The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

WITH Bahamas Power and Light bills set to rise, Free National Movement Chairman Dr Duane Sands called on the Davis administration to be less “distracted” and more considerate of the Bahamian public.

Dr Sands made these statements yesterday morning in a circulated voice recording on social media, one day after Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis announced that there will be a $20 increase in the BPL monthly fuel charge for bills at $182 or less and more than that amount for higher bills per month.

Dr Sands said this administration has “taken their eyes off the ball” after months of FNM Leader Michael Pintard questioning the Davis administration’s failure to uphold the fuel hedging strategy put in place by the previous FNM administration, which Mr Pintard said saved the Bahamian people tens of millions of dollars in electricity costs.

Dr Sands said, “For months, we in the opposition have raised the alarm about the distracted Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and his Cabinet. Our leader, Michael Pintard, has warned over and over that this administration had taken their eyes off the ball.”

Dr Sands added, “More interested in frequent travel for photo opportunities. More content to focus on foreign policy. They have been completely inattentive to important issues that matter at home. Like NIB, like crime and now like BPL. Sadly, it is frighteningly clear how distracted they have gotten.”

The prime minister also admitted on Tuesday that since the start of the war on Ukraine in February, he had wanted to hold-off on the up to 163 percent increases in the BPL fuel charge for longer to give struggling Bahamian families more time to rebound from COVID-19.

Dr Sands called Mr Davis’s seven-month avoidance of the issue “reckless”.

“Yesterday after repeatedly reassuring the public that there would be no fuel hike on BPL bills, it became very clear that this administration’s year long, reckless background and back room meddling in BPL has created such a crisis that the prime minister had no alternative but to take the podium to address the matter.”

Dr Sands called the timing of the announcement absurd after the recent decline and stabilisation of fuel prices.

“Oil prices peaked in March of 2022 at around $122 per barrel. And as of yesterday, October 4, they were at their lowest level since January of this year and yet our prime minister says an increase in fuel surcharge is unavoidable,” he said.

“So struggling Bahamians will be made to pay huge amounts of fuel surcharges, in large part, because of the failure of this administration to adequately hedge and for other decisions that have placed BPL’s fiscal position in a perilous state.”

After concerns yesterday from local residents, merchants and consumers about not being able to afford the rates, Dr Sands questioned whether the Davis administration had considered the impact on individuals, local businesses and tourism overall.