The Tribune

By Dr Hubert Minnis

THE address delivered by Prime Minister Philip Davis to the Lyford Cay Club on November 25, 2023, was disgraceful and filled with historical distortions. It is unsurprising that it was difficult for the media to obtain a copy of the speech from the Davis administration.

The Prime Minister used the occasion to diminish the extraordinary accomplishments of the Free National Movement (FNM) over four administrations, while giving the impression that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) led nearly all the good things that were done in government. That untruth belittles the hard work of so many FNMs over the decades.

The Prime Minister should not have gone before a community in which mostly non-Bahamians reside and talked down the contributions of fellow Bahamians to the nation-building project. I am proud of the work of FNMs over the many decades to help build The Bahamas. I stand in defense of our party and its members’ accomplishments in the face of this blatant disregard of basic facts.

FNM successes

The FNM first won government on August 19, 1992. The defeated Pindling administration had lost credibility. The country’s economy was stagnant. Major investments had dried up. Corruption and cronyism were rampant. The PLP stifled freedom of speech via a state-controlled broadcasting monopoly. The Pindling administration was mired in an international drug-related scandal that harmed many Bahamians and damaged the country’s reputation.

The exhausted party that led us to majority rule and independence – after 25 consecutive years in power – had collapsed into a patronage structure from which only certain entitled and elite PLPs benefited.

The Bahamas was no longer marching to a common loftier goal. Instead, the PLP elite ruled the country for their own selfish benefit.

The Bahamian people desperately wanted change. They overwhelmingly elected the FNM. What ensued was one of the greatest decades in Bahamian history.

The FNM took The Bahamas in a new direction. It ushered in transparent and accountable governance. The FNM’s policies were progressive, fair and modern. The period 1992 to 2002 revived The Bahamas, creating historic prosperity.

Atlantis and other major resorts came to the country. The arrival of new tourism properties, the privatisation of state-run hotels and the return of visitors to a revived tourism product boosted employment and the economy, significantly expanding the middle class.

The remarkable recovery revitalized public finances. This enabled the distribution of wealth to new investments in infrastructure, education, health care, social services and other areas of our development.

Across the archipelago, in numerous communities in the Family Islands and Grand Bahama, the FNM upgraded infrastructure. There were new airports, bridges, town centres, roads, docks, schools, water works, health-care centres, expanded housing, new government offices, police stations, postal offices and other facilities.

The FNM, under the leadership of Hubert Ingraham, opened up broadcast media, allowing greater freedom of speech and new business and career opportunities. Parliament was televised live for the first time on the Parliamentary Channel so that Bahamians could see the work of their legislators. Cable TV and the internet were introduced across the country.

The Bahamas experienced a “second birth of the nation” under our party. A modern and more meritocratic country was created by FNMs who believed that all Bahamians deserved a chance.

This “second founding” was necessary. The early PLP did much to end institutional racism. They created universal education and expanded health-care services. They helped build parts of the modern state. They created the College of The Bahamas.

The PLP, though, fell prey over time to greed, corruption, self-interest and cronyism. The party betrayed much of the vision it initially stood for.

The Bahamas needed the FNM. The FNM delivered.

FNM did more for the people

In a third, non-consecutive Ingraham administration, the FNM was again called on to rescue the country from PLP neglect and failure.

In this term, the FNM resurrected the Baha Mar deal, which had collapsed. Nassau Harbour was dredged to facilitate the arrival of the largest cruise ships in the world. This act would be key to the explosive growth of cruise arrivals that is still ongoing, and growing.

The New Providence road network was transformed. A new and modern critical care block at Princess Margaret Hospital was built, providing enhanced health services for Bahamians.

The downtown container port was moved to Arawak Cay. This helped with alleviating congestion downtown. A mechanism was also created to allow Bahamians to become shareholders in the new entity, expanding ownership in a sector that was once only for a select few.

Mr Ingraham and the FNM transformed The Bahamas over three terms. From arriving in a modern Lynden Pindling International Airport, to travelling on new streets, to navigating new neighbourhoods built with new wealth created via FNM policies, everyone could see, touch and feel all the FNM did. No right-thinking person could deny the overwhelming success of our party.

Continued FNM legacy of work for the people

The Bahamian people again called on the FNM to rescue the country in 2017 after five years of PLP scandal and excess. My administration got to work on day one on behalf of Bahamians.

We fixed the New Providence Landfill, ending the era of fires that sent hazardous smoke across the island.

We made the University of The Bahamas (UB) and the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) free for qualifying students, providing opportunity to many young Bahamians.

We launched the free pre-school initiative that allowed thousands of children access to early education. It also helped create more pre-schools.

Furthering our investment in Bahamians, we created the Small Business Development Centre. Through it, tens of millions of dollars were invested in small businesses, allowing many of our people to realize their dreams of entrepreneurship.

We signed the deal for the $300m Nassau Cruise Port development. This historic project is helping to make the port at the city of Nassau one of the largest passenger cruise ports in the world. Our cruise arrivals are soaring in part as a result of this investment.

The current minister of tourism continues to brag about our tourism numbers, much of which was made possible by dredging the harbour and the creation of Nassau Cruise Port, both of which were done by the FNM.

We purchased a new set of generators in New Providence to help Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) meet the demand of increased consumption on our most populous island.

We advanced the digitisation of government services. We also led organizational initiatives to help with the ease of doing business.

Mirroring the work of previous FNM administrations, we improved bridges, docks, seawalls, roads and other public infrastructure across the Family Islands and Grand Bahama.

Crime has been a serious problem in The Bahamas for two decades. We were able to make some progress with the murder count, recording consecutive years with fewer than 100 murders for the first time in many years. The level of murder in the country was still too high, but that progress was notable.

During our term the two worst crises in our history occurred: Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic.

We marshaled the full resources of the state to help the residents of Grand Bahama and Abaco. We spent tens of millions of dollars restoring the road network, repairing the electricity grid, fixing the water works, clearing debris, and helping homeowners rebuild.

We created major tax breaks to help the people and businesses in the north with reconstruction.

We created an historic aid package during the pandemic to ensure Bahamians could survive during the worst of the crisis. Tens of millions in unemployment benefits and tax breaks to businesses were extended. No civil servants were laid off.

Millions more went to small businesses to help them during these difficult times.

We created the largest food distribution programme in Bahamian history to ensure that those in need had food throughout the worst of the global health crisis.

Proud of FNM’s record

These are just some of the highlights of the FNMs achievements over nearly 20 years and four administrations.

Every FNM should be proud of what our party has done in government. The Prime Minister sought to diminish our great party and its members. FNMs must always answer those who distort history.

The FNM has expanded opportunity for many Bahamians. We enhanced equality for women and addressed many of the needs of the poor. We deepened democracy.

Philip Davis is now Prime Minister. Rather than engaging in the worst type of revisionist history, he should focus on what he will do to promote greater equality and opportunity.

He has not done much thus far, and travels too much unnecessarily. There is a cost-of-living crisis. There is a crime crisis. Illegal immigration is out of control. The roads are poorly maintained.

We are nearly halfway into the Davis administration and the Prime Minister is struggling to address the issues of his time. Rather than distorting the legacy of others he should seek to build his own.