The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

SHANE Gibson, Labour and National Insurance Minister yesterday denied claims made by the opposition that plans for a multi million dollar clinic in Eleuthera was birthed by the former FNM administration.

Mr Gibson told parliamentarians that the PLP had in 1982 decided that surplus from the industrial benefits reserves of the National Insurance Board would be used to construct health care facilities throughout the country.

He said: “The fact is it was not the FNM that saw and identified the need for community hospitals.

“Just for a point of history, by 1982 the industrial benefits reserves of the National Insurance Board had accumulated a surplus of over $40 million.

“As a result of actuarial advice and consultation with the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the PLP government concluded that it was in the best interest of the contributors of the Commonwealth of the the Bahamas to apply the surplus toward the improvement and delivery of health services within our capital city and family islands.”

“The sole purpose of the medical benefits branch was to build these health care facilities.”

Mr Gibson added that 20 clinics have to date been completed through the reserve with others at various stages of their completion.

Mr Gibson was responding to FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis’ comments on Wednesday alleging that the FNM had left the provisions in place for a new hospital in Eleuthera. He said the Prime Minister, the day before, had announced “nothing new.”

Dr Minnis at the time said: “It was an FNM plan to build that mini-hospital. We planned on building one in Abaco, one in Exuma and one in Eleuthera.

“Abaco and Exuma have already started and Eleuthera is utilizing the same plan they used. The PLP is just continuing what we already planned to do.

“When Mr Christie made his announcement he should have given us credit because they are only furthering a plan that was implemented by the FNM because we saw the need for the community hospitals. He should have said that he was “furthering a programme that was to be implemented by the FNM, a community hospital for Exuma which has started because we saw the need for them. So he announced nothing. They are doing nothing new. It is the same plan, in the same place. He should have thanked us for the idea.”