By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
Tribune Staff Reporter
Lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis delivered a keynote address at the University of Virginia, emphasising the urgent need for international cooperation to combat climate change and address public health crises affecting small island nations like The Bahamas.
Dr Minnis underscored the urgency of collaborative solutions to tackle climate and health crises and protect vulnerable small island states like The Bahamas from future transnational threats.
He highlighted the critical vulnerability of The Bahamas to climate-related disasters and stressed the necessity of global action.
“Small island countries in the Caribbean, in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, and in the Indian Ocean and around the world, are on the frontlines of being swallowed into an abyss, created initially by human activity and increasingly by inaction,” he said.
He noted The Bahamas’ support for the United Nations’ climate strategy, adding: “The Bahamas fully supports the United Nations’ comprehensive strategy to address a global climate emergency.”
Addressing the country’s reliance on tourism, Dr Minnis explained the economic risks posed by natural disasters and pandemics, given that tourism accounts for the majority of The Bahamas’ GDP.
“Without tourism, The Bahamas would collapse economically,” he said. “Imagine therefore the huge and potentially crippling impact of hurricanes or a pandemic on our tourism industry and broader economy.”
Reflecting on his experiences leading The Bahamas through Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Minnis described the severe impacts on infrastructure, health systems, and the economy. He recalled the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, describing it as “an unprecedented destructive force” that nearly destroyed parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama.
Dr Minnis also discussed the unique challenges of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in an archipelagic nation with limited healthcare infrastructure.
“In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the great historic pandemics, shattered then shuttered the global and national economies. International tourism came to a dramatic and unprecedented halt. Much worse than in the 2008 Great Recession, The Bahamas economy collapsed within months.” he said.
“We experienced tremendous loss in GDP, tourism numbers, government revenue, savings, and other chilling statistical declines. Our losses were equally measured in increased unemployment, greater personal and business debt, and food insecurity for tens of thousands of Bahamians.
“Because we are a far-flung archipelago, our challenges in responding to both Dorian and COVID-19 at the same time were made greater. This was especially so because many of our more rural areas in our Family of Islands have limited healthcare facilities, medical supplies and personnel.”
He spoke on crisis leadership, drawing inspiration from former US President Teddy Roosevelt’s approach to decision-making and emphasised the importance of first-hand knowledge in crisis management.
Reflecting on the government’s pandemic response, he said, “As in every jurisdiction, there was considerable criticism of the government’s pandemic response, some of it justified, but some of it also ill-informed. No government got everything right. In hindsight, various governments may have made a number of different decisions. However, I truly believe in my heart, and as some international observers stated, The Bahamas did many things right given the circumstance.”
Comments
ExposedU2C 5 hours, 53 minutes ago
Yup, the ChiComs own him too.
hrysippus 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
Minnis, you rifght. ignore the trolls paid for by the PRC or the PLP. It is hard to see the difference after the Bahmar/CCA disgrace.
Porcupine 2 hours, 1 minute ago
Dr. Minnis, Neither the world, nor The Bahamas have made any steps in combating climate change or dealing with pandemics. Both were man made. Both will be ignored until the cows come home. Just like every other issue we have neglected nationally. Be it our health care system, BPL, Water & Sewerage, Bank of Bahamas, Crown Land distribution, Road Traffic, etc. We don't believe in proper planning or solving problems. We simply blame it on the "other" administration. Many of our Family Islands don't even have hurricane shelters, or clinics. It will be cheaper to allow The Bahamas to be swallowed by the sea, and to emigrate, than to invest any money into preventing us from being inundated by the quickly rising sea. We needed visionaries who were well versed in science, non-political and with strong management and leadership capabilities. Sorry Dr. Minnis, but neither you nor any other politician who has ever been in office has those qualifications. We can yap about it all we want, but we waited until the eleventh hour to make the clarion call. These issues aren't new. We were just very slow to catch on. Now, all of a sudden, it is everyone else's obligation to respond to an emergency due to our own lack of proper planning. Sorry, we reap what we sow. The politicians, like yourself, will be gone at the first hint of the shit hitting the fan. The rest of us who haven't made the $120,000 to qualify for middle class status will be left here to fend for ourselves. I'm still having a hard time figuring out how a politician can become a millionaire, while in office on a public servant's salary.
Porcupine 1 hour, 55 minutes ago
By the way Dr. Minnis, I can pull up many articles from the 1980's explicitly stating that temperatures were rising and the sea level rise consequences of this warming. What we are witnessing today is no surprise to those who have been paying attention. Playing petty politics is not the same as paying attention to the important issues. Moving 400,000 people out of harm's way is much cheaper than trying save an island nation. Simple economics on this one.
Bonefishpete 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
Hat In Hand
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