Remarks
By
Bradley B Roberts
National General Council
Progressive Liberal Party
Special Meeting August 18th 2016
Dear Fellow Councilors, You will recall in our meeting of August 4th, my referring to the claim made by Dr. Minnis in his final address at the FNM that the FNM was united yet closed door fighting in the FNM continues to rage on. This was publicly confirmed with the tearful resignation of Neko Grant MP as Leader of Opposition business in Parliament. The position was offered to the MP Loretta Butler Turner who withdrew from the FNM leadership race hours before the actual voting having accused Dr. Minnis of criminal behavior but she turned it down proclaiming she was not for sale.
Loretta Butler Turner then mysteriously changed her mind and called for unity in the FNM and asked her supporters to lend their support to Dr. Minnis. A close read of Loretta press statement disclose that She NEVER pledge her support to Minnis. I say unity my foot.
Dr. Minnis informed the Speaker Major that he had appointed Renward Wells MP Bamboo Town to replace Grant. Wells of LOI Letter of Intent fame is the subject of questions placed on the HOA Agenda by the FNM regarding Wells involvement in the controversy. Stellar Waste the same day filed a lawsuit against Wells in connection with the LOI .
My sources just today told me that MP Neko Grant Central Grand Bahama and MP Theo Neely North Eleuthera will announce shortly their decision not to run on the FNM ticket. MP Dr. Andre Rollins Forth Charlotte still recovering from that heavy slap has announced he will not be seeking an FNM nomination. Then there is the classic serial lose Dr. Duane Sands who said he would resign as a Senator if Dr. Minnis was returned as Leader. It begs the question if a man’s word is his bond ?
One wonders about Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn who with his eyes wide open in prime time on TV and Radio advocated systematically wiping out the poor through involuntary sterilization; if he would do the honorable thing and move into the sunset.
There is more but will save same for our next meeting. Ladies and Gentlemen my Garbage Can never closed.
Butler-Turner with crocodile tears may want unity but it is clear that Minnis could never ever trust the gang of six nor them him.
The fifty million dollar question is: Can the Humpty Dumpty Egg of the FNM be put back together again?
MP Edison Key South Abaco said that the FNM is too divided to mount a formidable challenge to the PLP.
Dear Fellow Councilors, since we last met I am delighted to place on the record that our Progressive Liberal Party Government has completed and delivered on a number of significant progressive programs laid out in our Party’s Charter of Governance. I will mention two tonight.
National Health Insurance
The passage of the National Health Insurance and related Bills in the House of Assembly on Monday further today in the Senate; as it was in the House, vote was unanimous by the Government and the Opposition. Despite all the posturing, the FNM voted alongside the Government including NHI’s strongest critic Dr. Duane Sands.
Clearly NHI is a piece of transformative social legislation, right up there with National Insurance and consistent with the core values of the PLP. Our PLP Government is the only institution the Bahamian people can rely on to bring this quality of social justice to our people. Your PLP believes that all Bahamians should live in dignity and have an equal opportunity at a full and healthy life through equal access to affordable and quality health care. Health care is a human right, not a privilege.
The Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Bill
Bahamians everywhere and especially Grand Bahamians have every right to be optimistic about the future of Grand Bahama. The Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Bill which was passed by both Houses of Parliament provides for a clearer vision for the future of Grand Bahama with greater accountably, transparency, stronger corporate governance, broader participation and accrual of more rights to port stakeholders.
In this new dispensation, concessions will be tied to performance and investors will be held accountable through periodic reviews to measure progress and performance levels.
Further, the equity stake of the Bahamian tax payer in the Grand Bahama Port Authority will be commensurate with the level of subvention or injection of tax dollars in support of the growth and development of Grand Bahama. Additionally , new ownership coupled with new capital injection will provide the GBPA with the requisite financial muscle, vision and added business expertise to achieve many of its capital and business objectives.
Tonight we press on with the ratification of two additional Candidates:
Minister Hon. Hope Strachan MP for Sea Breeze and Minister for Financial Services and Local Government, will carry the PLP Banner in the Sea Breeze Constituency.
Minister Senator Hon. Keith Ricardo Bell Minister of State for National Security, will carry the PLP Banner in the Carmichael Constituency replacing Dr. Daniel Johnson who will be returning to private practice.
