The Tribune

By Tyler McKenzie

WITH Independence almost upon us, it has been a time of taking stock – looking back over our 50 years and establishing our progress as a nation.

Is it also a time perhaps for our Prime Minister, Philip “Brave” Davis, to be taking stock of the progress of his administration? Who has performed well, who has underperformed, who has shone, who has disappeared? In short, is it time to consider a reshuffle?

Of course, Mr Davis has already carried out one shuffle of his pack – sending his press secretary, Clint Watson, packing to become general manager of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.

There has been surprisingly little commotion over such a decision. In theory, the corporation should be independent politically, free to interrogate the leadership of the day with impunity.

Choosing the person who has just been advocating for the administration and defending it against such interrogation to go and run the whole show – regardless of who that individual is – raises questions of the potential to unduly influence such independence.

Imagine if the US president or the UK prime minister sent their spokespeople off to lead PBS or the BBC respectively. Imagine any nation taking a partial member of their administration and appointing them to lead a de facto impartial news service.

Now, I know, some of you will read this and say well ZNS has always been used as a political football by parties of every colour – but it does not mean we should let such things pass without examination.

This is without even examining the merits of Mr Watson – it is about the post, not the individual – although it is interesting to see how lauded Mr Watson was as he departed his previous post.

The press release announcing his departure talked of him having “served with distinction” and “building a robust press architecture from the ground up”. That overlooks to some extent the hard work done by Anthony “Ace” Newbold under the Dr Hubert Minnis administration in establishing and building the facility Mr Watson in turn got to use. But then again Dr Minnis sidelined much of the good work done at the outset there.

Mr Watson was said to have “played a critical role in building the first-ever full-time Press Office in the OPM, a pioneering move” and his “many initiatives have transformed the way that the government communicates with the media and the public, helping to make this administration the most transparent in Bahamian history”. For that he deserves credit and a good deal of it.

However, we still don’t have answers over why exactly a new prison is going to cost double, we can’t find an answer on how many taxi plates have been issued, no one can find their way to say which of our Parliamentarians couldn’t be bothered to comply with the law on disclosures and a host of other issues – but sure, most transparent in Bahamian history, boast away.

The statement went on, talking about Mr Watson as “innovative and visionary” – which begs a question. If Mr Watson is so good, why is the Prime Minister getting rid of him? Perhaps it might be that Mr Davis had to come and correct statements made by Mr Watson one too many times – but if Mr Watson really is everything the OPM says he is, you would think they would want him right where he is, close to the Prime Minister.

If Mr Davis’ corrections of Mr Watson did play a part in any move, then perhaps some ministers might want to watch out for any potential reshuffle.

The Minister of National Security, Wayne Munroe, has spoken out on a number of occasions only for Mr Davis to have to come out and make a follow-up statement.

In the past few weeks alone, the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Keith Bell, has had a calamitous run. First, he decided to rise in the House to take potshots at the new cruise port, at which Mr Davis himself had spoken at the opening. Mr Bell called the new cruise port deal the worst ever in history, though his figures were quickly countered. It seems inelegant to say the least to come along and shout down the port that your own Prime Minister attended the opening of, and which your Deputy Prime Minister, Chester Cooper, has applauded for what it will do for the country.

Speaking of inelegant, Mr Bell then stumbled into a row over his administration of a citizenship oath at a funeral as seemingly a personal favour for the deceased individual, granting citizenship to the man’s wife and children. By his own admission, this was unorthodox, and the best that the OPM seems to have been able to come up with is that well, no laws were broken but don’t do it again. If it’s not illegal, why can’t he do it again? Saying stop doing that is as close to an admission of wrongdoing as this administration has perhaps made.

Then there is the Minister of Transport and Housing, who cannot seem to find the figures for how many taxi plates have been issued. Perhaps they slipped down the back of a filing cabinet, who knows? JoBeth Coleby-Davis had her own long investigation after an incident involving police too, that somehow seemed to take far longer than such a small incident witnessed by police officers would seemingly warrant.

The Minister of Works, Alfred Sears, has faced questions over whether he misled Parliament, presided over some high-profile delays such as the Village Road scheme, and now has admitted that BPL might make our summer a misery with load shedding again. Is he vulnerable in a reshuffle? Or is he the victim of circumstance, particularly with regard to BPL? The buck has to stop somewhere.

Then there are the invisibles – considering how much stock the Prime Minister puts on climate change, it is surprising how little we hear from the Minister of Environment, Vaughn Miller. Surprisingly, Minister of Social Services Obie Wilchcombe is not as prominent as he has been in the past.

There are others who have excelled, however – Chester Cooper has made the most of his Tourism post, Glenys Hanna Martin is a dependable Education Minister, Clay Sweeting has outshone his role in Agriculture, Michael Halkitis has been solid and uncontroversial at Economic Affairs (though the gas station owners might disagree). Pia Glover-Rolle has done well as the Minister of State for the Public Service, perhaps enough to earn a promotion to a senior ministry? That is not taking into account the back bench MPs who might say they should get their shot.

Certainly if Mr Davis wants to consider a reshuffle, there is food for thought. And if this administration does indeed want to be known for its transparency, then first on the chopping block should be those who cannot give straight answers.