Remarks

Opening of South Beach Constituency Office

Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham

Party Leader

17 February 2012

South Beach;

FNMs:

Colour Red has come to South Beach and we have come with the only Gomez who will be elected in the General Election! Ours is the one!

On Saturday we’ll be in Grand Bahama in Marco City. Next week, I’ll be back here in the south, in Bamboo Town.

But let me say this for right now. When it comes to leadership me and Perry don’t have much in common. He talks, plenty, plenty, plenty. Pappa delivers for you, plenty, plenty, plenty.

Of course ‘das where me and Perry go separate ways. I’m keeping my eye on ‘dat cookie jar’. You can trust these hands when it comes to protecting what belongs to the Bahamian people.

You know that saying in the US that two things are inevitable in life – death and taxes. In The Bahamas, there’s a third thing that’s inevitable – PLP scandal and corruption.

I know you heard about the newest scandal that was in the news last night and this morning about selling Bahamian visas to foreigners. And they say that they believe in The Bahamas!

So, the PLP sell-off nearly 10,000 of acres of prime land and beach front property in Mayaguana. This FNM Government just got back nearly 6,000 acres of that land.

Just so you understand. In Mayaguana the PLP sold-off as much beachfront property from the eastern end of New Providence all the way to Lyford Cay. You know how much they sell it for? $600 an acre.! That sounds like putting Bahamians first? Child please.

They sell-off our land, they make us a Nation for Sale around the world, and now this visa thing. Who you think they were putting first in all a ‘dis? It wasn’t you.

They were delivering for and putting foreigners first. And when they were doing this, it was their own interests that they were putting first, second and third.

They ain’t checkin for you!

I am advised that by the end of Tuesday past 638 disconnected households had had their electricity supply reconnected. They were joined by an additional 235 households disconnected household that had their electricity supply reconnected on Wednesday. Then by end of day today, Thursday the number of households reconnected had grown by another 260. That’s more than 1100 disconnected households that have had their electricity supply reconnected under the terms we put in place with BEC.

Now some are saying that we are doing this for Election. Well what were we doing it for when we put programmes in place to have household reconnected to BEC twice before during this term in office? There was no election on the horizon then!

When we do good, they look for some dark reason. We do good because we have a good heart. That’s why I am here – to do good; not to be enchanted by out-riders, sirens and enjoying referring to myself “as Prime Minister”!

We do good because we want to deliver better for you- not just today, or leading up to election, but every day that we sit in Government. That is why we can be proud of our record in Government. We have been and continue to be a government that works for you. A government that delivers for you!

FNMs:

I understand that on Tuesday past, there was panic in PLP Headquarters. All they could see was a sea of red.

Anyway, I hear that some flower shops was trying to sell yellow roses on Tuesday, but people were saying, you ‘gatta be jokin’ – give me my red roses.

On Election Day, Colour Red will make Valentine’s Day look like a joke!

FNMs:

We have 38 new candidates running in 2012. One quarter of our candidates are women.

Bahamian women know that we deliver for them and their families. 3500 Bahamians are finding new careers and new life and renewed hope in the National Job Readiness & Training Programme. Much more than half of them are women. They are now working as Teacher’s Aides, as health care workers and in many areas in the private sector.

Bahamian women know our hearts are with them. We have the record to prove it.

It is the FNM who delivered free neonatal and postnatal care for pregnant mothers. We caused a reduction in the infant mortality rate. We increased maternity leave to 12 weeks. And we are the Party that will deliver a new state-of-the-art Maternity and Children’s Ward at PMH.

It is the FNM that delivered a minimum wage and it is the FNM that will increase the minimum wage in The Bahamas!

You know what always amazed me and what I could never understand?

For 25 years from 1967 to 1992, the PLP, even at the height of its power in office, never ran a Bahamian woman in a seat they thought she could win. Never! Never, over a quarter a century, when women were being elected all over the world.

The PLP did not have a single woman in the Cabinet of The Bahamas for more than 20 years!

Whenever they tell you that they put you first, watch out. That means they ain’t checking for you, but they still want your vote.

First for the PLP means first for them! And first for some of their people.

The FNM is different. Janet Bostwick became the first woman in Bahamian history to win a seat in the House of Assembly. The FNM did that!

Beginning in 1992, I was pleased to have women serve in my cabinet in significant portfolios including those of Attorney General, foreign affairs, health, education, public service, immigration, housing and social services.

The FNM is also proud of other firsts for Bahamian women.

The first female Speaker of the House was elected on the FNM’s watch.

The first female Chief Justice was appointed on the FNM’s watch.

The first female President of the Court of Appeal was appointed on our watch.

The Bahamas got its first female Governor General on our watch.

When Dame Doris looks down from heaven she ‘must shake her head in sadness at how the PLP has let down Bahamian women. Dame Doris will find that the FNM has the better record in terms of protecting the rights and responding to the needs of Bahamian women.

By the way we built the school that bears her name. They named it in her honour, though they never bothered to officially open and dedicate the school. We did that.

They like to reap; they just don’t like to sow. They reaped the benefits of our economy in 2002; now they lie and say they created 22,000 jobs!

FNMs;

South Beach:

Given our far superior record of empowering Bahamian women, it is absolutely no surprise that the FNM is running more women than the PLP.

A couple weeks ago Colour Red was in Marathon for the passing of the torch to a new generation. Our Marathon Woman Heather Hunt is not only a part of that new generation of FNMs. She’s also a part of a new generation of FNM women.

So is Monique Gomez. Monique is a lawyer by training who has a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree. The FNM is blessed with so many smart and accomplished women.

Monique was called to The Bahamas Bar in 1988. She served in the Attorney General’s Office as Senior Counsel. She has worked in a number of law firms including my and Perry Christie’s firm. Today, this rising star in the FNM is the managing partner at Monique V.A. Gomez & Co.

And she is community minded. She volunteers her time and talent at the St. Agnes After-School Programme and at the Bahamas Law Guild Legal Aid Clinics.

Monique, like Loretta Butler-Turner, comes from a PLP family. But she’s an FNM. I tell you these women smart.

South Beach :

During the FNM’s previous terms we took account of the population shift and rapid growth of southern New Providence. We felt your needs and we responded.

We worked hard to i mproved communities like South Beach, Pinewood and Bamboo Town, designing town centres to meet the needs of your communities. This included creating new primary schools – Cleveland Eneas and Sadie Curtis; new senior high schools, community parks, a public library, the South Beach Clinic and a post office.

Many parents were relieved that their young children no longer had to go all the way from or walk from South Beach east to Pinewood to attend primary schools north of Robinson Road.

We built the Charles Saunders Highway; now we are giving you a 4 lane highway from Soldier Road to Robinson Road!

And, we have a long-range plan. We will create a new Township in the South. The South Beach Township will include 3,000 high-density residential units mixed with commercial, civic and recreational areas.

The housing has a smaller footprint than most Bahamian subdivisions and will be divided into three walkable neighbourhoods, with live/work accommodation linked by bike and pedestrian paths as well as roads. Space for government offices will also be included.

To help control flooding, preserve tree cover and provide public amenities, we will have a large neighbourhood park with a large lagoon which will grow during severe storms as rainfall drains into the lagoon. A flushing channel will be excavated along the shoreline to improve tidal flow, provide boat access and create recreational opportunities. The spoil from this dredging will be used to restore the beach dune.

Yes, South Beach , we have big plans for you. You know our plans will come true because we’ve delivered for you before and we will do so again.

You need leadership to get things done.

Monique has always been an FNM; she’ll make a good MP for South Beach. She is not the Leader of a Union that called upon nurses to go on strike; to abandon patients and over-burden their colleagues who faithfully and dutifully filled in for those who abandoned their duties.

Teachers didn’t go; policemen didn’t go; Defence Force Officers, Immigration and Customs officers, and doctors – none of them went; they all lived up to their responsibilities as providers of essential services to the Bahamian people. They all knew things were tough, very tough. The near collapse of the global economy slowed down travel and reduced Government revenue; fewer jobs meant that some had hard times making mortgage payments and the Government was keeping as many people as possible employed. There was no money to give raises!

Still, some nurses went on strike because they were encouraged and pressured to do so by their Union President who was busy trying to secure a nomination from her political party.

And while she was busy abandoning the ill, Monique was busy making a respectable name for herself as an officer of the Court and a dedicated member of her community. She has a name; an honourable name. She is self-confident, prepared, ready and able to serve you.

She won’t let you down. She won’t abandon you when you are in need. She’ll know what to say and she’ll know how to say it. You will be proud of her as your MP. When you meet your friends and they ask who your MP is, you’ll be able to proudly say Monique Gomez. Take it from papa – Monique is the one for you.

South Beach,

Stick with the FNM. We are the Party that will maximize opportunities for all Bahamians. We will ensure affordable health care for all and bring catastrophic health insurance for all.

We are the Party that will ensure that The Bahamas remains a respected voice in the international community of nations.

We have challenges including too much crime; particularly violent crime. Our criminal problem did not arise yesterday. It took many years to get to today’s levels. It will take us a while to resolve the problem.

The FNM is Party best able to secure your security. We have much to do and believe you me, we are busy working on it, steadily building, strategically placing our bricks to break the back of crime. We are ensuring that our police are properly trained, equipped and funded so that they can carry out their mandate to protect our citizens. We are modernizing our laws strengthening the arm of the law against criminals. We are upgrading our courts, ensuring that they are fully staffed with adequate numbers of justices, magistrates and appropriate staff. We are ensuring that modern management and rehabilitation programmes are being implemented in our prison and we are promoting non-violent resolution of disagreements and peaceful settlement of disputes through targeted programmes in our schools and through social and civic groups and churches.

South Beach:

There is no ‘quick fix’ for crime. Pay no mind to those who suddenly now proclaim that they have what they have never had before – a solution to crime. I listened to Brave Davis give the PLP plank on crime on TV. I kept trying to remember when it was that he came to be on the side of the victims of crime. Seems he spends a lot of time defending those on the offending side of crime. Perhaps he, like Saul, had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus! Ask him when? As I watched him on TV last night I couldn’t get my mind off “90”. I tried really hard to think 80 or 70 or some other number, but as I watched him, it was “90” that kept popping up in my head.

South Beach:

Stick with the FNM; vote for the FNM, elect Monique as your MP. She will work hard for you and the FNM will Deliver for you.