Nassau – The economic strategy being used by the FNM Government is proving to be a failure, says Opposition Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. He emphasizes how projects undertaken have shown no results as the unemployment rate in the country continues to soar.
In fact, Davis is convinced that the present FNM Administration is “mixed up like conch salad” because, in the majority of things they touch, there is clear indication of their stunning incompetence.
Speaking candidly to PLPs attending a joint meeting hosted by executives of the Elizabeth and Fox Hill branches, the Party Leader said he was very concerned about the increasing unemployment rate, which, he revealed, began to climb six months after the FNM came into power and has not stopped.
“This is a sure sign that the Government of ‘Minnis the Menace’ is leading our beloved country in the wrong direction,” Davis said. “The mass firings and contract cancellations without cause are taking a terrible toll on the economy.”
The Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP said the Commercial Enterprise Bill, the Over-the-Hill Revitalization Project, the fraudulent Oban deal and ill-conceived purchase of the Grand Lucayan Hotel are all prime examples of the Government’s inability to produce economic results for Bahamians.
Moreover, he pointed out how this Government has no sense of positive direction when, he told the crowd, they doubled the numbers of employees at BAMSI, then shifted course by closing down its stores, putting the same people they hired out of work.
“They did the same thing with the failed Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) at BPL. This is reminiscent of the Labour On The Blocks debacle,” he said. “They fire you on Friday, then tell you to come to a job fair on Saturday. Whatever the economic strategy was for the FNM, the objective measurement, the key performance indicator, proves this strategy was an abject failure.”
Davis informed his listeners that, when the PLP came to office in May 2012, the unemployment rate was a whopping 14.7 %. When they demitted office in May 2017, the unemployment rate was reduced to 9.9%. Furthermore, 39,505 jobs, he stated, were added to the local economy in just five years, the highest ever recorded. That number, he added, excluded the jobs created by Bahamar, which was another 5,000 jobs.
“When we left office the country was moving in the right direction. Now, under the FNM, our country is moving in the wrong direction. There is simply too much suffering….too much malcontent….too much misery,” he said. “The FNM has clearly dropped the ball in critical areas of national development and it is left to the PLP to see this through on behalf of all Bahamians.”
Davis advised that Government is the legal guardian of market efficiency with a responsibility to ensure broad-based ownership participation in the national economy. Bahamians expect this of their Government, he declared, and the PLP is prepared to meet those expectations.
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Daviscommunications
