that they needed to draw down on this advance and they could not come to Parliament in December or November or October, to mention they are going to engage in such a sizable advance? They ought to have then tidied up the legislation, if that’s the red herring argument they want to use,” Pintard said.

“It did raise a concern as to whether they were experiencing any liquidity issues. According to the government they are ahead of revenue collections. They have given the impression really that things are going exceptionally well for them. We have said in earlier press engagements that we don’t buy it. We simply don’t buy the story, because they have sprung on the Bahamian public a series of taxes and fees that again was not a part of their budget discussions or subsequent discussions on the management of various ministries. So the increase of fees in the manner they did it with respect to the Ministry of Transport was again worrisome for us.

The opposition has taken the position that the government did not lay out its plan to use the IMF SDR funding in its annual borrowing plan, which was released last year.”

So now the question arises, does the New Day government [the Davis led Progressive Liberal Party] have The Bahamas in deep financial trouble again and is not letting the country know the truth as they did during the previous Christie led PLP administrations?

Why this ‘”Hushed and rushed” method of borrowing and is it indeed legal?

I remember when the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) introduced Value-Added Tax (VAT).  We had Michael Halkitus bragging about how the tax initiative was performing beyond expectations; he bragged about this even as the country continued to go through economic downgrades.

Now we have the PLP under “new” leadership, claiming that “It’s a New Day”, telling us that the country’s finances are rebounding exceptionally well but yet having to ‘tap into emergency funding’ and the question is where is the money going?

So while the ‘top floor’ is telling the country that all is going well; some of us are more concerned about what is going on at the ‘seventeenth floor’; the floor that only a select few have been able to access; much like Bernie Maddox’s 17^th Floor.

Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END

At this time the country is fixated on the meltdown of the FTX group of companies and there is a ‘fire storm’ with persons from each major political organization asking, who brought Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO to The Bahamas in the first place. But there are still many unanswered questions concerning how this will affect the future confidence in the county’s financial sector, especially its ‘virgin’ cyrpo-currency sector; one main question being, did the New Day government invest any of the taxpayers money in this venture?

While this issue plays out before us I would rather focus my attention on the incompetence and ineptitude which has caused my Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) utility bill to basically triple. 

I would rather focus my attention on the hypocrisy and duplicity behind this incompetence and ineptitude, which I find to be epic and the contradiction between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Works and Utilities, which has left me wondering who is not being honest with the public and why would they attempt to tell such blatant lies in this digital age?

“Cooper: Gov’t should borrow $1 bil. to $2 bil. To shore up economy” – The Nassau Guardian 31^st March 2020

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader Chester Cooper said yesterday that the government should borrow 41 billion to $2 billion in order to bolster The Bahamas’ economy for the long-term, given the negative economic effects on the horizon for the country.

Cooper, who made the remarks in the House of Assembly, suggested the money be allocated to a myriad of programs designed to keep the economy afloat and argued this would be justifiable borrowing, given the local and global crises.

‘The government should, in my view, identify facilities in the area of $1 [billion] to $2 billion in this low interest environment, in order to shore up the economy,’ Cooper said.”

So here we have the Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), now Deputy Prime Minister of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, advising the Free National Movement (FNM) government to borrow one billion to two billion dollars to “shore up” the country’s economy while interest rates were low to avoid the burden on the tax payers of paying back a national debt at a higher interest rate. Of course this did not play out in the manner in which Mr. Cooper predicted in his “doom and gloom” speech that it would but what is more interesting is what he did when it came time for him to do basically the same thing – putting measures in place to save the Bahamian people and the county’s money.

“BPL CEO wrote Sears on hedging in Oct. 2021” – The Nassau Guardian – October 27, 2022

An October 18, 2021 letter written to Minister of Works Alfred Sears by the then-CEO of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) Whitney Heastie provides comprehensive details of the company’s fuel hedge program, designed to lock in global oil prices at the lowest possible rates and stabilize the fuel charge to consumers.

Amid uproar in the House of Assembly throughout the day on whether Sears and other members of the Davis administration had been briefed on the need to continue the hedge trades, Opposition Leader Michael Pintard tabled the letter last night.

Despite objections from Sears, the House speaker allowed it.

The opposition contends that the failure of the Davis administration to execute hedging trades as advised by BPL’s hedging committee and board, left customers exposed and resulted in high fuel costs now being introduced incrementally by BPL.

Heastie started the six-page letter to Sears, the minister responsible for BPL, by stating, “Further to your email regarding the hedge program at BPL, I think it would be useful to provide a general overview of the strategic considerations that went into the structuring and implementation of this program, how the program works and the results, to date.”

Sears was advised in the letter that BPL through execution of the hedges was “seeing the huge benefits, given the price of oil on the open market…”

So at some point it was shown that the Minister of Public Works and Utilities knew about the hedging program and how it worked and did nothing about it but one would think that this would also cross the desks of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. As this is tantamount to their campaign goal of “saving the Bahamian people”, as the Deputy Prime Minister said that the former government was not doing when he advised them to borrow money at a lower rate.

Now to add insult to injury.

“Sears concedes BPL hedge trade requests were rejected” – The Nassau Guardian 18 November 2022

Excerpt from this article;

“Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Philip “Brave” Davis told Parliament last month that he never received any briefing or saw any papers on the need to execute fuel hedging trades for Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) to lock in oil prices last fall, but Minister of Works Alfred Sears said in the House of Assembly on Wednesday that a Cabinet paper to this effect was addressed to the minister of finance, and the Ministry of Finance decided to reject the recommendation after reviewing it.

Sears’ acknowledgement on Wednesday came after he and the prime minister both repeatedly insisted in the House of Assembly that they had not had any briefings on the need to carry out the hedge transactions and had seen no documents on it.

After Opposition Leader Michael Pintard raised the issue in the House of Assembly on October 26, Davis said, “The member accuses my administration of failing to do an act that has impacted the Bahamian people.  “We deny that. That is not true, so I ask this member, he’s talking about executing trades. I want him to explain to the Bahamian people … what trades he’s talking about and what does he mean by executing trades and how it was not done.”

The prime minister insisted, “No recommendation came to me, and the minister for works (who is responsible for BPL) said there was no such information coming to [him] to do what he (Pintard) said we should do, and he characterized it as executing trades. There was no such recommendation that I was aware of.”

But yesterday, Sears’ revelation confirmed that recommendations were addressed to the finance minister and the finance ministry made the decision not to accept.”

Under the Free National Movement (FNM), borrowing was done but not on the scale that Cooper was adamantly suggesting and the money actually was directed toward a “myriad of programs designed to keep the economy afloat’, which it did.  Then Cooper and his team began the hypocritical and duplicitous cry of “All that money borrowed and nothing to show for it; just imagine if someone had actually listened to Cooper with the ‘recommendation’ of borrowing the $2bn!

Here we have one pointing the finger at the other blaming them for this inexcusable lapse in governance, which has now led to the increase in higher power bills and the increments in public servants pay and the fifty dollar increase in the minimum wage rate has come just in time for the people to put a ‘lil somethin’ on their light bill.

Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END

From the very moment that a Davis led Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was voted in as the government of The Bahamas, we all knew; well most of us, to expect an interesting and bumpy RIDE!

Most of us were just watching as the ride unfolded; seeing the red flags and thinking gleefully that a carnival was coming, until the economy was downgrade and the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister attempted to convince us that this was actually a good thing; then and there we knew that there was no carnival.

Now we have a political organization and government caught in a lie and attempting to convince us that the Westminster system allows for them to carry out just act of gross maleficence.

I have found out that a person or group of persons that cannot admit to their wrongdoings- ever; are a very dangerous set of persons to associate with but how do you not associate with your own government?

“FNM names law it says the govt. broke over trip to Bermuda” – The Tribune.

Excerpt from this article;

“FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard accused the government of violating the Public Finance Management Act when it used public money to pay for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ controversial trip to Bermuda.

He said the opposition will put this issue before the Public Accounts Committee and use that group’s power to compel the turnover of all the relevant documents.

Last week, press secretary Clint Watson urged those who said the government had broken the law in reference to the trip’s financing to show which law had been contravened.

“It is embarrassing for us to have to educate the Office of the Prime Minister on the law – especially given that the Cabinet has more than one noted King’s Counsel with decades of experience in the practice of law,” Mr. Pintard said in a statement yesterday.

 “We firmly believe they were fully aware that their actions were inappropriate but were blinded by arrogance and were caught in plain sight. Nonetheless we shall assist the Office of the Prime Minister.

 “The government’s spokesman would do well to acquaint himself with Articles 130 and 131 of the Constitution which speaks to how public funds are authorized and which, in Article 131, expressly says that public funds ‘issued shall be disposed of for meeting public expenditure under Article 130 of the Constitution or, in the case of statutory expenditure, for the purposes appointed by law.

He also said: “We are pleased to advise him as well that under Section 30 (1) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act that ‘no public officer nor public office holder shall commit the government to a financial liability or contingent liability unless specifically authorized to do so under this or any other Act.’

 “Finally, we make him aware that Section 111 (1) (a) of the PFM Act states that ‘a public officer, or other person with responsibility for public resources commits an offence of financial misconduct if, without lawful authority, that person willfully or recklessly (a) incurs expenditure or makes commitments for expenditure of public money.’ Clearly, advancing money for a trip by a political or any other non-government entity is not public expenditure as defined in the Constitution or any statute law of The Bahamas.”

Mr. Pintard said the trip’s financing was “unauthorized expenditure”.

The Leader of The Royal Opposition, the Hon. Michael Pintard, released the above statement when questioned as to which law that was broken by the Davis government when it used public funds to finance PLP party trip to Bermuda to support their “sister party”; The Progressive Labor Party (PLP); the reason that they actually bragged about but now seem to want to ‘walk back’.

So now the government and its very loyal minions are attempting to deflect from this wrong doing by obfuscating a section of the U K Ministerial Code, that we as a country still follow but that’s presents an argument for another day.

Excerpt from “Guidance: MINISTRIAL CODE – updated 22 May 2022”

“Party Political occasions

10.15 Where a visit is a mix of political and official engagements, it is important that the department and the Party each meet a proper proportion of the actual cost.”

The only problem is that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) cannot seem to be able to prove that this trip was “a mix of political and official engagement”, as they cannot outline the “official engagment” that they were attending to on behalf of the Bahamian people, it would now seem that they are attempting to twist this section of the Ministerial Code to explain away this latest wrongdoing that they are unwilling to admit to – its amazing that they have not found a way to blame the Minnis administration for this latest mistake, like they would usually do.

The whole act has turned out to be a very ‘smudgy’ incident because now the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), while admitting to no wrongdoing has paid back a portion of the funds in the amount of Twenty Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty dollars ($24,750) while the Prime Minister and leader of the PLP is saying that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) paid for the trip and the Chairman of the PLP, Fred Mitchell is telling the country that the trip was organized through OPM as is standard.

To date no one knows the actual cost of the trip, as the OPM, the Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the PLP nor has any other officer in that party been forthcoming with that information.

This entire situation leaves many asking, how many other trips that were not “official engagements” have been financed this way and just not found out

Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END

“PM: Murder count would have been higher were it not for initiatives put in place” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Prime Minister Philip Davis said yesterday that had it not been for initiatives Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander put in place, the murder situation would have been worse.

 Acting Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux, meanwhile, said The Bahamas is not experiencing a crime crisis.

Murders are up 18 percent this year over last year.

Police reported two murders on Sunday and another on Tuesday, bringing the murder count to 104 so far this year.

Last year, 115 murders were recorded.

Despite experiencing a triple digit murder count for yet another year, Deleveaux said, “We do not have a crime crisis. We are doing a lot.”

The prime minister told The Nassau Guardian he is “totally” concerned about the crime situation.

“Plans are in place to address the issues,” he said.

“You will find that saturation patrol is out there. We think that the numbers might have been much more had the initiatives that the new commissioner of police [put in place not been put in place]. If you go out there and you see it; there is a lot of disruptions that have been occurring over the last couple of months.

“In fact, you would have heard cries about the disruptive nature of the police and cries of civil liberties being trampled upon, which we don’t think it is, but those are some of the things that are being said, but I think they’re the disruptive interventions by police over the weekends [that] have been working.”

The highest number of murders recorded in a single year in The Bahamas was 146 in 2015.

Although 22 murders were recorded in March 2022 — one of the highest ever recorded in any month — Deleveaux said he does not believe that this will be a record year for murders.”

So exactly what is the New day government trying to suggest here? That the public should not be concerned that the murder rate is at sucn a high level ?

Are they also trying to suggest that if it had not been for the crime initiatives implemented by the New Day Government that the numbers would be even higher?  This is not something to boast about because it only speaks to the failures of the New Day government to mitigate serious crime levels in the country and its inability to keep its citizens safe.  The most reasonable amongst us would look at this silly statement by a prime minister that seems to be “high on his own supply/product” and ask the question; exactly what initiatives were put in place by this New Day government to bring serious crime under control?

I see mention of “saturation patrols”, and I asked didn’t the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) try these when the Perry Christie first became prime minister?  You all remember when the Ministry of National Security (MONS) had the police working 24 hour shifts, refused to pay them and the Police Staff Association (PSA) had to take the MONS to court to sue for payment and won.  Then Keith Bell, a junior minister in the MONS at the time appealed the ruling and lost and had to end up paying the police for services rendered?

I bring this up to merely point out the fact that we have seen this play before.

From what I have seen to date, the only “crime initiative” that the New day government has out in place has been the hiring of Rodney Moncur to the Ministry of National Security (MONS) as a “crime disruptor”.  Is the prime minister suggesting that if it were not for Moncur, that the murder count would have been much higher?

What I see is what the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) did in opposition during their campaign; create a “problem” and then solve it.  Today, there is the intimation that things could have been much, much worst and by solving it by suggesting that they are not because of the initiatives put place by the New Day government. “Murder could have been higher were it not for initiatives put in place”.

If they had not hired Rodney Moncur, because beyond that they have done nothing else to mitigate the proliferation of serious crimes like murder.

Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END

“Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt” – Juvnenal

Just last week the Hon. Hubert Ingraham made the following statement; “Although it is enjoying positive reviews by Bahamians so far, the Davis administration has mainly been focused on good public relations since coming to office last September.” This statement was proven absolutely true today as the Davis administration continued on their public relations campaign.

“PM score high” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “In a recent survey conducted by Public Domain Research and Domain, 70 percent of people polled said they approved of the job being done by Prime Minister Philip Davis.

Also, 64 percent of respondents approved of the job being done by the current administration.

Twenty percent of respondents disapproved of the job the government is doing

Public Domain said the survey was conducted by telephone August 22 – 23, with the main objective being to ‘gauge the general feelings of Bahamians regarding the approval of the current government.’

Public Domain said 828 people age 18 and older were surveyed though landline and mobile numbers based on random selection.”

So to sum it up, 828 persons were called during a 24 – 48 hour period and asked to speak for the entire population of The Bahamas, which stands at about 350,000 plus at this time.

0.23657 percent; less than one percent of the population – is this even considered scientific?

I am reminded of Philip Davis, in opposition, constantly asking the “science” behind the decisions that former Prime Minister Hubert A. Minnis during the pandemic but now he would try some grand public relations stunt like this?!

Is he; Prime Minister Davis, really serious or just that desperate because former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said; “Aside from reducing value-added tax (VAT) from 12 percent to 10 percent, the [New Day] administration has not done anything of major and has been reluctant to make any decisions it sees as controversial….”

So, it would appear that the New Day Davis administration mandate is clear.  Do not make any harsh decisions, even if they were/are in the best interest of the country and its people, attempt to remain popular and continue to run a massive public relations’ campaign based on nothing of substance – even if it has to be created as was attempted today.

And do this all to give the people “bread and circuses”

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

END

My Morning Paper – August 22, 2022 – Rise Above The Lies

“PLP a govt. of PR, former PM says – Ingraham say govt. avoiding touch decisions” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Although it is enjoying positive reviews by Bahamians so far, the Davis administration has been mainly focused on good public relations since coming to office last September, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said.

Aside from reducing value-added tax (VAT) from 12 percent to 10 percent, the administration has not done anything major and has been reluctant to make any decisions it sees as controversial, including whether to raise the National Insurance Board (NIB) contribution rate he said.

‘They have, since they have been in office, put on a first-class show on public relations,’ said Ingraham who a guest on the Guardian Talk Radio Show ‘Z Live: Off the record with Zhivago Laing on Friday.

‘I envy them.  I could never produce such a show when I was in office. The public is very happy that the FNM government is gone because they really wanted the FNM out.’

‘So the public is willing to excuse many things that the present government is doing because they are happy to say, ‘Well, at least ain’t there now.”

But as time goes on, they will be judged by the public as we all have been up to now.”

This was the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham addressing the performance of the New day Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) amongst other things last Friday but being a person that must have the last say; even if it makes NO sense, as it usually does, Fred Mitchell, as Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) made his contribution.

“Mitchell: Hard decisions taken in PLP’s first year in” – The Nassau Guardian

“Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell yesterday defended the Davis administration after former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham accused the government of mainly being focused on good public relations since coming to office.

He thanked the former prime minister for “his general support” of the PLP’s first year in office. “His praise for our work accords with the generally good reviews that the administration is getting across the country,” Mitchell said when reached for comment.

“Good public relations is another way of saying that the PLP is doing a good job letting the public know what we are doing. We are of course tackling some complex issues and in time we will tick all the boxes.

“Good Public relations is NOT another way of saying “that the PLP is doing a good job”.

The statement above by the Hon. Hubert Ingraham and the subsequent, weak and pitiful attempt at a reply proves two things that I had predicted going onto the last election, given that the Progressive Liberal Party led by Philip ‘Brave’ Davis had won, which they did.  These two things were one; that Mr. Davis was too weak to be prime minister and two; that Frederick A. Mitchell is far past his political prime and can only now manage to ramble on with utter nonsense which makes sense to him, the voices in his head that tells him that he can still be prime minister and the fervently loyal PLP supporters that still believe that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) as a government has never, ever done anything wrong and should therefore not be accountable to anyone one for anything – this in itself is nonsensical but there are persons out there that actually do still think this way.

At no time did the former prime minister suggest “that the PLP is doing a good job”, but in the mind of the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party that seeks to cling onto any and everything to save this sinking ‘ship’ that has been overturned by its very own ‘wave’, there is a desperate attempt to mislead that public – the PLP way.

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

END      

Wayne Munroe, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Minister of National Security and Member of Parliament for the Free Town constituency, stood in the honorable House of assembly yesterday and waxed poetic about the hardships of persons obtaining police records for violating the Emergency Orders during the height of the pandemic under the previous Free National Movement (FNM) administration; highlighting the negative effects of the mandate and stopping just short of addressing its true purpose but we would expect no more as this New Day government seems to be in full campaign mode.  No matter the point now being rendered moot by the election about nine months ago; the good minister and his government seeming to have nothing positive to report to the people of their doing seem quite content with rehashing the past.

“Records could be expunged for emergency order breaches” – The Tribune

Expert from this article; “AN amendment to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act would allow for people convicted of certain criminal offenses – including Emergency Order violations – to make immediate application to have their records expunged.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, who led debate on the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2022 yesterday, said the legislation is demonstration of the Davis administration’s commitment to fulfilling its promise to the Bahamian people.

‘This particular bill fulfills a commitment made in the blueprint for change, Munroe said during his contribution in the House of Assembly. ‘In page 14…we committed to expunge records of minor offenses in violation of emergency orders.’

‘In my view, these sections would do well to be considered because, we say, and I quote ‘we will rescue the most vulnerable and discouraged in our society.”

It delights me to no end to hear members of the New Day government continuously talk about “rescuing” or “saving” people that were never in any danger; the only danger being that which the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) created so that they can say that they actually did something but they have not and the way in which they continue to deceive the people using this tactic which is absolutely deplorable.

Before I go on I would just like to point out this one salient point; while Wayne Munroe attempts to revive this evil and wicked tale of not being able to go to the water pump because an evil and wicked man instructed you to be arrested, is he not the very same man that only days that told the people of the country to “Prepare for more police shootings” without trying to first talk the police down and suggest a more peaceful ways of mitigating the crime situation?

It’s amusing that Mr. Munroe would invoke his “attack” around this young man and their essential need for water.  Lamenting the need for this essential commodity, while the prime minister and Member of Parliament for Cat Island never saw it fit to adequately supply his consistency with this essential commodity, but then that is another blog.

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

END

In opposition the Davis led Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) had a lot to say and a lot of advice to give on the control and mitigation of the COVID-19 virus in the country; they even went as far as to create their very own task force.

Today, they, the Davis led PLP, are the government and they have gone very quiet on the subject of the Covid-19, except for a sound byte here or there advising people to adhere to basic protocols.  I mean even their Covid-19 task force established in opposition has gone missing.  My question is are these sound bytes making a difference as the number of cases begin to increase?

“COVID SURGE HAS HIT THE BAHAMAS – Death toll hit 800 and 200 new Cases so far this month” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “HEATH officials yesterday confirmed that the country is in another surge of COVID-19 infections after more than 200 cases were confirmed so far this month.

The revelation comes as the country continued to record double digit numbers, with 27 cases on Wednesday and 24 on Tuesday, bringing the nation’s overall total to 33,830 since the start of the pandemic.

There has always been two more virus related deaths confirmed, pushing the death toll to 800.  The latest deceased victims being were a 67-year-old woman and an 81-year-old man, both from Grand Bahama.

During a press conference at the Office of The Prime Minister yesterday, Dr. Philip Swann, registrar at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, attributed the recent increase in virus cases to mostly ‘COVID fatigue’.

‘We’re seeing it’s basically more related to COVID 19.’ Dr. Swann said yesterday.  ‘There are persons who are pushing for mask mandates to be removed and some of them are just going on and removing those mask mandates themselves, so the reality is we strongly believe in the science and science is proving true.’

According to Dr. Swann this surge is more manageable than pervious COVID waves in that fewer people are requiring serious hospitalization.

Because of this, he said officials are not as concerned as they feel they have COVID situation in the country is under control.”

So let me see if I can out this into perspective; for officials to become “concerned” more people must first become seriously sick and maybe die? I remember the “hell’ raised by the Davis led PLP opposition when the first person died of COVID-19 and how they would not allow that family to grieve in peace, as they used this woman’s death to try and prove the incompetence of the Free National Movement (FNM) in dealing with the situation but today it seems okay for one or two people to die, just as long as the health care facilities are not being overburdened.

You really cannot make this up.

I have been asking one thing of the New Day government, knowing that another outbreak was inevitable, was there a plan in place to be rolled out immediately to help with the mitigation of the spread of this virus and it would appear that the answer is….no!  The former Free National Movement (FNM) administration had a plan even if most of the country did not like it, but there is one. 

END