The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Investments minister has urged the next government not to interfere with the National Development Plan’s (NDP) crafting, warning: “There’s no sustainable future without it.”

Khaalis Rolle told Tribune Business that legislation to give the NDP statutory force would be “one of the top agenda items” for the next Parliament, given its importance to the Bahamas’ growth over the next two-and-a-half decades.

Emphasising the importance of the NDP Secretariat’s work and its non-partisan nature, Mr Rolle called on the next administration to “let it continue” the project unmolested and without political interference.

“There’s no future without it, my friend,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business of the NDP. “There’s no sustainable future without it.”

Describing the NDP’s development as “very advanced”, he advised the next government: “Just continue on with the work. It’s a good body of work and don’t interfere with it.

“The NDP is a living, breathing document that will transcend the political movements. The team is still working, still in place. The final draft is out there, and they’re still getting feedback on it.

“We’re completing the final round of consultation,and making good, very good, progress on it.”

The NDP represents the first ever co-ordinated effort to plan the Bahamas’ development in a systematic manner using empirical data and analyses, while also obtaining input from private sector and civil society organisations.

Labelled ‘Vision 2040’, the Plan aims to break with the Bahamas’ past ad hoc approach to national growth by setting a clear path towards a more sustainable future.

It also sets out a ‘road map’, containing measurable goals and objectives for the Bahamas to attain, so that this nation’s progress towards achieving its development targets can be judged according to set timelines.

Vision 2040 focuses on four main policy pillars - the economy, governance, social policy and the environment, both natural and built - in its first 400-page draft, which has already been publicly disclosed.

Mr Rolle told Tribune Business that the Christie administration had been moving to give the Plan full legal effect, drafting a National Development Plan Bill that is in good enough condition to be brought to Parliament.

“The legislation is ready, and will be tabled with the first set of Parliamentary procedures,” the Minister said. “That’ll be one of the top agenda items for the new Parliament.”

Whether a Dr Hubert Minnis-led administration, should the Free National Movement (FNM) prevail in today’s general election, will give the NDP and its associated legislation the same priority remains to be seen.

Mr Rolle, though, reiterated that the NDP’s structure had been created to keep it free from political contamination regardless of whether administrations changed.

“That is why the steering committee is made up of the private sector, civil society, the Chamber of Commerce and University of the Bahamas, institutions that are not transient in nature and have a measure of stability,” he told Tribune Business.

“They will continue their work, continue their analysis, whether it’s us being returned to office or others. The work will continue, and the Plan will be implemented.”