(EDITOR’S NOTE: I saw this “PERSPECTIVE” column written by Sharon Turner in the Nassau Guardian on Monday, February 15, and I decided to share it with readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE that has a huge following in Grand Bahama, is the focus of Ms. Turner’s topic for this article. I know Ms. Turner very well; however, I do not have her permission to use this article, but since it is in the “public domain,” I decided that the points of view she expresses most certainly would be of interest to readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE in Grand Bahama.)
NASSAU, Bahamas — There has been no island in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to which more promises were made just prior to and during the 2017 term, than Grand Bahama.
Regarded as the forerunner of the Free National Movement’s (FNM) historic 1992 unseating of the Pindling-led Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) following the Marco City by-election of 1990, the adage emerged that “as goes Grand Bahama, so goes The Bahamas.”
Political sentiment being what it is for the island, and given its share of the nation’s gross domestic product, it was expected that Grand Bahama would feature prominently in the FNM’s trust charter laid out ahead of the 2017 general election.
Having given the FNM its five seats, Grand Bahama was said to have been “rewarded” with three Cabinet ministers including a deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
Many Grand Bahamians thought that with such weight in the Cabinet, surely the island would be well on its way to promised economic rebirth.
After the overwhelming trust reposed in it by Grand Bahama and after years of economic stagnation that split households, deepened poverty, and put growing numbers of previously stable residents on social assistance lines, an FNM administration high on promises but low on delivery was the last thing residents expected, or deserved.
Rather than honing in on pledges unfulfilled, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has resorted of late to traveling to the island for a whirlwind tour seeking to get a leg up on projects his administration did not put down.
Hurricane Dorian came almost two-and-a-half years after the FNM assumed office, so it alone cannot be blamed for a failure of the administration to make good on any of its core promises to Grand Bahama. See complete Nassau Guardian article at https://thenassauguardian.com/promises-promises/?fbclid=IwAR3dPgRO0oqZcjGzyqZ6DjgFzqXQe2bGplwzaWCTaS63wdhRKXMadodEhnM
