The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The National Development Planning Institute Bill is unlikely to meet its original end-of-February completion deadline as officials work to strengthen the legislation following public consultation.

Felix Stubbs, chairman of the National Development Plan steering committee, said feedback from recent consultations made it clear that additional work is needed to strengthen the Bill thus making it unlikely the legislation will meet the deadline for completion and tabling in the House of Assembly.

He added that there was a general consensus that aspects of the draft were “a little bit weaker” and required refinement, adding the committee will spend the next two weeks revising the legislation, with hopes of meeting an end-of-March target.

Despite the revised timeline, Mr Stubbs said he remains confident the Bill will be tabled in Parliament before the next general election. “In my honest opinion, we probably wouldn’t make the end of the month, but for some very good reasons,” he added.

“When we look at the results of the consultations we’ve done, and the recommendations that have come in, it is obvious to us that we still need to do a little bit more work to strengthen the Bill. In fact, the general consensus is that the Bill is a little bit weaker and that we can strengthen it, and so we’ve taken those comments seriously.”

Mr Stubbs said the committee has not yet examined specific policy issues, including matters related to the Freedom of Information Act, as its immediate focus remains on advancing the legislation to formally establish the Institute.

“As it relates to the Freedom of Information Act, we haven’t looked at any of the specific issues in the plan as yet because we will be focusing on this Bill. Once the Bill is passed, then we will go back to the public and begin more consultations to find out from them what their priorities are, and those are the kinds of things we’re working on,” said Mr Stubbs. 

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, stressed that transparency will be critical to the National Development Plan’s success. He said the Institute would not be in a position to fully execute its mandate if stakeholders lack access to the data and information needed to guide decision-making.

“The reality is, the ability of the Freedom of Information Act to impact this programme is very strong, which is why it is important for it to be implemented. Because if you’re talking about transparency in governance, it is important to have access to information,” said Mr Pintard.

He also voiced support for the National Development Plan, stressing that long-term national planning must withstand changes in government.

“We have suffered many setbacks in The Bahamas, and part of it has been interruption of initiatives, interruption in terms of policy, interruption in terms of legislation, often-times with the change of government that’s no longer committed to what they put in place,” said Mr Pintard. 

He added that the National Development Plan would help ensure continuity and place pressure on political organisations to commit to priorities identified by the Bahamian people.

Support for the initiative is also being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank. Shirley Gayle, the IDB’s country representative for The Bahamas, said the bank’s support includes both financial resources and technical expertise to help ensure the planning process is evidence-based and sustainable.

“We bring financial resources, but we also bring technical expertise, whether that expertise resides within the IDB itself, because we are a very large knowledge institution,” said Ms Gayle.

“That could mean research, advisory support and lessons from other countries and jurisdictions that have gone through this before. We bring data and support in providing the material, the information and the methodology to help the Government make evidence-based decisions.”