The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday announced the launch of new government website aimed at facilitating an ongoing national conversation about the country’s future.

During his 2015/2016 Budget communication in the House of Assembly, Mr Christie said the new website, www.strongerbahamas.com, will hopefully spark a discussion that will lead to solutions in the areas of crime, the economy and education.

“In line with the expectations of Bahamian citizens, the government must therefore focus its attention on three core priorities, namely to secure a Safer Bahamas, a more Prosperous Bahamas and, through a world-class education system and targeted social investments, a Modern Bahamas,” Mr Christie said.

“Today marks another important step in our continuing progress towards building a stronger Bahamas. These initiatives will further strengthen our approach in matters of governance, policy development and communication.

We have consolidated the roughly $4m per year that we already spend on public engagement, research and communication to facilitate an ongoing national conversation about our country’s future – particularly as pertains to the safety of our communities, the prosperity of our economy, and the modernisation of our education and health infrastructure.

“In that spirit, I invite all of you to learn more about our plan by visiting www.strongerbahamas.com, and join the national conversation on Twitter at #StrongerBahamas,” he said.

According to the government, Safer Bahamas will aim to reduce crime, provide counselling and support services for youth to prevent criminal behaviour, revitalise high crime communities across the country, and continue to reduce the backlog of cases before the courts through Swift Justice. Meanwhile, initiatives launched under the Modern Bahamas pillar will aim to foster an education system that increases opportunities for wealth creation and economic empowerment. Activities undertaken under the Prosperous Bahamas pillar will aim to increase job creation and economic development through the promotion and stimulation of the tourism and financial services sectors, traditional strongholds for the Bahamian economy, the government said.

The mission of www.strongerbahamas.com, according to the website, is to “engage with Bahamians on what is being done to address the nation’s biggest challenges and encourage all citizens to work together to build a safe, prosperous and modern future”.

“The government remains focused on creating a stronger Bahamas by building off these successful initiatives and introducing new programmes to benefit Bahamians. We are continuing to speak directly with the people to identify major areas of interest and concern in our efforts to build a safe, prosperous and modern future. Bahamians must be united and work together to achieve this goal,” the website states.

Last night, the government also launched a commercial promoting the Stronger Bahamas initiative.

To get involved in building a Stronger Bahamas, you can also participate in an online discussion or send a message on the mobile application WhatsApp by adding the phone number 242-433-1066 to your cell phone’s contacts.