It is one thing to disagree on public policy. It is another thing entirely to light the personal match, throw it, and then complain about the smoke.

When Dr. Duane Sands—former Health Minister under the Free National Movement (FNM)—described the Davis administration’s proposal for a new specialty hospital as a “dumb idea,” he did not do so in a vacuum. His stated position was straightforward: the country’s primary public hospital, the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), still faces longstanding infrastructure, maintenance, staffing, and equipment challenges. In that context, he argued that prioritizing a brand-new specialty facility over completing upgrades and expansions to the existing general hospital was, in his view, misguided.

You can disagree with that reasoning. What you cannot fairly say is that there was no reasoning.

Enter Fred Mitchell, Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), who responded not by dismantling the policy argument point by point, but by launching into Dr. Sands’ past—referencing his resignation in 2020 after violating COVID-19 emergency orders, his opposition to aspects of National Health Insurance (NHI), and alleging broader “failure” in health care.

Let’s fact-check that terrain.

Yes, Dr. Sands resigned in May 2020 after admitting he assisted U.S. citizens who arrived in The Bahamas during COVID-19 restrictions, contrary to emergency orders. That is a matter of public record.  The funny thing about this is that it was Philip “Brave” Davis that stood up in Parliament during the pandemic and said that we have “friends” that could assist us with getting the vaccine and this is what Dr. Sands did and was fired for, but this is how life is; right?

Yes, he has been critical of how NHI was structured and funded, though NHI itself was initiated under a previous PLP administration and expanded in phases thereafter.

But here is the pivot: when you begin by referencing someone’s “personal conduct,” calling them names, and listing past controversies, you have already made it personal. To then issue a release saying, “This has nothing to do with me and you, personally. This is about public policy,” rings hollow. If it were strictly about policy, the rebuttal would have focused on hospital capacity data, capital budgets, staffing ratios, and timelines—not “jackass” and character attacks.

Now to the substance.

The FNM administration (2017–2021), with Dr. Sands as Health Minister for part of that term, advanced renovation works at PMH, including infrastructure upgrades and planning for expanded services. Not all projects were completed before the 2021 election. That is also a fact.

Since the PLP returned to office in 2021 under Philip Davis, PMH has continued to experience well-documented challenges: infrastructure strain, equipment shortages, industrial disputes with nurses, and complaints about conditions in Accident & Emergency. If the government’s position is that the FNM left the hospital in disrepair, the obvious follow-up question is: what has been completed in the four-plus years since? Capital allocations were made in successive budgets. If funds were reallocated or projects delayed, that is a matter of governance—not inheritance.

You cannot simultaneously argue:

1. The hospital was in crisis when we came to office, and
2. We have not yet meaningfully completed the core renovations, and
3. Our top priority is building a brand-new specialty hospital.

That is not a personal attack. That is a sequencing question.

Then there is the demographic argument. Mr. Mitchell has publicly referenced declining birth rates and the need to supplement the workforce through immigration due to population trends. If the birth rate is declining—as demographic data in The Bahamas has shown in recent years—then the logical policy debate becomes: should scarce capital funds prioritize a women’s and children’s specialty hospital, or the strengthening and expansion of a comprehensive general hospital that serves the entire population, including a growing elderly demographic?

A specialty hospital for women and children is not inherently a bad idea. The question is whether it is the right idea right now.

And that brings us back to tone.

If Dr. Sands says the idea is “dumb,” you can rebut him with numbers, timelines, and fiscal projections. What weakens the government’s position is abandoning policy argument in favour of personal invective—then insisting it is not personal.

When you throw the first punch and then complain about getting hit back, you do not look principled. You look thin-skinned.

The Bahamian people deserve a serious discussion about:

The status of renovations at Princess Margaret Hospital

The funding and sustainability of National Health Insurance

Staffing levels and industrial agreements

Capital priorities in a constrained fiscal environment

They do not deserve political theatre disguised as policy debate.

If this is truly about facts, then let’s have facts: What renovations remain incomplete? What funds were allocated, spent, or returned? What is the full capital cost of the proposed specialty hospital? How will it be staffed, and how will it be funded without undermining the general hospital?

Those are not personal questions.

They are governance questions.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) fails for one reason; it is their nature and The Bahamas deserves much better.

END

Yesterday the Chairman of the New Day PLP came out swinging like he was in the blue corner at the Andre Rodgers Stadium, gloves laced up, ready to defend the government’s shiny new specialty hospital.

And all because Dr. Duane Sands called the project a “dumb idea.”

Now, plenty people get stuck on the phrase “dumb idea,” but what they seem allergic to discussing is the reasoning behind it. Because sometimes it’s not the volume of the insult — it’s the logic behind it that does the real damage.

According to The Nassau Guardian, Dr. Sands questioned the wisdom of borrowing $195 million from the Chinese EXIM Bank to build a 200-bed specialty women’s and children’s hospital — especially while Princess Margaret Hospital is gasping for air, nurses are staging sick-outs over unpaid overtime, and vendors are threatening to withhold supplies because they are not being paid.

But instead of answering the very real question — why build new when the old one falling down? — the Chairman of the PLP decided to light a rhetorical match and throw it in the dry bush.

He thundered.
He scolded.
He declared Dr. Sands “Dr. No.”

But here’s the thing, my Bahamian brothers and sisters: passion is not policy. Volume is not vision.

Because let’s rewind the tape.

When the PLP came to office, there was an ongoing plan to renovate PMH. Not talk. Not a press conference. Not a concept drawing. An actual, funded renovation plan to upgrade Princess Margaret Hospital — including improvements that would directly impact women and children.

And what happened?

They stopped it.
They reviewed it.
They cancelled it.
They sent the money back.

Sent. The. Money. Back.

Now fast forward a few years and the same administration wants to borrow $195 million for a brand-new specialty hospital — to solve problems that the PMH renovations were already designed to address and would have already solved, had they been carried out.

So, help me understand the math.

You cancel renovations to the existing hospital.
Conditions worsen.
Nurses protest.
Vendors complain.
Patients suffer delays.

And the solution is… borrow more money for a brand-new specialty hospital while the old one still struggling?

That isn’t vision. That’s déjà vu with interest payments.

Chairman Mitchell says PMH is “bursting at the seams.” Sir… it was bursting when you got there. And instead of reinforcing the seams, you pulled out the thread and now blaming the tailor.

You cannot stop renovations, send back funds, allow infrastructure strain to intensify, and then act shocked — shocked! — that people are questioning your priorities.

And let’s talk about priorities.

Healthcare workers are publicly saying they are owed overtime since June 2025. Vendors allegedly waiting on payments. Supplies reportedly delayed. And in the middle of all that, the government is signing off on a nine-figure foreign loan.

Bahamian people not asking for theatrics, they are asking for sequencing.

Fix PMH.
Complete what was started.
Stabilize the system.
Then expand.

Instead, what we getting is political fireworks and historical name-calling.

Calling somebody “Dr. No” might make for a catchy headline, but it does not answer why a government would halt an active renovation plan — only to later borrow more money to fix the very same issues they allowed to fester.

Chairman, where was this “compassion” when the renovation contracts were paused?
Where was this righteous indignation when the money was returned?
Where was this “nothing dumb about that” energy when PMH still leaking, overcrowded, and understaffed?

Because from where the public sitting, this doesn’t look like strategic expansion.

It looks like stopping a roof repair to announce a penthouse.

And the Bahamian people deserve better than political ego dressed up as healthcare reform.

If the goal was always to improve care for women and children, then completing the PMH renovations would have been the fastest, most cost-effective path forward. Instead, we now facing borrowed millions, geopolitical side-eyes, and a main hospital still under pressure.

Before you blame critics for pointing out cracks, maybe explain why you paused the cement truck in the first place.

Because in Bahamian politics, memory short — but hospital wait times long.

And the people watching.

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

END

Fred Mitchell—Chairman of the New Day Progressive Liberal Party—recently warned Bahamians to brace themselves for an increase in “nasty politics” as we head toward 2026.

Which is adorable.

Because that warning is a bit like a professional arsonist holding a press conference to caution the public about an uptick in fires. Sir… people are mainly watching your hands.

Now enter Prime Minister Philip “Daddy Brave” Davis, standing at PLP ratification night, declaring—according to The Nassau Guardian—that “the country cannot afford a return to confusion” or the “petty politics” of the Free National Movement.

Confusion. Pettiness. Strong words from a man whose administration have turned “policy review” into a national suspense series.

According to the Prime Minister, this election is about:

• Moving forward versus being dragged backward
• Expanding opportunity versus shutting it down
• Respecting working people
• Progress versus pettiness

Which all sounds very inspiring… until you ask the dangerous follow-up question:

Progress where?

Because “forward” is not a direction—it’s a claim. And claims require receipts.

The Prime Minister urges PLP’s not to relax, not to assume victory, to knock on doors, to stay humble, to listen more than they talk, and to serve more than they posture.

Which is excellent advice—especially for an administration that has spent four-plus years perfecting the art of posture.

Then comes the pièce de résistance:
Michael Pintard, Leader of the Opposition, is branded a “petty man.”
And we’re told—quite solemnly—that “petty men do not build nations.”

Fair enough.

But here’s where the monologue turns into a mirror.

If pettiness is truly the enemy of progress, then surely the Prime Minister would first want to address the pettiness within his own government—because that’s where the policies actually stop, stall, or vanish.

Let’s start with Grand Bahama.

When the PLP came to office in 2021, it reviewed and ultimately terminated the existing Grand Lucayan resort sale arrangement negotiated under the previous administration. That is not opinion—that is public record.

What followed was not clarity, but limbo.

Years later, Grand Bahamians are still waiting for a definitive sale, still hearing conflicting timelines, still watching press conferences substitute for bulldozers. Whether the original deal was perfect is debatable—but cancelling it without a ready, executed alternative has had real consequences. That’s not “confusion” returning. That’s confusion being managed.

Now let’s talk about Princess Margaret Hospital.

The PLP government halted the ongoing PMH renovation project and returned loan funds associated with it—again, not speculation, but acknowledged by officials—while promising a brand-new hospital instead.

That new hospital has since been promoted internationally, discussed frequently, and completed… nowhere.

In the meantime, renovations stopped, timelines evaporated, and Bahamians were told—once again—to trust that something better is coming soon.

Soon has become the most overworked word in Bahamian politics.

So when Prime Minister Davis now asks “right-thinking Bahamians” to trust him again, because the alternative is “pettiness” and “confusion,” one can’t help but notice the irony.

Because trust is not earned by speeches.
Trust is not sustained by slogans.
And trust is certainly not built by cancelling projects, returning funds, restarting processes, and then blaming the opposition for the mess left behind.

Which brings us to the final question—the one voters keep asking quietly, even when rallies are loud:

If this is progress…
why does it feel like we keep starting over?

And if the Prime Minister’s argument is simply “Trust me, because the other guy is petty”—well, that’s not leadership.

That’s fear marketing.

And as the old saying goes:
Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result… is not progress.

It’s just insanity—with better lighting and a campaign soundtrack.

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

END

One thing you must grant Prime Minister Philip Davis — aka “Secret Squirrel” — is that the man can keep a secret. In fact, he kept such a magnificent one that it took him four and a half years to drop what he clearly considers a “bombshell.” Only now, with an election horizon looming, does the Prime Minister suddenly remember that fuel hedging exists.

It appears that what we were told was “New Day” governance was, in reality, a masterclass in benign neglect. The Davis administration cancelled — or simply allowed to quietly expire — the fuel hedging program left in place by the Free National Movement (FNM), only to now suggest that it wasn’t cancelled out of incompetence, but because it was supposedly “not done correctly.” How convenient that this revelation arrives years after Bahamians were left to sweat under sky-high electricity bills.

Let us not forget the great missing memo saga. At the time, there was talk of a letter from then-BPL Minister Alfred Sears to the Office of the Prime Minister regarding the hedge. The OPM, of course, claimed amnesia — “never received it.” A classic case of political selective hearing.

Meanwhile, ordinary Bahamians were forced to endure painfully higher electricity rates, even as the New Day PLP tried to gaslight the country into believing that what they were seeing on their BPL bills was just a collective hallucination.

Now — suddenly — the same government that scrapped the hedge is racing back to embrace fuel hedging as if it were a brand-new, revolutionary idea. They even claim they have already implemented it. Forgive me, but am I the only one seeing the contradiction here?

In the House of Assembly, we were treated to yet another theatrical exchange between Prime Minister Davis and Opposition Leader Michael Pintard over the BPL fuel hedge — so heated that Deputy Speaker Sylvanus Petty had to play referee. Davis boldly declared that the FNM “did not do it correctly,” as if that absolves him of four and a half years of inaction.

He waxed poetic about hedging being a responsible tool — when aligned with infrastructure, of course — conveniently ignoring the fact that if the previous system was flawed, his government had more than enough time to fix it instead of letting it lapse.

Then there is the ever-mysterious question of what fuel was actually covered under the FNM’s hedge. The Prime Minister refuses to lay the relevant documents on the table in Parliament, leaving everyone to wonder: Was only one type of fuel covered? And if so, why didn’t the “New Day” government correct that immediately instead of doing nothing?

The entire saga feels like a classic PLP playbook: create or worsen a crisis, then ride in on a “Golden Wave” pretending to be the saviour. Much like their theatrics over shanty town demolitions — opposing them in opposition, only to rush in and complete them once in office under the very same legal framework they once condemned.

In short: cancel a hedge, blame the last government, let Bahamians pay more, and years later repackage the same idea as if it were divine inspiration. Truly, a masterclass in political spin.

This is simply surreal.

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

END

Apparently, Kingsley Smith — the PLP’s standard-bearer for Western Grand Bahama and Bimini — and Prime Minister Philip “Daddy Brave” Davis seems to have missed the Chairman’s latest memo about speaking to the media or rather not speaking to them.  Their apparent failure to read it has produced what the government can now only politely call a “miscommunication,” but what the rest of Grand Bahama and The Bahamas  would recognise is that these two senior officials are telling two very different stories about the same hotel.

As The Nassau Guardian aptly put it, “Mixed signals on Grand Lucayan” — and that may be the understatement of the year.

On one side, we have Prime Minister Davis, confidently strolling out of PLP headquarters declaring, with all the certainty of a man cutting a ribbon, that the Grand Lucayan has been sold and that the mysterious new owner is somewhere “working his plans.” On the other side, we have Kingsley Smith — ratified, refreshed, and apparently unscripted — calmly informing the press that “the hotel transaction did not happen at this time.”

So, either the Prime Minister has discovered a Schrödinger-style sale — simultaneously completed and not completed — or Mr. Smith accidentally wandered off the party line and stumbled into the territory of uncomfortable truth.

Smith, to his credit, tried his best to spin optimism out of the situation, reminding everyone that things in business can “happen” or “fail,” and that this is all about investor money, not government money. Which is a lovely sentiment, except that Grand Bahamians have been watching this particular business deal “happen” and “fail” for years while the resort continues to sit like a very expensive, very empty monument to broken promises.

Apparently, Kingsley Smith — the PLP’s standard-bearer for Western Grand Bahama and Bimini — and Prime Minister Philip “Daddy Brave” Davis seems to have missed the Chairman’s latest memo about speaking to the media or rather not speaking to them.  Their apparent failure to read it has produced what the government can now only politely call a “miscommunication,” but what the rest of Grand Bahama and The Bahamas  would recognise is that these two senior officials are telling two very different stories about the same hotel.

As The Nassau Guardian aptly put it, “Mixed signals on Grand Lucayan” — and that may be the understatement of the year.

On one side, we have Prime Minister Davis, confidently strolling out of PLP headquarters declaring, with all the certainty of a man cutting a ribbon, that the Grand Lucayan has been sold and that the mysterious new owner is somewhere “working his plans.” On the other side, we have Kingsley Smith — ratified, refreshed, and apparently unscripted — calmly informing the press that “the hotel transaction did not happen at this time.”

So, either the Prime Minister has discovered a Schrödinger-style sale — simultaneously completed and not completed — or Mr. Smith accidentally wandered off the party line and stumbled into the territory of uncomfortable truth.

Smith, to his credit, tried his best to spin optimism out of the situation, reminding everyone that things in business can “happen” or “fail,” and that this is all about investor money, not government money. Which is a lovely sentiment, except that Grand Bahamians have been watching this particular business deal “happen” and “fail” for years while the resort continues to sit like a very expensive, very empty monument to broken promises.

Prime Minister Philip “Daddy Brave” Davis — a nickname that sounds less like a term of endearment and more like a promotional jingle cooked up in a campaign war room — appears to be in a perpetual state of shock that the Bahamian people keep refusing to clap on command.

You would think, by now, that a man who seems chronically disappointed in everyone except himself might pause for a moment of self-reflection. But no — disappointment is a one-way street in the Brave Davis administration.

Back in December, Daddy Brave was disappointed in the Bahamas Union of Teachers for being, well… teachers who expected the pay increases they had been promised. Imagine that — public servants believing the government when it says it will pay them. How terribly unreasonable of them.

He told them, essentially: “Relax, this was a gift from me anyway — you should be grateful, not negotiating.”
It’s a fascinating brand of leadership — somewhere between benevolent monarch and confused department store Santa.

Fast forward to today, and now we have nurses staging a “sick-out” because — plot twist — they weren’t paid their overtime. Apparently, this came as a total surprise to the Prime Minister, who acts as though the Ministry of Finance is run out of a secret underground bunker that he is not allowed to enter.

We are supposed to believe that the Minister of Finance — who controls the nation’s purse strings — had no idea that essential healthcare workers weren’t being paid? That’s like the captain of a ship saying, “I had no idea we were sinking until someone mentioned water.”

Then, when the nurses quite reasonably protest, the Prime Minister emerges again in full “disappointed parent” mode.

He says he values them. He says other countries are trying to poach them. He says he has done so much for them since taking office. And then — with a straight face — he asks them to simply trust him.

So, Prime Minister, a simple question: Where exactly were these nurses when you came into office — and where are they now?
Because from where most Bahamians are standing, “better off” doesn’t usually include working overtime and not getting paid for it.

It is almost comedic — in a dark, political satire kind of way — to hear you lecture public servants about “trust” after they dare to demand the money they already earned. You speak as if they were naughty children who just needed to sit quietly and wait their turn.

But here’s the punchline, Prime Minister: trust is a two-way street.

You say they should trust you — but you clearly don’t trust them enough to communicate honestly, to keep your word promptly, or to ensure they are paid on time. You want their blind faith but offer them bureaucratic fog in return.

So why should they trust you?

What in your track record suggests that your promises arrive on time? What evidence tells them that “we will sort it out” doesn’t mean “we will get to it when it’s politically convenient”?

Listening to Prime Minister Davis try to talk his way out of this non-payment debacle would be hilarious — if real people’s livelihoods, and real patients’ lives, weren’t hanging in the balance.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about hurt feelings or political embarrassment — it’s about nurses, the hospital, its patients, and a government that seems very good at sounding shocked, and far less good at paying what it owes.

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

END

I remember a time—not so very long ago—when Prime Minister Philip “Do It Properly” Davis lectured the nation about order, process, and the sacred necessity of doing things the right way. Shanty towns, we were told, must be demolished carefully, methodically, and above all, properly.

Fast-forward to today, with the election clock ticking louder than a woman’s biological clock at a family reunion, and suddenly all that talk of patience and precision has gone straight out the window. These days, it seems the Prime Minister has abandoned any lingering commitment to “doing things right” in favour of doing things right now—details to be sorted out later, if at all.

This week, even the CEO of the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC), Dave McGregor, appeared to politely choke on his morning coffee as he acknowledged the… let’s call it awkwardness of the Prime Minister’s announcement that the government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Emera Incorporated to “gain control” of GBPC.

Yes—gain control. Minor problem, though: no one seems quite sure who actually has control to give.

As reported by The Nassau Guardian:

“Emera: No deal yet with govt – GBPC deal raises questions after Emera says talks still preliminary – FNM questions if announcement was a pre-election exercise.”

According to the article, a full 24 hours after the Prime Minister triumphantly announced the MoU in Grand Bahama, GBPC quietly informed employees and the public that a government purchase was merely a possible option, and that there was—how shall we put this—no final agreement.

In an internal memo, Mr. McGregor diplomatically acknowledged what everyone else immediately noticed:

“Firstly, I want to acknowledge that hearing this via a press conference from the prime minister was far from ideal for our valued employees.”

Translation: This is not how this is usually done.

He went on:

“Our overwhelming preference was to ensure we could complete a transaction before any information was shared, but the prime minister felt the news could not wait.”

Ah yes. The news could not wait. Elections have that effect.

Now, one can only speculate why the CEO found the timing so awkward, but I’ll go out on a limb and suggest it’s because all the I’s were not dotted, the T’s were not crossed, and the basic question of who actually owns the power company remains stubbornly unanswered.

Which brings us—again—back to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), who appear to be learning in real time that they may have quietly relinquished control of the power company… without being informed of such a life-altering decision.

Four years in, and Grand Bahama still seems to be the place where announcements go to outrun reality.

It now appears that the long-running argument over who controls the power company is about to make its inevitable return to the headlines—like a bad sequel no one asked for.

Now, you can call me a pain in the ass, but when a Prime Minister announces that he intends to regulate, control, or acquire something as critical as a power company, I feel—call me old-fashioned—that he should actually be in possession of the thing first. Otherwise, the performance starts to feel just a little… Trump-ish.

So now Prime Minister Davis must somehow fulfill yet another grand promise. But before he does that, he may want to conclude his ongoing dispute with the people who actually control the power company. Perhaps he’ll attempt to leverage the mysterious sums he claims the GBPA owes the government, gently “convincing” them that it’s in their best interest to hand over control—voluntarily, of course.

Because nothing says “doing things properly and in order” quite like announcing the end result before the deal exists, the owners agree, or the paperwork is finished.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what passes for progress in Grand Bahama.

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

END

The Chairman of the New Day Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Fred Mitchell, has once again climbed his favourite pulpit and delivered what can only be described as another “Sermon from the Mount Fredmore.” This time, his voice note attempts to suggest—without a shred of evidence, logic, or factual grounding—that Opposition Leader Michael Pintard is somehow willing to bow to foreign pressure for political gain.

Yes, apparently the man who can’t explain his own government’s foreign policy now claims divine insight into the foreign policy intentions of the Opposition Leader. A spiritual gift, perhaps.

Mitchell’s commentary floats somewhere between poetic rambling and political projection, warning about “whispers in the king’s ear” and “foreign loyalty,” while subtly trying to paint Pintard as some kind of geopolitical sellout-in-waiting. It’s reckless, ridiculous, and deeply disingenuous. But then again, recklessness wrapped in rhetorical fluff has become something of a PLP brand identity.

Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no factual basis—none—for the insinuation that Michael Pintard is acting, plotting, positioning, or posturing in any way that would be detrimental to The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. None. Zero. Zilch. This isn’t analysis; it’s imagination dressed up as authority.

What makes this even more comical is the irony:
The PLP Chairman is accusing the Opposition of foreign policy recklessness while his own government cannot clearly articulate what its foreign policy actually is.

Not a doctrine.
Not a framework.
Not a strategy.
Not a coherent direction.

Just vibes, voice notes, and verbosity.

And while Mitchell is busy psychoanalysing Pintard, the country is still waiting to hear what the PLP’s foreign policy vision is in these trying geopolitical times. Are we strategic? Neutral? Aligned? Independent? Regional-first? Global-first? Principle-driven? Economy-driven? Silence-driven?

Because at the moment, the only consistent policy seems to be:
Talk a lot. Say little. Imply much. Explain nothing.

Fred Mitchell’s attempt to pass opinion off as fact is not just misleading—it’s dangerous. It poisons public discourse, lowers the standard of political debate, and feeds a culture where accusations replace evidence and theatrics replace leadership.

But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. This is the same political culture that thrives on insinuation, thrives on narrative control, and thrives on never answering the actual questions put before it.

And that brings us to the two certainties the Bahamian people have learned under this New Day PLP government:

1. They will not answer the hard questions.
2. They do not believe they are required to.

Because somewhere along the way, accountability became optional, transparency became ceremonial, and public service became performance art.

If foreign policy is now just another campaign prop—another fear tactic—another narrative tool—then the country isn’t being governed, it’s being managed for optics.

And if this is what passes for leadership, then perhaps the real “whisper in the king’s ear” is the sound of reality trying to get through the noise.

But unfortunately for the PLP, satire writes itself when governance fails, and comedy becomes easy when credibility is optional.

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

END

Last night, I found myself listening to Donna Summer sing “MacArthur Park,” wondering—yet again—why on earth someone left that woman’s cake out in the rain. And then it hit me: I will probably get a clearer answer to that mystery long before I get straight answers from this New Day Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government.

My latest bout of curiosity—bordering on disbelief—centres on the renovations to the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Critical Care Block and its four-plus year delay in completion.

According to The Nassau Guardian headline, “A&E expected to be fully occupied within six weeks, Darville says,” the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Michael Darville, has once again assured the Bahamian people that relief is just around the corner—six weeks away, to be precise.

The article goes on to explain that with furniture and bedding for PMH’s Accident and Emergency department now finally “in the country,” the department should soon be fully operational. Renovations, we are told, concluded late last year, but officials were waiting—patiently, apparently—for furniture and equipment to arrive.

Dr. Darville noted that renovations inside an existing structure came with “many challenges,” including exterior works that caused interior construction to pause. All fair enough—renovations are messy business.

But here’s where the music starts to skip.

This Critical Care Block project began under the previous Free National Movement (FNM) administration, complete with financing already secured and construction underway. Then came the New Day PLP government, which promptly cancelled the existing deal, reportedly sent back the loan, and assured the country that their approach would be better, faster, and presumably drier—unlike Donna Summer’s cake.

Fast forward more than four years, and we are now being told that healthcare chaos will soon subside because—brace yourselves—the furniture has finally arrived.

Which raises a perfectly reasonable question:
Did it really take over four years to purchase and receive hospital beds, furniture, and equipment?

And a follow-up, for good measure:
If the original FNM contract had been left in place, would the Critical Care Block have been completed years ago—without throwing the healthcare system into prolonged disarray?

By cancelling the original agreement and signing a new one, the PLP effectively delayed not only construction timelines but also the ordering of critical equipment. Why not simply allow those orders to proceed under the original contract? Why dismantle a moving vehicle just to prove you can rebuild it—slower?

Instead, we’ve endured missed deadlines, shifting completion dates, and repeated assurances that this time—really, truly, honestly—everything is almost done.

All of this sounds eerily familiar. After all, this is the very same “cancel first, figure it out later” approach that has stalled progress at the Grand Lucayan Resort in Grand Bahama.

So yes, the New Day Progressive Liberal Party government has some questions to answer. And some of us sincerely hope we get those answers before we finally discover why someone left Donna Summer’s cake out in the damn rain.

Because at this point, that mystery seems far less complicated than the management of healthcare in The Bahamas.

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

End

Having exhausted ideas, Prime Minister Philip Davis has once again returned to the political tool that seems to work best for him and his New Day Progressive Liberal Party (PLP): fear.

Taking to the campaign stage, Prime Minister Davis demanded that the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Michael Pintard, “come clean” about what a Free National Movement (FNM) government would allegedly do to public servants if elected. He went further, challenging Pintard to “be a man and just say it” if the plan is to send workers home.

There was, however, one small problem — no evidence was presented. No policy document. No statement from the Opposition. No historical precedent cited. Just accusation.

This is not leadership; it is fearmongering.

The Prime Minister is deliberately tapping into the most basic and legitimate anxiety of working Bahamians — the fear of losing one’s job, being unable to feed a family, and falling behind on bills. And he is doing so without substantiation, revealing a willingness to say whatever is necessary to win an election, accountability be damned.

We have seen this movie before.

In the run-up to the last general election, the PLP repeatedly suggested that if the FNM were re-elected, The Bahamas would be locked down again. This claim was made despite the fact that, at the time, the country was already reopening, global travel was resuming, and no policy statement existed indicating an intention to reverse course. It was speculation masquerading as certainty — fear dressed up as foresight.

Now, once again, ghost stories are being dusted off — this time warning of mass firings of public servants should the FNM win office.

Then there is the government’s much-touted elimination of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on non-cooked food items. Using the government’s own figures, independent calculations by economists and civic commentators show that the average household savings amount to approximately eleven dollars ($11) per year. Not per month. Per year.

Instead of engaging honestly, coming clean, with these calculations, the Prime Minister and his administration have dismissed and attacked them, conceding only that the savings may indeed be minimal — but insisting that “a savings is a savings.” What they fail to acknowledge is that it was this very government that placed extraordinary financial strain on working Bahamians in the first place. Now, just months before a general election, they present themselves as rescuers from hardships of their own making as they did with the Bahamas, Power and Light (BPL) saga; which still goes unresolved.

So let this be said clearly: while Prime Minister Davis attempts to frighten public servants with unfounded claims that an FNM government would terminate their employment, the Opposition and its supporters remain focused on one objective — ending a government that governs by fear, distraction, and political theatrics instead of transparency and results.

The people of The Bahamas deserve better.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) fails for one reason; it is their nature and The Bahamas deserves better.

END