Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
ACTING Prime Minister Peter Turnquest admitted yesterday the government’s communications with the public have sometimes missed the mark and said it plans to ramp up its public relations efforts soon.
His statement came after poll results by marketing and research firm Public Domain showed fewer than 50 per cent of Bahamians say they are generally satisfied with the performance of the government.
Mr Turnquest said the results did not make him “feel badly,” nor would they disrupt the government’s agenda or prompt it to change course.
In a few years, he said, hopefully Bahamians will look back at this period and characterise it as a rebuilding phase.
“There are a number of things that go into these poll ratings, the emotions, the rhetoric that’s out there but we continue to be focused on improving the lives of Bahamians,” he said following a press conference at the Ministry of Finance.
“A lot of (what is in the polls) is driven by what is happening at a point of time, meaning if you ask me today and I’m annoyed because the traffic was bad, I’ll give you a negative rating. I don’t know what the scientific control is behind these particular polls because I don’t know enough about them and how they control the data, but I take it as it is and I assume the (pollsters) to be professional about it.
“At the end of the day it isn’t going to affect what we are focused on doing. We recognise that Bahamians have suffered, continue to suffer a slow turnaround and we understand we have a job to do. We’re focused on that job and we will make improvements that are necessary and hopefully at the end of the day in four years from now they will see, touch and feel the result of the work we do and it will be demonstrably clear that this period is just a rebuilding, a planning period for what is to come.”
When contacted for his reaction, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said the poll results do not surprise him.
“There’s nothing in the poll certainly about the Free National Movement’s administration that those of us who spend time on the ground wouldn’t have known,” he said.
“People are talking, people are vocalising their concerns. People say, ‘I like what you’re doing, but . . .’ or ‘I understand what you are doing but...’ There have been some things that have rubbed the public the wrong way, Oban is an example of that. The prime minister has admitted we have made some mistakes with Oban that we intend to correct. There are some things that we have promised that we have not been able to deliver and hopefully we will be able to deliver some of those promises in the start of the next fiscal year.”
Some within the Minnis administration and the Free National Movement (FNM) are frustrated with the government’s communication habits and are eager for a more robust and responsive approach. The upcoming budget is viewed by many as pivotal, a sentiment Dr Sands echoed yesterday.
“It will be the first budget that we can claim as our own and to that end yes, it’s a very important exercise,” Dr Sands said.
“Budgets are about choices; the public will get to see the real priorities of the Minnis administration and the strategic direction we wish to carry the country. The public will get to see whether we are just talking about fiscal responsibility and whether we are or not concerned about their needs. This budget exercise, unlike last year’s budget exercise, will be more reflective of what we have learned over the last year and will give some insight into the creativity and the ideals, you could even say the character of the administration.”
For his part, Mr Turnquest said work is underway to ramp up the administration’s communications apparatus.
“One of the things we have been reluctant to do as government is invest in BIS (Bahamas Information Services) or the public relations arm of the government because you don’t want to be seen as being political with the Bahamian people’s money,” he said.
“So it’s a matter of that fine line between seeming to promote yourself and as I say self-praise is no praise at all versus making sure the public is aware of strategically where you’re going and the steps you’re taking to get there. It’s a bit of a delicate balancing act and we’re trying to improve. We’re trying to ramp up our PR or information campaign so people will understand what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Mr Turnquest stressed progress will not be immediate, noting the administration has been constrained by what it inherited.
“Obviously we have to do a better job communicating to the public with respect to what we’re doing, the actions we’re taking even as we do the hard work, the underground work that’s necessary to be able to roll out a cohesive, strategic programme,” he said. “There are no instant fixes for any of this. We inherited a situation that is difficult, that comes with certain constraints as a result of where we find ourselves and so we don’t have the flexibility to do a lot of things that we would want to do.
“You’d know that we promised to take the VAT off of breadbasket items for instance, that’s something we would have loved to have done from May of last year but finding ourselves in a situation where we have to be careful and strategic and work from empirical data as to what that means and how that’s going to impact other things and so it takes a bit of time to do those kinds of analysis. I don’t feel badly about where we are in terms of what they claim is the rate because the fact of the matter is we understand that Bahamians have been suffering and that is why they elected us, to fix this situation.
“It’s going to take a bit of time, I understand the impatience and everyone wants a quick solution but there is no quick solution and anyone that tells you that there is they’re lying to you and so we continue to work hard on our plan, working towards our budget which we will deliver in May, June and which will address some of our priorities for which we felt the Bahamian people elected us to do, the things they have been saying to us that they want to see happen.
“As you would have heard from objective analysis, the IMF is saying they see signs of us turning the corner, we believe that is so. We believe that we are moving in the right direction and as we continue to make improvements, you will see the evidence of that, which would mean improvements in the economy, improvements in the rate of job creation and improving social situations as those things start to pick up.”
According to Public Domain’s scientific poll involving 1,000 Bahamians, the number of people generally dissatisfied with the administration has increased by 28 per cent since last May even as the number of people who say they are generally satisfied with the administration has declined by 18 per cent.
Pollsters said the numbers are concerning because they come amid a steady decline in popularity for the administration.
Comments
proudloudandfnm 6 years, 8 months ago
Obviously the IMF knows nothing about what's going on with Freeport. If they did I seriously doubt they'd say we've turned a corner.
Yall better get real dead quick ..
TalRussell 6 years, 8 months ago
Comrades, let's begin with a downer when the man's who has only been acting prime minister for less than 24 hours has mistakenly misread the mood shift sweeping the colony islands. Likes the full time PM - the part time PM thinks all the reds have deal with is launching a million dollar public relations "audit peoples minds" campaign to explain their sound governing agenda to a mistakenly misguided public. Grand Bahamalander constituents has be totally embarrassed caliber man's and woman's they must rely on represent their interests on floor the People's Honourable House of Assembly. God save we Queen and we colony islands, and Freeport.
bogart 6 years, 8 months ago
The people already know that in servicing an old 44 year old bus there are many parts that need changing., cant just change the water hose an dont flush out the radiator Passemgers waiting are voicing their concerns in that it is taking too long to surgically remove those old worn out parts not working cause some the old bolts and nuts hard an rusty to remove an fix da bus to move faster.. Plus yinna done know put two Bahamian in a line an all hell break loose complanin how long it takin....then dey start talkin Lakers..an Dolphins....
TheMadHatter 6 years, 8 months ago
"Mr Turnquest said the results did not make him “feel badly,” nor would they disrupt the government’s agenda..."
Why should they? Only democracies need to pay attention to the desires of the people.
BahamasForBahamians 6 years, 8 months ago
Lol so the Acting PM's response to his government's lack of performance is increase PR?
Wow.
TalRussell 6 years, 8 months ago
If the comrade acting prime minister would dare decide afford my advice - I'd tell the man's - his first mission is conquer'd he self in them departments which is thy own particular weakness ....like overcoming his fetish for contracting out, without tender, millions dollars auditors after auditors hefty fees. { How could I possibly be making up such fetish? }. So, if you too has hefty fetish auditors fees - why not try connect with Bahamaland's acting PM }.
joeblow 6 years, 8 months ago
Might not have been the smartest response. Not good in terms of optics. They better realize that once you turn Bahamians off its very hard to get them back on your side again.
licks2 6 years, 8 months ago
YALL EEN SEE THAT HE CALLED YINNA DUMB. . .he understand statistics and differences in poll numbers and correlation co-efficient . . .the heart of the numbers given by the poll! Like I said on one other thread. . .all that poll show was general apathy. . .a natural fallout with any people going through social change. . .
DDK 6 years, 8 months ago
YALL EEN SEE THAT HE CALLED YINNA DUMB - but very diplomatically!
DDK 6 years, 8 months ago
YALL EEN SEE THAT HE CALLED YINNA DUMB........But how diplomatically!
ThisIsOurs 6 years, 8 months ago
Lol. But not so lol. It's somewhat scary. If we could turn back the clock to 2017 we would see the PLP saying the exact same thing, it's our "PR", "they don't know about the good things were doing". Dr Minnis please stop listening to these people telling you everything is ok. It's not. Turn the ship around iceberg ahead
sheeprunner12 6 years, 8 months ago
IF YALL EEN SEEN NUTTIN CHANGE SINCE MAY 2017 ........ ALL YALL DUMB
IMAGINE IF PERRY, BRAVE, GRAY DEM WAS STILL IN THE CHAIR ....... YALL WOULD A BEEN EATING STRAW BY NOW .......... SMT
STOP FRIGGIN COMPLAINING AND APPRECIATE WHAT MINNIS DEM TRYING TO DO WITH THIS RAG-TAG ECONOMY & COUNTRY WAT PERRY DEM LEFT BEHIND
SP 6 years, 8 months ago
Bahamians are not stupid. So far PM Minnis is "all talk" about routing corruption. The FNM under Ingraham held power longer than the PLP under Christie so why haven't they mentioned a single instance of corruption in past FNM governments? And why haven't they addressed the natural resources issue?
Angola's President got it right when he dismantled decades of bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and embezzlement in record time!
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles…
What is taking Minnis so long?
Giordano 6 years, 8 months ago
May,June to see national budget coming across? That's half year,meanwhile collection of VAT continues around three millions dollars DAILY and also other parallel, tax-related collection like CUSTOM.That's why we need the ALMIGHTY transparency and public information act,Public disclosure act and All others good acts about handling the Public Pulse.It is not only about People's time,it's also about People's life & People's Money. If anybody is willing to challenge that information above regarding the THREE MILLIONS DOLLARS DAILY COLLECTED ONLY FROM VAT,only needs to remember inf. ,very detailed,provided by former P.M. Perry Christy which also was Minister of Finance,at the time trying to persuade or convince the Bahamian people to support that ALMIGHTY VAT which among many other things,it was said that all yachts visiting The Bahamas, add more rooms than ALL HOTEL'S ROOMS COMBINE IN THE ENTIRE BAHAMAS and they pay VAT as well as the FIVE MILLIONS TOURISTS that visit us every 365 days such also pay $ 20.00 (Departure tax) even before they step in the Bahamian Soil. The average person in The Bahamas pays at least more than $3.00 VAT daily. The outcome administration COLLECTED VAT FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS . That's more than 700 ISLANDS,I mean, MORE THAN SEVEN HUNDREDS DAYS!!. Let's do the math : 700×3= 2100 2.1 BILLIONS!! Still he can't say WHERE THE VAT MONEY WENT?.
sheeprunner12 6 years, 8 months ago
Your numbers may be in the ballpark ........ but you must account for the 40% pilferage of tax payers' money that does not reach the Treasury at all.
That is why we are always in a DEFICIT when the annual Budget numbers are presented.
DaGoobs 6 years, 8 months ago
There does not seem to be a coherent plan as to what is top priority and how it should be attacked. So we have any and everybody talking off the top of their head as to what needs to be addressed. I can assure Minnis, KP and Carl that it's not marital rape, over the Hill economic zones, it's not an office for the Wife and the like. People need jobs, need work and need to know that looking out for Bahamians are the high priorities of this government. Minnis those demonstrate that while they wanted to win on election day in 2017, they were not prepared to actually take over and were not prepared to hit the ground running from Day One. They are all over the place like someone with ADD. If they don't understand by now, slogans and ignoring the cries of the people will not ensure their re-election in 4 years time. Old Bahamian saying: if you can't hear, you will feel.
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