By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 7, 2020 – Declaring that no one in The Bahamas believes that Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis “is qualified to act as Minister of Finance,” Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip “Brave” Davis claimed in a statement that the Prime Minister has admitted in private that he “is no good at figures” and “the fact that he is choosing to remain as Minister of Finance is an admission that no FNM MP is qualified to occupy that vital position even as the nation faces an extremely serious economic and fiscal crisis.”
In a nationally televised address to the nation on Sunday evening, the Prime Minister revealed that he will continue as Minister of Finance and that Senator Kwasi Thompson, who was Minister of State for Grand Bahama, will become Minister of State for Finance. The Prime Minister also announced the relaxation of a number of COVID-19 measures for the Christmas season and that Minister of Works Desmond Bannister is the new Deputy Prime Minister.
The ministerial crisis in the Bahamas government developed in the aftermath of the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K. Peter Turnquest following a statement of claim that was filed in the Bahamas Supreme Court two weeks ago, in which Turnquest and his business partner Captain Randy Butler — in a now defunct Sky Bahamas airline — were accused of being a co-conspirators in a “bogus loans” scheme that allegedly defrauded two companies, Alpha Aviation Limited and Advanced Aviation Limited, of around $28 million and $5.917 million, respectively.
In his press statement released shortly after the Prime Minister’s nationally televised address, a copy of which was sent to BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, PLP Opposition Leader Davis said the Prime Minister has once again “sought to rewrite recent history, taking a victory lap for his COVID policies which in reality led to thousands of COVID cases in The Bahamas and a series of lockdowns which greatly damaged the local economy.”
“When The Bahamas reopened our borders on 1st July, the ‘Competent’ Authority had not prepared the country for the importation of new cases,” Mr. Davis declared. “Because he did not have sufficient testing and tracing resources in place, a few cases quickly turned into thousands of cases, leading to pain, suffering, and tragedy for many Bahamians. With cases climbing, our borders had to be shut down again. Foreign nations warned their citizens not to travel here. The ‘Competent’ Authority was forced to implement a series of lockdowns and curfews which greatly damaged small businesses in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Abaco, and Eleuthera.”
Mr. Davis added: “This was not inevitable. Many nations in the region have fared much better. Sandals chose to open their properties in every other Caribbean country before The Bahamas, because other countries were handling the pandemic so much better. Minnis’ policies have made a bad situation much worse than it had to be. For much of this pandemic, this country’s response has been ranked worst in the world, 184 out of 184 countries.
“Adding insult to injury, Bahamians gasped when the Prime Minister announced that he intended to remain in post as Minister of Finance. His attempt to misrepresent the country’s finances was scandalous. The IMF has projected that the economy will contract by almost a fifth, some 16.2% in real GDP in 2020. This is a direct result of the lockdowns and curfews imposed by the Prime Minister, wearing his hat of the Competent Authority. This is not a badge of success.
“Now, the Prime Minister says he seeks to assure the country that they will continue ‘prudent management of the nation’s finances’. He should know that this is the opposite of reassuring. This government entered office campaigning against VAT, then raised it (that tax increase preceded Dorian and before COVID). This government failed, repeatedly, to meet their own budget and revenue targets. This government’s previous Minister of Finance, responsible for the public books, was forced to resign because he was implicated in a $28 million fraud case.”
Mr. Davis declared that Bahamians “watching the Prime Minister in the hopes that he would offer a plan to alleviate the pain caused by the FNM lockdowns were sorely disappointed,” then added: “No help or hope was offered. For months, the PLP Action Plan has called for emergency cash support for families, support for small business payrolls, and a programme that works with banks and landlords to help Bahamians keep their homes. That is the only competent, compassionate way to address the fallout from the nation’s terrible unemployment crisis.”
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