Images of the 48th Anniversary of Independence Flag Raising Ceremony at Clifford Park (above and below), celebrating Independence at 12:01 am on July 10. (BIS Photos/Kemuel Stubbs)
2021 Independence Remarks from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis:
Dear Fellow Bahamians:
Independence is a time to celebrate the people, the culture, and the history of a sovereign Bahamas. Over many generations, peoples from different lands and diverse cultures made The Bahamas their home and their refuge and strength. Through resourcefulness and a spirit of unity, they forged the vibrant and dynamic nation-state we today call home. At Independence, we celebrate our freedoms and our democracy, while acknowledging that our rights come with the responsibilities of citizenship.
We are a country with high voter participation. We enjoy a free press, freedom of conscience, association and worship. Our democratic traditions, are well entrenched, including free and fair elections.
In our representative democracy, the people rule through the ballot box. We must continue to guard this heritage. Let us never take it for granted. Generations of fighters, dreamers and committed citizens fought for our hard-won freedoms. Each generation, has the responsibility to guard, and to strengthen our democracy. Through dialogue and civic participation, we help to renew, and to protect our democratic institutions, traditions and practices.
Dear Fellow Bahamians:
Through their hard work and creativity, over many decades, Bahamians built the most diverse tourism economy in the region. In pre-pandemic times, we welcomed more than seven million visitors to our shores annually. The Covid-19 pandemic, caused the worst economic crisis, and the worst public health crisis in our history to occur simultaneously.
These are unprecedented times for our people. At the worst of the pandemic, global travel was nearly non-existent. This caused tremendous hardship for tourism-based economies, such as The Bahamas. Hotels were closed. There were no ships at our cruise ports. As daunting as the challenges have been, the pandemic has not broken the Bahamian spirit! It has not broken our will! It has not defeated our courage!
The resolve and resiliency of our people, along with the Government’s public health policies and economic support, have helped to get us through. On this Independence Day, there is hope for a better future, emerging out of this global health emergency. The theme for this year’s Independence, “A Celebration of Life: Revive Us Again” is consequently so fitting.
To help the revival of our economy and country, the Government is investing heavily in infrastructure across the Commonwealth, to ensure that all parts of the country, are able to fully benefit from the economic revival that is underway. To encourage and further Bahamian creativity and ingenuity, the Government of The Bahamas, has pledged the historic sum of $250 million in funding, to small businesses over five years, through the Small Business Development Centre. Bahamians must become greater owners of our economy. Bahamians have the talent, to work at every level of enterprise in our country. Bahamians have the talent, to own any type of business in our economy. Let us be thankful to God on this Independence Day, that through His blessings and mercy, we are overcoming these most trying of times.
Dear Fellow Bahamians:
There is something each of us can do, to help this Bahamian revival to gather pace. We must continue to get vaccinated. The vaccines are the way to end this terrible pandemic. The virus that causes Covid-19, spreads easily. The new Delta variant, is becoming the dominant strain. It may be, the most infectious version of the virus to date.
Fortunately, the vaccines available to us, have proven effective in protecting against this variant and other strains, once individuals are fully vaccinated. Vaccines are the way to ensure, we limit future outbreaks. They are the way to ensure, more visitors come to our shores, in order to help revive our economy, and boost jobs and opportunity.
Tourists will increasingly want to visit places, that have highly vaccinated populations, in order to ensure their safety. Let us end this pandemic in The Bahamas, by coming forward in large numbers, to take the life-saving vaccines. Let us do this, so we can all get back to more normal times, as quickly as possible. 14
Fellow Bahamians:
During the pandemic, I evoked the inspiration of the late beloved E. Clement Bethel, who composed the song, “When the Road Seems Rough” for the Legend of Sammy Swain. Let me paraphrase a verse from that song: “When the road seems rough, when you’ve borne enough, don’t cry, don’t sigh … just keep on trying … This time will pass, tomorrow’s another day.”
The worst phase of the pandemic may be passing. Our national revival has already started. Today is already a better day. And tomorrow will be an even better day, as the Bahamian Revival continues to flourish. The time we hoped for has begun. Let us celebrate this new life, as the God of New Beginnings continues to revive our spirits, to revive our hearts, and to revive and restore our Bahamas.
Have a Happy Independence Day!
Please stay safe, and please continue to follow the health care guidelines. May God bless our Commonwealth. May He especially keep safe our frontline healthcare workers, the uniformed branches, and other public officers, who have done so much to keep us safe during the pandemic.
Thank you and good evening.
Comments
carltonr61 2 years, 10 months ago
Does not sound to competant to me. Latest update says those already fully vaccinated in Israel, Indonesia, UK and Seychelles are getting Covid. CDC EU, UK and WHO all now realize only sanitary measures work for both. Seems he is ramping us up for lockdown when UK has not passed their use of QR coding for humans as it is evil, inhumane and descriminatory. Separating families because of vaccination status is an act of the devil.
proudloudandfnm 2 years, 9 months ago
They may be getting it but they are not being hospitalized or dying. That spells success to anyone with a rational mind...
tribanon 2 years, 10 months ago
Simply amazing that Minnis was able to say this with a straight face? After all, he has used the pandemic to illegally take away many of our most fundamental constitutionally guaranteed freedoms thereby causing great harm to our democracy. It is Minnis as supreme ruler who now gets to determine and declare by his orders what rights we can have or must do without.
But in the meantime Minnis rules by his orders with no regard or respect whatsoever for our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights and liberties.
Minnis's absurd orders, and not the pandemic itself, have posed the much greater risk of breaking the Bahamian spirit and will, and defeating the people's courage.
If Minnis remains as PM for too much longer, reviving The Bahamas again will be like trying to revive a dead corpse.
Tell that to the many Bahamians like Toby Smith who continue to see the very best that our country has to offer get sold by government to the highest, and usually most corrupt, foreign bidder.
I could of course go on, but why bother.
Emilio26 2 years, 10 months ago
Tribanon you're acting like the Bahamas was the only country to impose lockdowns when other nations in the region like the US, Canada and even most EU nations had lockdowns and curfews.
tribanon 2 years, 10 months ago
Put your mask back on before you catch something.
whogothere 2 years, 9 months ago
@Emilio Does that make these countries right? Because of the all proverbial elephants jumped over the cliff because they were afraid of mouse - does that make it good policy. To keep Bahamians under lock and key after 1.5 years when we now know who is exactly at risk - who is likely to be hospitalised, who is likely to die and that numbers overall likely to impacted fatally is less than 0.2%...We know school closures don't work , we know masks don't work, we now lockdowns don't work, we know C19 doesn't spread outdoors and that vitamin d makes a difference and every government policy implemented fly in the face of this info and only embarrassment of their failure allows to them to cling to another narrative (As with every other nation in the planet) so profusely they would rather but all hope in a experimental bio technology than acknowledge the truth or support basic human rights.
proudloudandfnm 2 years, 9 months ago
Damn you're dumb..
SP 2 years, 10 months ago
Minnis has joined the other 3 jackass prime ministers we've had in talking delusional bullshyt to impress idiots!
Bahamians have nothing to celebrate after suffering almost 50 years of corrupt, democratic dictatorship.
We need to rid ourselves of the PLP and FNM and implement an FOIA with teeth to expose and jail these pirates!
ThisIsOurs 2 years, 10 months ago
I wonder if they (thd leaders) actually believe it or if once they get in the car they just start laughing hysterically
DontAssume 2 years, 10 months ago
@ThisisOurs, they start laughing hysterically
carltonr61 2 years, 10 months ago
Amen
bahamianson 2 years, 10 months ago
Celebrate a sovereign bahamas when the world tells us what to do and bullies us if we dont. Such a deceitfull thing to say. These worda sound good, but the reality is, we are not sovereign. America is a bully ,but yet, they tell their citizens it is wrong to bully people.
tribanon 2 years, 10 months ago
What rock have you been hiding under? For years now representatives of the Communist Chinese Party, led by the sinister and ruthlessly evil Xi Jinping, have been the master puppeteers behind the scenes pulling the strings they have firmly attached to our corrupt elected officials and equally corrupt senior officials within our civil workforce, including government controlled enterprises.
John 2 years, 10 months ago
The Bahamas has a lot to celebrate. Last year this time Bahamians we’re being arrested for going to the public pump, or going in search of food or medicine. And less than 50 years ago Bahamians had to carry a British passport. And even before then, most Bahamians were slaves whose masters could barely afford to feed and clothe them. Yes, Bahamians have a lot to celebrate and even more to protect their birthright. As the value of the country increases , more carpet baggers will come looking to steal the wealth. Our leaders must continue to guard our heritage. May God, Almighty continue to bless the Commonwealth of the Bahamas!
tribanon 2 years, 10 months ago
Official translation of @John's comment:
The Bahamas has little if anything to celebrate. After 48 years of independence most Bahamians have been returned to slavery or no job, with fewer beaches they can go to. And many Bahamians can barely afford nutritional food or medicines they need, and must turn their body over to experimental science or face being descriminated against and penalized for not carrying a vaccine card. Yes, Bahamians sure do have a lot to commiserate over and even less reason to celebrate their birth sentence. As the value of our financially crippled country decreases, more of us have become beggars welcoming any foreigner who will throw a bone our way. Our failed and most corrupt leaders will continue to profit greatly from selling what remains of our heritage to the highest foreign bidder. May God, Almighty have mercy on the Bahamian people and deliver our small nation from the sinister evil that has beseiged it !
John 2 years, 9 months ago
Your official translation’ sounds like Greek to me.
tribanon 2 years, 10 months ago
Pray tell: Why didn't The Tribune publish a panoramic photo of the 'massive' crowd of socially distanced mask wearers that were present to commiserate the festive occasion? Surely the Communist Chinese Party donated a fireworks display for the few attendees, no doubt mainly members of our civil workforce who had no choice but to attend the event.
And no doubt Minnis presumptiously has plans underway for two other country flags to be hoisted high on flag poles immediately adjacent to the Bahamian flag pole come the weaping occasion of the 50th anniversary of our 'independence', i.e. the flag of Communist China and the flag of Haiti.
birdiestrachan 2 years, 9 months ago
Truth be told I did not read the speech. coming from one who has no heart, soul or acquaintance with Truth it means NOTHING.
It was written for him. he read. it
God be thanked it will be his last independence speech, as PM
JokeyJack 2 years, 9 months ago
Independence, a time to celebrate our new shackles made of cloth. A people so weak, we cannot even break free of cloth shackles. A rumored vote of no-confidence. Rumored. That is all.
tribanon 2 years, 9 months ago
I assume you're referring to all of the recent talk about Sands, D'Aguilar and Wells holding secret meetings with certain other FNM MPs and Culmer.
It certainly would seem the realisation is finally beginning to sink in that Minnis is nothing but the worst kind of Kryptonite for the FNM party's chances of winning anywhere near close to a majority of seats in the upcoming national general election.
This probably explains why Davis and Cooper have been telling the PLP candidates who will be running in the next national election to simply lay low and let the FNM party continue to implode under the failed leadership of Minnis.
ohdrap4 2 years, 9 months ago
Sands, D'Aguilar and Wells
Larry? Curly? Moe?
They do not have the cojones.
Wells goes where the wind blows.
TalRussell 2 years, 9 months ago
At the same time facemaskless reds were pretending to guard the Beach Tights Access Heritage of natives, American Airlines flight Flight 893 which was about to depart from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Commonwealth of 1200 Out Islands, Cays, and Rocks, but got canceled, and its 172 passengers, got delayed overnight after an unruly group of passengers insisted they be allowed to remain facemaskless,
The moral at the 48th is, what the reds were doing at Clifford park, would not have been allowed, had they attempted to do it on an American Airlines plane. Makes we wonder how the unruly facemaskless passengers, would've been treated, had they attempted to fly aboard one we National Carrier's, planes, yes?
bahamianson 2 years, 9 months ago
There is hipe for the future for who? Only the politically connected see some hope. Prices increase on a weekly bases , taxes increase yearly, real estate is out of controll, the lower income neighbourhoods lòk worse every year , the island looks like a giant slum with komone with an appreciation for esthetic enviromental beauty except the hotels, students are.graduating in.a.bottleneck economy fighting for the best paying government job, there is no hope here. Happy independence because once you have a flag flying on your car, all your burdens are gone.
TalRussell 2 years, 9 months ago
What is known is that the Reds had a targeted purpose for showing up at the 48th. What the opposition must urgently learn is what the imported, no work permits, America's republican hired guns have up their general election shelves, yes?
tribanon 2 years, 9 months ago
I fear for many reasons that our country's independence may be short lived and on the verge of coming to a tumultuous end. The main reason being the Minnis-led FNM administration's willingness to engage in discussions with representatives of the Communist Chinese Party ("CCP") about a major financial bail-out by Communist China of our nation's unsustainable national debt in exchange for the government of The Bahamas strongly supporting the strategic interests of the CCP, both in The Bahamas and the greater Caribbean region, including Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti.
The great clash now taking place between the increasingly aggressive long-arm of the CCP and US national security interests is already having a serious destabilisation effect on many countries in our region of the world that are led by either corrupt elected officials or outright dictators who have been foolishly cozying-up to the CCP, e.g. Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, etc.
The writing is on the wall that The Bahamas stands to be greatly destabilized if the Bahamian people allow corrupt elected and other senior government officials to continue cozying-up to the sinister and ruthlessly evil Xi Jingpin led CCP.
We would be foolish to forget that our bread is always buttered best when we enjoy excellent relations with our two neighbours directly to the north of us and, accordingly, we should never do anything that threatens their national security interests.
https://gop-foreignaffairs.house.gov/...">https://gop-foreignaffairs.house.gov/...
tribanon 2 years, 9 months ago
typo "Jingpin" s/b "Jinping"
Xi Jinping sees the Biden-led US administration as being extremely weak and vulnerable. This of course will only embolden the CCP to press what the US government perceives as very hot natinal security buttons in our part of the world.
licks2 2 years, 9 months ago
Oh well. . .the chickens dem are scratching they own behinds over this non-issue again!! I gone to watch some paint dry. . .maybe kick some rocks dem so!! Doc mussie "tief" some er yinna girl friends dem so. . .das why he can always "go around" yinna and get away with stuff!! It will take some honest political dialogue and not this nonsense some er yinna dropping on this site to make effective political input in this upcoming election "mud fest". . .OK!!!
tribanon 2 years, 9 months ago
You're not very good at reading the tea leaves. lol
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