The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE governing Free National Movement has “lost some ground” since the 2017 general election, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday.

He nonetheless said there is no need for the administration to panic as he lauded the government’s reforms. He was speaking to mark the second anniversary of the FNM’s 2017 election victory, which is today. 

He told listeners to Guardian radio’s “Z Live” with Zhivargo Laing: “In general, it’s probably reasonable to say if you look at the percentage of self-reporting supporters that that has dropped across the country and that means we still have an awful lot of work to do, that we need to stay focused. There’s room for improvement and I believe that as we get a little more experience, recover from our missteps, recover from our mistakes, hopefully we learn as long as we remain focused and pay attention on doing the very best that we can, the hope is that in the net that you will have converted some of those people that you lost.”

Dr Sands said dissatisfaction with the Minnis administration is not as pervasive as social media or talk-shows might make it seem.

“I continue to walk the streets of Elizabeth,” he said, “and so when I listen to and read the feeds of social media it is absolutely not what I am greeted with on the streets in Elizabeth…you’re getting a different response than what you’re seeing on that chat group, this chat group, that Facebook page or what you’re hearing on various talk-shows.”

When Mr Laing suggested people he meets may just be courteous, Dr Sands said: “I’ve been doing this now for ten years. I’ve had my share of people telling me things that wasn’t so and you kinda take some things with a grain of salt but you gon’ get a general feel. The Bahamian public is not monolithic and they’re very nuanced and they can be very candid when they’re speaking with you one on one. I don’t find that the need for panic is there.”

He added: “I don’t want to exaggerate this because we have lost some ground, we have lost some ground and we have to go out and explain things better and we need to double our efforts to have people feel the improvements in the economy and how it will impact them in terms of their ability to be employed and to take care of their children and to pay school fees and to be able to get a home and keep a home and do the types of things that make people satisfied with life in this country. There are still legacy challenges that people have been dealing with in the last ten years and even though things have been better they haven’t gotten that relief, they haven’t been able to say ‘ah, it’s done.’ I have seen where people were unemployed and threatened to lose their homes, they’re now employed and sill losing their homes. You say well, your desire was to get a good paying job, you got a good paying job but their focus now is I need mortgage relief.”

Dr Sands identified many of the the administration’s “successes,” saying: “It’s been an amazing 24 months.”

He said that stabilising the country’s finances has been the administration’s top accomplishment. He cited a reduction of murders, improving roads and hospital infrastructure, investments in education and tourism growth as other positive developments.