The Tribune

By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis officially launched his Delivery Unit yesterday, a body that is meant to keep the government on track in the delivery of key promises to the electorate.

Known as the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, or PMDU, the initiative was foreshadowed in November 2017 by Press Secretary Anthony Newbold.

At the time, Mr Newbold said the unit would be "responsible for tracking projects and initiatives set out and agreed by the prime minister and establishing timelines for the completion of such projects."

It was originally supposed to be established by January 2018.

In his remarks yesterday, Dr Minnis said "deliberate and strategic steps" must be taken to ascertain the needs of Bahamian citizens and the "trends of key indicators" affecting their lives.

In addition to analysing these needs, a "management mechanism" must be created that will underscore "accountability, transparency, and results delivery" throughout the nation.

The six key priorities the PMDU will initially focus on are the Over-the-Hill Rejuvenation Project, land reform, energy reform and infrastructure, ease of doing business, education, and safety and security.

The goals of the Over-the-Hill Rejuvenation Project include community development, crime reduction, and the creation of clean environments.

Other targets include reducing child abuse, school violence, youth alcoholism, and illegal gun possession.

Land reform will focus on providing affordable ready-to-build housing land for citizens and executing a national land audit, which will pave the way for a land registry in the Bahamas.

The government will also encourage land ownership in the Family Islands and promote the timely processing of land applications. The latter will be enabled through the provision of digital recordings of surveys and land mapping government services.

The government's energy reform goals include "creating a renewable energy economy," with a focus on solar energy. Meanwhile, infrastructure efforts will focus on executing a road maintenance management system and traffic management system, to provide citizens with high quality road and traffic services.

Ease of doing business will focus on improving the Bahamas' global ranking on the World Bank's Doing Business Index. Increasing the speed and efficiency of government service providers that impact business operations will also be part of the process. The speed and ease with which business licence applications are processed will be increased as well. Taxation processes will also be streamlined.

The education plank will address student outcomes and "fostering a digital revolution." One such target will be to increase the percentage of three and four-year-olds accessing preschool education from 30 per cent to 75 per cent by 2022.

By that same year, the government hopes to increase the percentage of 12th graders in public schools that meet academic criteria for graduation from 51 per cent to 61 per cent. A third education target is to upgrade 100 per cent of public schools with fibre optic internet connections. This is intended to provide greater access to quality education.

Safety and security initiatives will focus on crime reduction and "ensuring that the public feels safe."

The government also hopes to "reduce the recidivism rate of offenders," establish youth community centres staffed with "qualified personnel" and strengthen the justice system.

These key priorities will be driven by data collection and analysis. As a partner in the initiative, the Inter-American Development Bank has made available the Public Financial Management - Performance Monitoring Reform Loan Facility.

Through this loan, provisions have been made to "develop a state of the art Information and communications technology system to underpin the work of the PMDU," officials said.

Representatives from the Canadian government were also present at the launch. Canadian International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau spoke on Canada's approach to results and delivery.

She suggested the government ensure the public understands the government's goals, emphasise the importance of transparency, and make sure that results are at the "heart" of the initiative.

Dr Minnis viewed Canada's participation as an "act of friendship and cooperation."

IDB representative Florencia Attademo-Hirt congratulated the Bahamas on "the first Delivery Unit being set up in the Caribbean."

She also referred to the success countries such as Peru and Brazil have experienced through the establishment of their own units.

When asked how the public will have access to tracking and monitoring the Delivery Unit's progress, PMDU Chief Operating Officer Viana Gardiner said this will be made available through a website that will be developed in the next few months. However, she declined to give a specific timeline.

She added that members of the Delivery Unit are being recruited from both the public and private sectors.

The team will have eleven members.

According to Dr Minnis, the Delivery Unit will differ from other agencies in the sense that it will "have the mandate and the authority of the prime minister to seek information from any ministry and analyse that data and to ensure that we're keeping on schedule for that timeline."

When asked if the turnaround or results in the key priorities will be seen in this tenure of the FNM, Ms Gardiner replied: "Certainly".