Nassau, Bahamas – Remarks by Bradley B. Roberts, National Chairman Progressive Liberal Party 3rd Anniversary Service Of Thanksgiving (Three Years Of Governance) – Mount Tabor Church on 17th May 2015:
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. (King James Version: Psalms 122: V1-4)
Prime Minister and Party Leader, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie and Mrs. Christie;
Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Party Leader, Hon. Philip Brave Davis and Mrs. Davis;
Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians, Stalwarts and party officers;
Our gracious host, the presiding Bishop of Global United Fellowship, Senior Pastor Neil Ellis and Mrs. Ellis;
Members and friends, a pleasant good morning;
Like the psalmist David, I too was glad when the unanimous decision was made to come into the house of the Lord to celebrate and give thanks unto Almighty God for His continued blessings upon our fair Commonwealth, His grace and His tender mercies even when we as a nation demonstrate over and repeatedly that we do not love ourselves and are not deserving of His unconditional love, mercy and grace.
All indications are that, notwithstanding the challenges that still confront The Bahamas in 2015, The Bahamas has made measurable strides of success over the past three years. The worst of the ravages of the global recession is behind us and the country is on the path to economic recovery.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE.
While countries defaulted on international loans and received cautions by the International Monetary Fund, the record shows that the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Standard and Poors, Moody’s and commercial institutions such as the global markets unit of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce have all endorsed the fiscal policies of the Bahamas government. The policy decisions that led to these endorsements were tough, unpopular but necessary to protect the economy of The Bahamas and by extension, the way of life of all Bahamian families. The successful implementation of our fiscal consolidation plan and tax reform initiatives were game changers as the country could not reasonably expect to fully recover economically in the absence of these policies.
I continue to make this salient point because the critics would have you believe otherwise.
It is written that faith without works is dead and while the government worked tirelessly on your behalf, very many prayer warriors, including the warriors at Mount Tabor, kept the faith, interceded, putting up petition after petition to the Most High and troubled the throne of God day and night on behalf of the government and people of The Bahamas in seeking His unmerited favour and His grace. The prayer warriors did so with the full knowledge that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. Our measurable strides of success in three years as a country were not by strength or by power, but by the spirit of God. I am sensible to recognize that one indisputable fact.
AGAIN I SAY TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE.
For their hard work, the Progressive Liberal Party congratulates Prime Minister Christie and his government for their vision, leadership and focus in facilitating the economic turnaround and reform initiatives that were necessary to set The Bahamas on a sound foundation and path to sustainable growth and development.
We thank the people of The Bahamas for their patience and support in the face of a protracted economic recovery and dire fiscal challenges. I remind you church that Rome was not built in one day.
We continue to trust Him for a full recovery; we trust that His hands will be in the midst of all deliberations made at the highest levels of government on behalf of the Bahamian people because only what Almighty God endorses can and will stand.
Bahamians know that I am not one to mix words so as for the doomsday prophets, preachers of gloom and doom, armchair critics, the know-it-all crew and the naysayers, I invite all of them to once again eat crow and to do so liberally because they all had selfish hidden agendas and their tirades had absolutely nothing to do with advancing The Bahamas, empowering Bahamians or stimulating our local economy. They were all betting against the Bahamian people and they all lost. The Bahamas is still standing and growing from strength to strength.
The critics are again on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of too many national issues.
My brothers and sisters, all is not well in our fair commonwealth. Notwithstanding measurable improvements in the administration of justice, the Swift Justice Initiative and an impressive turnaround in tourism and especially in the family islands, immigration reform and energy sector reform – the high rates of unemployment and crime continue to challenge us a government and as a people. The government must continue to work closely with the principals of Baha Mar to secure a firm opening date for that resort property in addition to announcing other significant tourism related projects currently on the drawing board. The one hundred million phrase 1 tourist development in South Eleuthera is a major positive step for its people.
The new policy on tracking at-risk students in the public school system as a tool to fight crime and mitigate the dropout rate is welcomed news, but I again call on the government to re-establish the National Youth Restorative Program with YEAST and the Catholic Church for no cost is too great to save our next generation of our people.
As I close, I thank our gracious host Bishop Neil Ellis and the members of the Mount Tabor Church for your warmth, your love and kind accommodations. I again thank the people of The Bahamas for their patience, support and prayers for Rome was not built in a day. We ask for your continued support, prayers and involvement as we work together hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder to make The Bahamas the best little country on earth.
Thank you and good morning.
