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Last Updated: Apr 7, 2017 - 12:42:23 AM |
 Nassau, Bahamas - Remarks Honourable Dr. Hubert Minnis, Leader of the Free National Movement at the New Providence Rally at Christie Park on Thursday, April 6, 2017:
F-N-Ms: Good evening.
It is good to be here, not far from where I grew up. Perry Christie didn’t grow up far from here either. But the difference is that when he left the Valley he never looked back as he reached the mountain top. Because I grew up on the rough side of the mountain I will never forget from whence I came.
Bain Town is in my heart and soul. As your Prime Minster, I will honor the memory of my mother Rosalee North, by helping a new generation of young people to make their dreams come true, just as my mother did for me.
A lady called me up the other day and said she wanted a “Roc with Doc” t-shirt. I told her I was only giving them out in Killarney. She suggested that we put Roc with Doc on one side and put “It’s the People’s Time on the other side. I told her that I respectfully had to disagree. This election is not about me. This election is about you, the Bahamian people, which is something Perry Christie and the PLP have forgotten.
Let me remind the PLP! It’s the People’s Time! It’s the People’s Time!
Whose time is it? Whose time is it? Amen!
Brothers and Sisters:
For 40 years Christie represented Centreville. He had a great opportunity, especially as Prime Minister, to do big and wonderful things for Centreville. But he did nothing. In many ways Centreville is worse off than when Christie first became the MP for the area.
It is shameful and sad that nearing retirement from politics, Christie has nothing to show for representing the wonderful people of Centreville for four decades. He was in another constituency a few weeks back to inaugurate a new community center. Christie said he wished that Centreville could have a community center like that -- Well I’ll be!!! As prime minister and the MP for 40 years he could have built a community center and more. But the truth is that he doesn’t care about the people of Centreville. He only wants your votes. He could have built a community center years ago. But he wasn’t interested. Compare this to what Hubert Ingraham did for his people in Abaco.
One older woman in Centreville told me that she believed in Perry Christie and the PLP but after years of voting PLP, she is going to give the FNM a chance. She is very disappointed in Christie and the PLP. Like many other Bahamians and PLPs -- she is sick of the broken promises; sick of the lies; sick of the betrayal; sick of the corruption; sick of the arrogance; Sick of his indecisiveness and irresponsibleness; sick of the contempt for poor people. She is just plain sick and tired. She told me that it is time for change.
Christie long ago lost touch with Centreville. He has lost touch with the Bahamian people. It is time for a tired, out of touch Christie to go. Your time is over Christie. It is now the People’s Time, especially the people of Centreville who Christie long ago abandoned.
As a part of the FNM’s People’s Agenda I wish to announce tonight that my government will launch a program of further property tax discounts and rebates for all pensioners over 65 who pay property tax and qualify for such a program. The program will apply to the primary residence of such homeowners.
FNMs, Fellow Bahamians:
As a part of the FNMs People’s Agenda we will institute a program of far reaching targeted tax initiatives, to help stimulate business Over-the-Hill and in inner city communities. We will help the people in the inner city to invest in their own communities by using the tax code to spur jobs, economic activity and investment.
Within this inner-city tax free zone, there will be:
No import duties on construction materials for residential and commercial buildings.
No real property tax or business liscence fees.
No taxes on certain household furniture.
No taxes on business equipment after proper vetting.
Reduced duty on special vehicles necessary for businesses.
I wish to announce tonight that my government will create a Council of Economic Advisors. The mission of this Council will be to get the best advice on economic growth and development from experts, specialists, business people and citizens. No government has all the answers. We need the ideas, creativity, experience and wisdom of a broad cross-section of Bahamians and residents to help spur growth and boost our economy.
One of the tasks of the Council of Advisors is to help develop concrete ideas for diversification within tourism, our main industry, and diversification throughout the economy. We must urgently boost growth and GDP for broad scale economic development and in the interest of boosting government revenue. The government has become too reliant on certain taxes as a first resort as a source of revenue. Economic growth will help to stabilize government finances.
In order to boost growth and reduce energy costs, and to address environmental concerns, my government will launch a National Solarization program that will help many thousands of consumers to reduce their electricity costs and reduce our fuel import bill.
Fellow FNMs, Bahamians:
Just like Perry Christie neglected Centreville for 40 years, he has neglected the Bahamian people. The PLP lacks compassion! They don’t care about our health or our lives. That’s why they covered up the Rubis spill. It’s why they let the dump get out of control. It is why they haven’t built a single school in five years. It is why they haven’t finished hospitals in Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.
The PLP made the problems at BEC worse by bringing in a company that made a mess of things. An uncaring PLP put VAT on breadbasket items, making things worse for poor people. The FNM will remove VAT on breadbasket items. It is unconscionable that the PLP put VAT on health care. When you or your children or your parents get sick, the last thing you need is VAT on your health bill. This is especially so considering the hundreds of millions of VAT money and other revenue the PLP wasted.
Christie and the PLP lack compassion. They don’t care about the basic needs of the Bahamian people. They only believe in “All for me baby”! The PLP is the party of extravagance and waste. God don’t like ugly and God don’t like waste.
You couldn’t waste things in my mother’s house. You would get your behind cut. I promise you this: Your FNM government will not tolerate waste. And, you will be able to see and touch where the VAT money will go to.
FNMs, Bahamians:
We are here tonight to officially launch some more of our change team: for Centerville -- Reece Chipman; for Free Town – Dioniso D’Aguilar; for St. Barnabas – Shanendon Cartwright, for Bains & Grants Town – Travis Robinson, and for Englerston -- Raymond Rolle.
Our change teams have Perry Christie and the PLP running scared. Christie is now on the ground in Centreville. Many residents say they haven’t seen him for years. People say he looks scared when he comes to Centreville. He is scared he might lose his seat.
The PLP can’t even pull a crowd in a school room. I am told that the PLP is in panic mode because they are getting reports that their base is abandoning them. I can confirm this from what our people are being told on the ground. Scores of PLPs have decided to vote FNM. Even much of the PLP base can’t take five more years of Cotton Candy Christie.
We can’t take five more years of VAT money going missing! We can’t take five more years of record unemployment! We can’t take five more years of the PLP risking our health and lives because of their neglect at Rubis, at the dump, and at Clifton! We can’t take five more years of mass corruption! We can’t take five more years of Christie diving for conch day and night! We can’t take five more years of spying from a secret government agency which has no authorization from parliament!
It is very worrying that they took the head of the National Intelligence Agency and made him a PLP candidate overnight. Is the PLP spymaster handing on confidential information to certain people? We know that the PLP has no respect for your privacy. Jerome Fitzgerald appears to have illegally obtained private emails, some of which he brazenly and arrogantly read on the floor of the House. Don’t forget what Jerome said: “You touch one, you touch all. This sounds more like a Mafia boss than a cabinet minister.
The U.S. State Department even had to warn in its annual human rights report that a PLP cabinet minister tried to “intimidate a local environmental group by reading its hacked emails and financial information.”
I remind the PLP that this is a democracy; not a police state. I believe that musicians should refrain from making remarks about the lives of the families of politicians. But bad taste and offensive language doesn’t mean that the police should come knocking at your door.
If the PLP wins again, we will go back to the victimizing days of the Pindling era when the government tried to intimidate anyone who criticized them. The PLP doesn’t believe in democracy. That’s why Christie absolutely ignored the results of the gambling referendum. In today’s PLP, if you want your court case dismissed, just be a former client of the Attorney General so you can get a nolle to make your case disappear.
FNMs, Bahamians everywhere:
They see the crowds at our launches. They are panicked that the Bahamian people are ready for change. The PLP is in meltdown because they know:
It’s the People’s Time! It’s the People’s Time! It’s the People’s Time!
FNMs:
We are witnessing the unraveling of Perry Christie. Christie and the PLP are now very unstable. This is the worst it’s ever been. These are some jokey leaders. Christie first cancels Carnival with a lame excuse. Then he quickly reverses course. Who knows what he will do next. You know, Christie came very close to admitting that they have wasted the VAT money. He threw Michael Halkitis under the bus by basically saying that he didn’t trust him to oversee where the VAT money gone. Then he said that it’s easy to waste the VAT money, so he had to keep an eye on things. How can Christie keep an eye on anything when he is shut-eye and sleeping most of the time!?
Of course, we know that Christie let’s his cabinet members do whatever they want, like Brave wasting VAT money at BAMSI. When that dorm went up in fire it didn’t have the proper insurance because the PLP allowed their cronies to get contracts despite not having insurance. Then Brave got up and misled the House with information that he knew couldn’t be right. I’ve told you before: Brave and the truth are not on speaking terms. They don’t get along.
Speaking of victimization. The people in Cat Island and San Salvador tell me that only PLPs can get contracts. There is a massive campaign of victimization against FNMs. Hold on San Salvador. Hold on Cat Island. Hold on Inagua. Hold on Eleuthera. Hold on Bahamas. Change is coming soon and very soon.
FNM’s, Bahamians:
On behalf of the Free National Movement I ask for your support. Let us join hands to rescue our country and restore the land we love. God bless us all. Thank you and good night.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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