The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Darren Henfield yesterday defended the decision to establish the Office of the Spouse insisting yesterday the function would further enhance the work of the Ministry of Social Services.

He said quite frankly, the criticism surrounding the soon to be established Office of the Spouse was “surprising”.

Asked about its funding, Mr Henfield did not readily have this information on hand, but said: “Funds were set aside but I am not sure how much it was. I would have to look at the Cabinet paper for that. But it will be used for ancillary things and meetings or whatever that kind of office is supposed to do.”

On Wednesday, The Nassau Guardian reported that Patricia Minnis, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ wife said the proposed budget for the office would be $10,000. She added it would be primarily used for “tea engagements”.

Mr Henfield also said: “She will use the weight of her office for issues concerning women. It’s always that you’re not doing enough for women. I am surprised at some of the stuff I am hearing because it’s always you’re not doing enough.

“We are doing new things and we expect that people will have to adjust to these things. We think we are doing this with the right motive, which is to progress the Bahamas in a positive direction and no one can deny adolescent pregnancy, the return and the rise and the rate of HIV and AIDS. That’s the kind of thing we just want to bring awareness to and we are happy that she is able to embrace that and use the weight of her office for that purpose.”

“I don’t see any kind of overlap, I see an enhancement of what we do and all the issues we face socially so that is always a positive direction to go,” he said in response to critics who have said the Office of the Spouse’s function will overlap with the Ministry of Social Services, particularly the Department of Gender and Family Affairs which evolved from the Bureau of Women’s Affairs to focus on families more broadly.

However, Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin said the government should make clear how the Office of the Spouse will function.

She said: “I note that Mrs Minnis indicated that she’ll be utilising current resources that already exist, but I think that it still has to be a quantification whether it’s using resources that are being redirected or whatever it is. We have to have an understanding of what is comprised in this office.

“The concern I have and this is where I think it’s important for the government to avoid having too many voices stating definitively what is going to happen because Mrs Minnis indicated tea parties and it will be that type of thing and I think she also alluded to the wife of the prime minister of Malta who came in sometime in December. But the prime minister has a budget, which would normally accommodate those kinds of functions.

“She is indicating tea parties but the minister said something different saying she will be engaging international agencies. What I am wondering is will that be via email or telephone? Will it involve travel? He seems to be saying one thing and she is saying something else.

“If it is what the minister says the question I would raise is is this currently under the remit of a minister who has responsibility to Cabinet and to Parliament so I am just wondering how the work of Mrs Minnis will coincide without creating collisions.”

Last September first ladies and spouses of heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) launched its network,” Spouses of Caribbean Leaders Action Network (SCLAN)” to tackle issues related to the health and well being of women, adolescents and children in the Caribbean.

SCLAN is the advocacy and action platform to advance the Every Caribbean Women Every Caribbean Child (ECWECC) initiative, now renamed Caribbean Woman Caribbean Child (CariWaC)”

Ms Kim Simplis Barrow, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Belize and Special Envoy for Women and Children in Belize, was elected as the first chair of the network, while Sandra Granger, first lady of Guyana, was elected its vice chair.

Other members of the executive body are: Reema Carmona - Trinidad and Tobago; Martine Moise - Haiti; and Juliet Holness of Jamaica.

Also at the launch were: Maria Browne, Antigua & Barbuda and Mrs Minnis.