The Tribune

PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts shot back at Long Island MP Loretta Butler Turner’s criticism of the Christie administration, saying the opposition member is “confused”.

On Monday, the former FNM deputy leader said Bahamians are “catching hell” under this administration due to high unemployment, impending layoffs from ScotiaBank and more taxes.

“I offer a very simple proposition to the Bahamian people and it is simply that every single complaint the honourable member for Long Island could muster up is a snapshot of the condition the FNM left the country in back in May 2012,” Mr Roberts argued.

“The FNM leader admitted that his government left the country in a ‘wheelchair.’

“The employment prospects for The Bahamas are the best (they have) been for a long time and (have) come a long way after unemployment doubled – that is, unemployment increased by a whopping 100 per cent under the stewardship of the FNM.

“Conditions were so poor for the average Bahamian under the FNM that literally thousands of Bahamians had simply lost confidence in the FNM’S ability to competently manage the country’s economy as evidenced in the large number of ‘discouraged’ workers in consecutive labour reports. The record shows that in 30 months, over 8,800 jobs have been added to the economy.”

Mr Roberts added that the FNM has an “atrocious” record of managing the Bahamas Electricity Corporation and noted that it is “laced to this day with the stench of corruption as the diesel engines that were the subject of a criminal bribe under the FNM continues to cause many problems for BEC and the Bahamian people more than a decade later.”

He added: “I offer some unsolicited advice for the honourable member for Long Island: instead of complaining about the restructuring of ScotiaBank, she should be appealing to the Bank of the Bahamas to open a branch in Long Island.

“She might be ashamed after their terrible mismanagement of that bank while in office and their ill-advised public campaign against the bank that could only have forced the bank into bankruptcy as a consequence.”