The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The second and final draft of the National Development Plan (NDP) is expected to be completed next month, a Cabinet minister said yesterday, adding that its objectives were “perfectly aligned” with the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, speaking at the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference, said the NDP had undergone numerous changes to “ensure we get it right”.

“We realized that the goals and objectives of the National Development Plan  mirrored that that of the Sustainable Development Goals,” Mr Rolle said.

“We wanted to ensure that we were perfectly aligned with the goals and objectives of SDGs. The entire underpinning of this week’s symposium is based on our presentation of the first comprehensive and widely consultative National Development Plan. We have aligned our objectives with the SGDs. They are one and the same.”

Mr Rolle added: “We are at the stage where we will do the second draft of the plan. We have refined it many times just to make sure we get it right.

“Many of the problems we are facing can be traced to the lack of a proper National Development Plan. We want to make sure we tie in all of the different inputs so that we have an intensity of focus and get the most out of whatever strategy we are employing.

“The second draft will be presented in March. That will be the final draft before we present the final plan. It will come to Parliament. We have already drafted the enabling legislation for it and we hope to get this done; hopefully before we go into the elections.”

The UN’s Small Island Developing States Symposium on Implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda kicked-off at the Meliá Nassau Beach resort on Tuesday.

The Bahamas has signed on to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and to adhere to the SIDS Modalities Of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.

The 2030 agenda for sustainable development is a set of 17 global goals, with 169 targets between them. Among the goals are affordable and clean energy, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities and climate action.