The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE presenting a budget that lacked many of its economic plans and revised tax policies promised on the campaign trail, Acting Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest yesterday insisted that the Minnis administration remains dedicated to the relief it pledged.

Commenting on the sidelines of a recent ceremony to mark the end of a joint workshop by the United States Coast Guard and the Bahamas Customs Department, the East Grand Bahama MP says the government remains firmly aware of the promises it made during its campaign.

He added that the government has not relented in its attempts to bring many of these promises to fruition.

Mr Turnquest said the government has in the interim, undertaken to work through "needed assessments" as it tries to determine how quickly it could realistically deliver on its promises.

"As I said during the budget, we have been faced with some unexpected challenges. Nonetheless, we are doing our assessments and to see how quickly we can bring the promised relief to the Bahamian people," he said.

He later added: "We recognised the Bahamian people need that relief and we promised to fulfil that, and we will."

Mr Turnquest further claimed the Minnis administration inherited a set of circumstances that would have caught anyone off guard.

He added, however, despite this realisation, the party continues to press ahead with its plans.

In the lead-up to the general election, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the FNM would look to “immediately” repealing the value added tax (VAT) on breadbasket items, and also pledged to remove the tax from other areas.

However, the new administration has since said its plans for tax reform cannot be implemented in the short-term due to the state of the economy that was inherited from the Christie administration.

Official Opposition Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis has argued that plans instituted by the Minnis administration would, in time, benefit the wealthy and not the poor.

He insisted that most tax concessions in the budget would only help those who are already well off.

These sentiments were also echoed by Exuma MP Chester Cooper.

Mr Turnquest later insisted the FNM would not be detoured by the criticism levelled at the party, adding that plans are already in place to ensure adequate communication with the wider public on the country's financial shortfalls.

He said the government has a "fairly good view" of where the country is at and in which direction it wants to take it.

Mr Turnquest stated: "You will see over the course of the summer and certainly as we reconvene parliament, the initiatives that we are engaged in, in order to try and address our situation and to put us back on a more sustainable path."

"I would just assure the Bahamian people that we are fully engaged, that we have a view of the challenges before us and we are addressing them."

At the height of the recent budget debate, the Minnis administration announced plans to borrow $323 million to cover the deficit for the 2017-2018 fiscal year and an additional $400 million to cover the fiscal overhang for 2016-2017.

Mr Turnquest also used his time with members of the media Friday to address calls by former Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian for a moratorium on the sale of Baha Mar.

When asked if the Minnis administration was considering his request, Mr Turnquest stated: "The government of the Bahamas is committed to the successful opening of Baha Mar in its full splendour and we will do whatever we can to facilitate that."

When pressed on the matter Friday, Mr Turnquest would only say the government remains in talks with the resort's developers and remains hopeful the resort has a successful launch later this year.

With respect to Friday's ceremony, 16 members of the Bahamas Customs' Marine Unit received certificates to mark their completion of a small boat operations course hosted by US Coast Guard officials.