The Tribune

By KHALILA NICOLLS

khalilanicolls@gmail.com

WHEN news broke that three of the four women who were elected to the House of Assembly were put in one ministry, Transport and Aviation, some observers were perplexed, myself included.

I could not understand the thinking of Prime Minister Perry Christie. I suppose all's well that ends well, because the release, issued by the government's information service on Friday, appointed Cleola Hamilton parliamentary secretary in Transport and Aviation in error. She is in fact the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration with Minister Fred Mitchell.

It is unclear whether Mr Christie changed his mind, or whether the error simply resulted from miscommunication.

But for now, three of the four women who were elected on the majority side in the house of assembly have seats in the Progressive Liberal Party's (PLP) cabinet, which would suggest they have the ear and confidence of the prime minister.

Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Transport and Aviation, Hope Strachan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation and Melanie Griffin, Minister of Social Services. Allyson Maynard Gibson was restored as a Senator and appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.

Will these women use their power collectively to advance women's rights? Time will tell. My concern is that our female politicians are apologetically women. In my view they are timid about their representation of women's issues, fearing potential backlash. It is a delicate balance to maintain, I would admit, but far too often I feel our female politicians are back benchers when it comes to pushing women's empowerment issues.

I hope the women who now sit in the government, and that includes FNM lone-ranger Loretta Butler-Turner, decidedly emerge as vocal leaders and friends of the women's movement. There is much work to be done.

I suppose those on the majority side can start, at the least, by being effective ministers in their respective portfolios.

Ms Hanna-Martin returned to the House of Assembly with the largest margin of all contenders, even though her constituency was contested by the largest number of independent candidates. That hints at the depth of the PLP's loyalty in that constituency, despite the depth of the discontent.

Yesterday was her first day on the new job, and she was settling in with Hope Strachan at her side. During the last PLP administration, the pair worked together, as Ms Strachan was the chairman of the port authority.

Although Ms Hanna-Martin has been returned to her old position, the dynamics of the job are very different, because for the past five years, aviation has had a fairly happy marriage with tourism.

The partnership was grounded in a recognition of the primary importance of airlift to the tourism sector, and the natural synergies that exist between the two sectors.

As an archipelago, transport and aviation, is no doubt central to the connectivity of islands, and therefore the fabric that unites the nation. It is also fundamental to tourism development.

The Bahamas' recent expansion into the South American market, by way of the Copa Airlines Bahamas-Panama direct route, is a recent success story from the tourism aviation partnership. The expansion resulted from a collaboration between the private sector, tourism and aviation. The collaboration produced a working group that will have ongoing responsibility for further expansion.

Presumably the Ministry of Tourism will maintain its central interest in these activities, despite the fact that aviation is now outside of its direct remit.

Ms Hanna-Martin said her new ministry will soon have a clear mandate, which will presumably include understanding its new relationship to tourism. It is not clear whether or not Mr Christie gave much thought to the forced divorce, or whether by reflex, he reverted back to his old structure.

Ms Hanna-Martin said it was ultimately the Prime Minister's logic that created the new structure, and only he could testify to the rhyme and reason. He could not be reached for comment.

Tourism stakeholders are watching cautiously, hoping the new government does not roll back its support of collaborative efforts between the two sectors, and hoping that the added bureaucracy of two ministries does not negatively impact the progress.

On the other hand, inside the marriage of tourism and aviation, the regulatory oversight and operations side of aviation was always the subordinated partner, I feel.

At a seemingly snail's pace, the government has been implementing recommendations from the brutal 2009 audit of the Bahamas' civil aviation safety system by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The audit found that the Bahamas lacked more than 61 per cent of key safety elements required. It will be curious to see how the new aviation budget matches up against its allocation under the former structure.

The ICAO audit stated that the organisation structure of the Civil Aviation Department 'does not reflect in sufficient detail and does not clearly define the regulatory and safety oversight functions and responsibilities in a number of key areas'.

In 2011, the Inter-American Development Bank approved a $50 million loan to the Bahamas to support an air transport reform programme. Presumably, Ms Hanna-Martin will now oversee this major undertaking.

Some in the industry have been of the view that aviation should have its own ministry, because any marriage, particularly with tourism, would mean the regulatory and operations side is under-served. No government has yet agreed with that view.

Others are of the view that the government should not be in the business of both operations and oversight in the aviation sector, promoting the need for an independent Civil Aviation Authority.

The aviation sector is also fraught with human resource drama, particularly where the unionised air traffic controllers are concerned.

Aviation is more than just tourism, said Ms Hanna-Martin, which is clearly true. But was it a deep pondering on this reality that resulted in the switch back to the old structure? Or was Ms Hanna-Martin thrust into her new position based on some mistaken line of logic?

Ms Hanna-Martin, one of the most senior women in government, has her work cut out. Nothing that would have required three women, and arguably nothing that requires even two, but hopefully the female pair will set a good example, and further empower women in the process.